You've obviously never bowled on a short sport pattern then. The length of oil is not the main issue.

I have to use "entry" level balls on our 41' house shot where I live. However when I go back to my hometown and bowl on a 38' shot i can use mid-range equipment.

There are too many variables from center to center to have a minimum guideline and it would cost too much money to apply

It isn't "just" an oil problem.

 1. Todays reactive balls not only change the conditions way too fast, but they are far more sensitive to those changes than ever before. Even slight changes in the pattern can mean major moves and adjustments.

 2. Todays synthetic lane surfaces have a much wider "friction range" than old, oil soaked wood lanes. Todays lanes start out about the same as the wood lanes did, but as they dry out they offer much more friction than wood ever did. Just the nature of the material I guess.

 3. Owners and proprietors are not worried sbout, or interested in, any type of rule. or condition they feel may hurt their bottom line or threaten their income/business. It won't matter what rule or rules come down the pike, unless it comes with teeth and enforcement, it will just be ignored like they are now.

 Look, I don't like the modern game very much either, but the people who DO like it wouldn't like the "old" ways much either. Let's face it, a 220 average person with 19 mph ball speed probably wouldn't do to well with 35ft oil and a yellow dot on wood lanes and 3' 8" pins.

 The "game" has changed, and the time for "what was" is gone. Time to accept it and move on like I finally had too. Yes, it meant that I went from being exceptional to just a "run of the mill" old guy, but time would've done that to me eventually anyway.

but the bowling environment SHOULD be such that normal adult with average speed and revs who is a stroker  can square up and play down and in with reactive on a league shot.

This thinking is part of the reason why bowling has kept moving away from sport and more towards recreational.

As a senior bowler who has lost ball speed I too like heavier oil on the lanes.

But if you really want to make the lanes tough, take all the oil off the lane. Plus it will eliminate the need for big hooking balls.

Oil on the lane either makes scoring easier or harder depending on how it is applied. The old excuse for lane conditioner was that it protected the lane but it's primary purpose now is to control scoring. Either for better scoring or worse.

If you don't believe a 39 foot pattern can be challenging then you have haven't bowled at the National Open in recent years.

And perhaps the OP didn't really explain his conditions very well.  Most of us know short sport shots are challenging and one can use many different balls on them.  Also realize short sport shots have as much total oil on them as long sport shots.  The oil is heavier where it is applied.  I also remember the days of 24-26 foot oil where swinging urethane wasn't that uncommon.

But today's league doesn't use sport shots or 24 foot oil with urethane.  Imagine what would happen if the PBA put out the Cheetah or Wolf patterns with 3 units outside 10 liek a typical THS.  They would be practically unplayable. 

Hell, it wasn't even just urethane that people used adeptly...I still remember watching in awe the way Marc Laracuente tossed the Blue Dot from the left side and cleaned house. 

It isn't that 24' patterns are unplayable...it is that too many people don't know how to throw less ball because it fractures their fragile ego to learn how to take hand out of the shot or to throw a far more moderate piece of equipment.  Everyone wants snow tread crap and refuses to learn how to use a spare ball as an essential piece of the arsenal.  There is a reason some of us keep things like a Roto RH or a Roto Gold Grenade around... 

 

Quote from: spmcgivern on September 21, 2016, 07:54:01 AM

And perhaps the OP didn't really explain his conditions very well.  Most of us know short sport shots are challenging and one can use many different balls on them.  Also realize short sport shots have as much total oil on them as long sport shots.  The oil is heavier where it is applied.  I also remember the days of 24-26 foot oil where swinging urethane wasn't that uncommon.

But today's league doesn't use sport shots or 24 foot oil with urethane.  Imagine what would happen if the PBA put out the Cheetah or Wolf patterns with 3 units outside 10 liek a typical THS.  They would be practically unplayable. 

Hell, it wasn't even just urethane that people used adeptly...I still remember watching in awe the way Marc Laracuente tossed the Blue Dot from the left side and cleaned house. 

It isn't that 24' patterns are unplayable...it is that too many people don't know how to throw less ball because it fractures their fragile ego to learn how to take hand out of the shot or to throw a far more moderate piece of equipment.  Everyone wants snow tread crap and refuses to learn how to use a spare ball as an essential piece of the arsenal.  There is a reason some of us keep things like a Roto RH or a Roto Gold Grenade around... 

 

I agree that today's bowler typically cannot make efficient physical adjustments to combat the conditions.  The game has changed from physical adjustments to equipment adjustments and it doesn't matter whether or not one thinks it is the right way, it is just a reality.  Plus, the average bowler doesn't have soft C6 Roto Grip plastic or old school pearl urethane (even though I actually have both of those balls). 

And on a different note, I have seen centers put out long, heavy oil for a while just to go to a lighter and shorter oil pattern, all in the name of pro shop sales.  Not saying this is the case here, but I wonder what the original conditions were like.  I am all for challenging, but 99% of leagues only want fair and consistent oil patterns.

I believe the main point of this thread was that if it gets to the point where a bowler can't have average at best ball speed, and square up and play down and in(like I do) and keep the ball from crossing over without using  something other than Reactive resin, then the problem in my opinion is the lane patterns and the volumes, and the NOT the bowler.  I am not talking about an 85 year old guy with 10 mph ball speed, more than likely that person won't be able to use reactive...but the bowling environment SHOULD be such that normal adult with average speed and revs who is a stroker  can square up and play down and in with reactive on a league shot.

Brad

So, if the center doesn't put out a shot that allows you to play the lanes in the manner you enjoy, something is wrong? You aren't the first person I've heard say things like that. I once heard a fellow league bowlers say, "this is ridiculous; I should be able to use my favorite ball and play the lanes from here if I want to." Again, when did it become the center's responsibility to give us all the look we want?