Again, this thread is born from 2 other threads (Bones's "What conditions do we want?" and my "Evolution" thread)...

Let's get closer to the point here.  Which attributes do we want to judge bowlers on?  In other words, how do we want to define skill in today's game?

Bones made the good point that the game has changed immensely over the years.  His father bowled when there were no dots or arrows on the lanes, and the old farts back then would complain that the game was getting too easy.  This trend could probably go back as far as the day when bowling was moved from an outside sport to an indoors sport.  Not allowing the weather to be a factor made the game too easy?  hahaha.  Interesting indeed!

Any game or sport in it's purest form will test one person or team's ability against another.  Most of us would agree that is not what bowling has become, but the concept of "ability" seems to be a subjective one rather than objective.

QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU
Which attributes do you think are important in a bowler when measuring his/her skill against another bowler's skill?

My answer is:  accuracy, repeatability, the ability to carry, and the ability to adjust to not only hit the pocket but carry as well.

In today's game, the first attribute (accuracy) seems to be non-existent.  In the game of the 50's and 60's, I'd say all 4 attributes were extremely important.  Today, each one of those attributes is a dumbed up version of what it once was.  Accuracy is now the ability to hit a 3-board area that you can create with the right revs/bowling ball combination.  Accuracy was once much different.  The ability to carry was altogether different.  Good bowlers would leave 5 pins on a regular basis, where today's bowling balls make us expect to carry even the off hits.  I could go on.

Furthermore, the game seems to be more about creating area than any one of the 4 other attribues that I mentioned earlier.  Most of us have 5-10 different pocket hits that will give us a strike, so accuracy is no longer important.

Which attributes would you like to see become important in our quest to make a more pure sport of bowling?
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Brian
MichiganBowling.com
http://www.MichiganBowling.com

Famous Last Words of a Pot Bowler--"Ok, but this is my last game!"

Michigan bowling, in my opinion and from the stories I've heard from some of my elders, the game could be either as you describe it (i.e. how everyone idealizes it) or as the game is today. There were houses in the 50's and 60's that in talking to some of the older bowlers, were just as stacked as some of the houses today. Averaging 220 was just a matter of carry for many of the bowlers.

The big difference that they will always talk about and how the game has improved is that the game is no longer at the mercy of the laneman. With automatic machines, the lanes are much similar to eachother than they used to be. When they had to mop oil by hand, lanemen would often be payed off to set up easy shots for some of the more enterprising bowlers. In addition, pin boys often got to the point where they could kick out ten pins with a rod or other similar object. Do you think this game was all about accuracy, heck  no, it was all about who had the money and got on the good side of the laneman and pinboy.

I think many on this website and in life will complain about the game no matter. My grandfather is amazed that everyone complains about the shot being so easy, because as he said, at least the shot is uniform nowadays. Sure, much of the game is about carry, but the cream of the crop will still rise to the top.

After thinking about it long and hard, i cannot find much of an alternative to the modern game that would be fair and equitable for all bowlers. The name of the game is to score-whichever way you can find to score, go ahead and do it. Another strange thing that I've found out from talking to some older gentlemen is that some bowlers actually used to shoot for brooklyns, thinking that they would carry better. I actually have talked to one of these men, and he has record books where he averaged over 200 for 4 consecutive years in the 50's. Is this really accuracy?

Accuracy in the modern game should be rewarded, but not to the point that other attributes are also disregarded. I think a 4-1 mandated oil ratio would make standard houseshots a little bit more difficult, yet not so difficult that many of the headhunters (those who aim just to hit the headpin while throwing as fast and with as many revs as possible) quit. Bowling is still about scoring, and no matter what we do to change it, someone will still be unhappy.
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stanski

Well this is complicated. With the advent of the CATS system we have so much information available to us to use. But for me it really makes no difference which items we choose as long as once the choices have been made they stay that way.

  In general I agree that the following should be included:
 
1. Ball Speed
2. Ball Direction (tragectory, accuracy)
3. Rev Rate

The amount of variences of each is the question. And this is why we need a study to determine how much we should be allowed to get away with. And using the Throwbot and CATS together we can learn all we need to know about how to create an invironment (balls,pins,condition) that promotes integrity but allows for some level of fun at all levels of this sport. We have the technology, someone should use it. (I hope USBC is listening)
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