BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: 9andaWiggle on December 02, 2004, 11:29:45 AM
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Bob Hansons post about "What If" got me to thinking a bit about technology and it's place in our games, and I started to wonder why we look to technology to help us win games.
What is a game? Isn't it an action (or set of actions) that are made up for us to test our physical skills against an opponent? If so, then why are technological advances allowed in any game or sport. If we never heard of graphite shafts and titanium heads in golf, or Resin covers and diamond cores in bowling balls, wouldn't we enjoy the game as much today as competitors did years ago? When (and why) did we allow technology into our games that will do half the work for the competitors?
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9~
Keep your balls on the lane and your mind in the gutter!
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...or we accept that we have no skill and therefore turn to high performance equipment to help compensate for our inability to play the game well...
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-Dino
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Basically because 99.99% of the people truly believe in the saying,
"It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether you win.",
AND
most, not all people, can be ruthlessly lazy.
Combine those two and you'll see most people's apparent pleasure in bowling comes from winning bracket money and pots, not from the peleasure of executing better and thus beating their opponent. So much of the talk ont he lanes today was which brackets they were put in, who they're against in those brackets and what they have to bowl to win their bracket, NOT what they have to do to winthis game or how the lanes are transitioning and what they have to do to get back to the pocket.
(No, this isn't as far off the topic as it might appear.)
As I have said a few times here, in bowling both on TV and on your local lanes, it seems that the better executor rarely wins.
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"When we choose an action,
we also choose the consequences of that action.
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I continue to say that the game was easier and simpler in the two other times I bowled.
The 60s and the early 80s. Than it is today!
The only difference is carry!
Regards,
Luckylefty
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Hmmmmmmm progression.
Let's see the 1896 pole vault record with bamboo was 10' 6"s. Rev. Bob Richards vaulted 15' with bamboo in the 50's. Don Bragg ushered in the next era with steel poles in the 60's going mid 15'. Sergei Bubka goes over 20' with fiberglass.
Scott
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Great way to pose a question we all have beaten around a lot ( maybe too much ).
Great answer Sawbones!
Unfortunately at 57 I have not yet sho 300 but I think many will agree it is no longer the "perfect game" just 300.
Those that don't want difficult condition aren't sportsman they are just ball throwers.
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Maybe it's because humans have a brain, that they like to use..? It thinks and can be used to figure out situations to overcome any obsticle. =:^D
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The premise of this topic implies that technology enables bowlers with lesser skills to perform consistently higher than bowlers with greater skills.
I don't believe this to be true. Overall, scores are higher across the board, but the pecking order of bowlers stays about the same; skilled bowlers continue to remain at the top.
At the end of the day, skill remains the differentiating factor, and this is all that really matters.
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"You want the truth? -- You can't handle the truth! "
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Bottom line for me is this with bowling and golf....
1. You still gotta be consistent.
2. Somebody still has to swing the club or throw the ball.
Technology doesn't take the place of skill. In fact it's made the game harder than it was for me 18 years ago when one ball did the job of the 5 I have now. Technology makes the ball hook easier, ONLY if you throw it correctly.
It's all relative in my experience.
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quote:
Today, we have flingers who can and do put up numbers a so called skilled player can not match because we continue to determine skill by ones ability to repeat shots and consistently hit the pocket.
Sawbones: Sorry. I have to respectfully disagree. "Flingers" do not consistently put up numbers that skilled players can't match. Just consistently hitting the pocket is not sufficient (that's all flingers really do on their best days anyway). If you can't consistently vary speed, angle, and rotation based on lane transition, you have no chance of competing with skilled players over the longer haul.
Bob just said it well:
quote:
High tech balls, cavity back clubs, etc are tools that give us a higher probably of success than the tools they replaced. However the person most skillful in utilizing the advanced tool is still most likely to achieve the full potential of the tool.
Do you really not believe this, or are you just playing devils advocate?
