From two different angles, with a Raging Inferno.  Number one, no, it wasn't burning up.  First one I was playing down and in, the next one I was playing 3rd arrow.  I liked how it was reacting, but it was more the inconsistency of the house that sucks.  However, it wasn't hooking as early as I wanted it to.  They were both on lane 29, which consequently was the same lane a local pro left one on in a tournament a couple months ago (he throws about the same speed I do with about half the revs), and again the same lane that another local pro that throws 19 mph at about 450 revs left it on a month or two ago.  I play more of a skid/snap shot, so I have good angle and a strong movement on the backend.  The house is all midlane.  Move right, it hooks early, move left, it never comes up, in the middle, you don't carry.  If you're not a cranker or a speed player, you don't score at this house.  You may have good nights, but you'll have a lot more bad ones.  

I don't understand, I just don't understand.  It's ridiculous, I can't match up with this house period.  My other house I have two leagues in, and my low set in the last 5 weeks is 692, and I just shot that tonight early.  Yes, it's an easy house, but you just don't average 240 even on a super wall if you don't have a clue.  We've already had 4 or 5 people quit the league at the sucky house, and a lot more that either complain a lot or are thinking about quitting it, myself included.  When the city bowling organization taped the lanes a few months ago, they were illegal because they weren't putting out enough oil, and now they're ok, but the lane guy doesn't have a clue.  The track is just an oil slick, and outside of that is super dry.  However, you get it out too quick, it's gone, not quick enough, washout.  Their "sport shot" they put down has a nice amount of head oil and really strong backends, and they can't put down a simple house shot?  

I was throwing the ball faster than normal tonight, about 18 mph, and I suppose I was at about 250 revs.  I was trying to force it down the side so I wouldn't have to mess with the over/under of the track area, so I had a good line, and the ball was moving well towards the pocket, it just wouldn't do anything when it got there.  Ring 10's all night, the two 5-7-10's, 7's, you name it.  There's another guy (besides Benoit) that I was bowling against that used to hit pro stops every now and again back in the late 80's and early 90's, and I asked him just what I was doing wrong.  The ball obviously wasn't burning up, it was reacting decent, but I couldn't carry a thing.  He said I was playing the right spot for my shot, and that there wasn't really anything I could do besides hope I started carrying.  Needless to say I gave the ball away.
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I've also used particle stuff to great success there, that's why I thought it'd work.  My Detonator ate the house alive, my Carbide LRG was incredible (wasn't it a solid though?), and I've used a number of particle pearls that all worked well there.  I wish I HAD another Detonator, that ball was awesome . .
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New member of the Metal Militia!!!  If you think Simple Plan is metal, then you must die.  And not get to be a member . .\m/!!!

98 times out of 100 in a world of 14-16 pound reactive/particle balls and reasonably good bowlers, multiple 5-7-10s mean that the backends and pin deck have not been properly stripped.
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"Some guys get the world.  Other guys get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona."

I agree with Phillip on this one, I went open bowling yesterday with a few friends, one which is a very good bowler which I nicknamed him super carry since it seems like he carries just about everything. He left a 5-7-10 on his first shot, and after bowling a while I myself couldn't believe the amount of carrydown. The ball was basically hooking at the arrows then when it got to the backend the ball just...well stopped. I have a feeling that the backends you were bowling on weren't stripped properly.
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-If you're not willing to change, you're not willing to improve.

-Life is like a coin, you can spend it any way you want, but you can only spend it once.

-90 percent of the game is half mental
-Yogi Berra

Hmm, the backends might not be getting stripped . .  The lane machine isn't that old, I think it's only 7 or 8 years, just since the center opened.  That would explain why the track area is slick and inconsistent at the breakpoint . .  If I got the ball rolling soon enough, it would come up, but it was coming up too quickly, so I had to move just a tad left and swing it just a little.  I was trying to go straight up 8 and bounce it off 6 relatively early, at about 25-30 feet.  It would start coming back and just go too long.  It's not like it never reacted, which would suggest burn out, it just reacted too late, as is common at that house.  The control cranker that I said left one (who has 2 800's, 3 299's, a 300 and a 298 there this year, and holds the house record of 837) is a mechanic there, and he says they use defense oil, which he says is kinda "sticky" or hard for the machine to strip.  

I guess that would explain things, and also why only power players score there, they can get their stuff into a much earlier roll than most other people can.  Also, it's not like I haven't scored there before, I've had a 300, a couple back 11's, and a dozen or so sets over 750, the most recent of those being a 300 a year ago, but I haven't shot anything over 670 there this year.  I KNOW it can't be the way I'm throwing the ball, because I come straight from my early house where I'm at 219 (slow start to the year, hadn't bowled since January because of my shoulder, took a while to get back into the swing of things, and for the last 8 weeks I'm averaging 232 in that league, and 237 in my other league there) which sends me over with a lot of confidence, and then the ball is all over the place, and then I start getting tight, which screws the rest of the night up.  

My ball roll since I got everything working has been almost exactly like Mike Haugen Jr.'s.  His form is better, but the ball roll is the same, identical speed and rev rate.  My track runs about an inch from my middle finger and about a half inch to an inch from my thumb.  My PAP is 5 3/4ths over and 3/4ths up.  It's a high track yes, but there's nothing wrong with it.  Everything works well, and anywhere with a consistent line, I score at.  I score better on the "sport pattern" this house puts down.  It's a flatter shot, but all I need are consistent backends.  It does make me feel a lot better that the control cranker left one, there were people taking pictures and everybody's still talking about it.  This guy is good, and I mean good, he's incredibly versatile, he gets the game, he adjusts well, and makes the right moves at the right time.  The only stuff he ever leaves are 10 pins, 4 pins, and the occasional oops split.  He just doesn't leave 5-7-10's, and I don't believe I've ever seen him even leave a 5-7 before.  The ball hits with such power that it just blows stuff everywhere.
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New member of the Metal Militia!!!  If you think Simple Plan is metal, then you must die.  And not get to be a member . .\m/!!!

Edited on 12/28/2005 3:36 PM

They put in new pins in June, but carry has always been terrible there.  The new pins didn't help, but you can leave all kinds of stuff at any given time.  Had a guy going for 300 a couple weeks ago, left an 8 on ball number 10.  8's happen everywhere, but solid 7's aren't uncommon either.
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New member of the Metal Militia!!!  If you think Simple Plan is metal, then you must die.  And not get to be a member . .\m/!!!