Do the PBA Pattern leagues really give us bowlers a taste of what the pros actually bowl on? I was thinking about this the other day and I don't think they do. I actually think there harder and heres why. The lane machines the PBA uses to put down the patterns are a lot better than the ones were going to find in our local bowling center (for the most part) Secondly, the pros know how to bowl on these patterns which means the pattern will break down the way its suppose to and after 4 or 5 games the shot becomes quite easy for them which is why you see a lot pros averaging 230, 240 at this point. Now you take a bunch of non pros and put them on a PBA Pattern with less units of oil (because I highly doubt the center is going to put out as much oil as the PBA does)and you will see mass confusion, people playing the lanes totally wrong which will cause the shot to break down differently than its suppose to which in turn makes it much harder. So my point is this. PBA Leagues don't really give us non pros a taste of what they really bowl on. Of course this is just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you all think about this?    


Edited on 4/24/2008 10:03 PM

Okay, I could go on for a day about this...but here is my perspective on this.  I bowled in a PBA league last year so this was my experience.  4 out of the 5 patterns played the same, right down 5.  Shark was the only exception, had to play a little farther inside.  But, I really don't think they give a good taste as to what the pros face because most cheetah patterns and viper patterns that houses modify and put out have a lot of oil along the gutter when on the real pattern that is not the case.  On the real pattern you can play straight down 1-2 and it will work pretty well with the right ball and hand. On my house's patterns on both I was forced to play between 4-6 to get a good angle.  So, in my opinion I think you are right hockeynut.
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If you are not using Storm, go kick yourself hard!!!

I agree with you. Our lane man sat down with us each week and handed out documents on the pattern of that week and went into technical detail about it.

He said the same thing you did basically; the machine wont put down the patterns to the specs the PBA does and told everyone that they would play harder and not to get too discouraged.
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There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply.

Our oil guy was a former PBA Bowler and he gave us the layout every week explaining how it varied from the actual shot.  The challenge was great and I will do it again.  It may not be 100% representative of the PBA shots, but they very from bowling center to bowling center as well.  Many factors effect the way an oil pattern is put down and breaks down.  Weather, lane type, humidity....etc.
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Bad Nuz is Good News

The theory behind it is good. And no people wont play the lanes correctly becuase most of them are THS bowlers who play the same part of the lane every time. You have to take out of the shot what you can. Make correct ball line and speed changes and improve you game and who cares about anyone else. It also doesnt help watching on tv where they have a half hour to an hr practice on the lanes before you start. they get a chance to burn in a line instead of the 10-15 minutes you get befor league. When it comes down to it, its all about you bowling and if you learned and practiced at it then you will get more out of it that can help you for future shots.
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Shawn

I bowled a PBAX last summer,  Brunswick Zone with a brandy new oil machine (don't know brand), wood lanes with Guardian heads.  Each pattern played very differently for us, and lane surfaces played a huge difference.  Chameleon was very up the boards on the outside until they broke down and slowly migrated right.  Cheetah was VERY fast and too ahrd for me with my lower ball speed.  The outside was basically a spring board for hook.  Scorpion was THICK, had to play closer to the pocket and I ended up playing straight up 10/11/12.  Shark I ended up angling the ball like what, so so heavy.  Viper was just fun, with lots of room for error.  I found it to be very fun, and consistent week to week.  Great challenge, and really makes you hanker on spares.  Definitely a great experience.