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"You want the truth? -- You can't handle the truth! "
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I see where Sawbones is coming from, but the flinger theory only works on walled up conditions. Put a flinger on a flat pattern where they can't merely bounce off the dry and I think you'll see their scores plummet. Therefore, the combination of strong equipment (that carry off hits better) and softer conditions (that allow the flinger to hit the headpin easier) is what give the flinger an advantage in this situation. I've seen it too often, a consistent guy pings 10 pins from what appear to be solid pocket hits, while the flinger nicks the head pin oneither side and the pins fly around and eventualy get back and forth across the pin deck enough times to knock everything down.
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9~
Keep your balls on the lane and your mind in the gutter!
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quote:
To date, I doubt that we have any data as to results of a good flinger opposed to a bowler of your ability over a wide range of conditions over a long enough period of time.
Sawbones: I think that if you look at the league sheets of any good scratch and/or classic league over multi-year period, you'll see the same bowlers in the same relative ranking year after year.
Even the best leagues have their "flingers", yet no matter what high tech 'ball of the month' they drill up, they consistently stay a rung below skilled elite. Yes, these flingers have their occasional night in the sun, but they are infrequent and do not change pecking order over the longer haul.
I personally suffer from the same affliction. While I'm as consistent as most, I don't have the ultimate level of versatility that define the cream in the leagues I bowl in. I have occasional success, but not often enough to crack the top five when you examine the year end sheets.
Do you actually have flingers in your area who consistently average 220+ in competitive situations?
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"You want the truth? -- You can't handle the truth! "
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The answer is capitalism. There is money to be made improving sports technology. Once the technology is available you must use it in order to compete. Simple as that.
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For the same reason we climb mountains, goto the moon/mars... (with far less noble gains) becuase we are smart enough to figure how we can gain advantage. But not so smart that we understand that by doing so we cheat and ruin the sport itself.
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Bowling Tips and Articles at: www.bowlingknowledge.com
IRC: Internet Relay Chat on Dalnet #striketalk. 24x7x365
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jfonti.... scores have never ever been higher and stil bowlers are leaving this sport by double digits. What I hear you saying is that if every bowler can shoot an award score bowlers would be happy. THat is just not the case... people want to be proud of achievements... virtually no one is proud of 300's anymore.
You are wrong and it is a misconception that higher scores make happier bowlers. Higher scoring creates higher (unearned) expectations and when bowlers dont reach those expectations they get disgrunteled and eventually leave the sport after long enough.
Put the requirement of skill in the bowlers hands, take away the advantage of technology then you will see a return of bowlers who practice to get better, and stop hoping, praying and relying on technology to give them what they dont deserve.
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Bowling Tips and Articles at: www.bowlingknowledge.com
IRC: Internet Relay Chat on Dalnet #striketalk. 24x7x365
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Bob, hunting wasn't always a sport. And believe it or not, it is NOT human nature to constantly look for ways of improvement over things that need no improvement. That is a myth.
There was a time when people were content with their lives. The agricultural revolution changed all of that.
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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!"
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I disagree about the high scores encouraging more league bowling.
Except for the scratch leagues men's leagues are having a tough time getting full rosters because the average bowlers ( 150 - 180) who used to have a shot at high single or high series don't have a chance because every league has 3 or 4 flingers who shoot 300 or high 700's series. The average guy don't feel competitive so he either switches to a mixed league or stops league bowling.
I used to bowl in an 84 lane house that was full wall to wall 10 to 15 years ago now they struggle to keep the late league fall.
The former manager quit bowling because he said no one wanted anything but walled up condition and he didn't enjoy the game because now he could average 225 when he used to be 195 to 200 tops.
I often wonder how a great stroker like Earl Anthony would fair today.
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I'm experiencing both sides of the spectrum this season. Not to toot my own horn, but I am always in the top 2 or 3 for high average in my men's league. The top 8 averages get posted on our league sheet. I average 219, and can't make the sheet. I know there are bowlers on the list that are not as good as I am. But I don't throw the latest/greatest equipment. Right now, with the lanes like they are, and the new equipment, its a carrying contest and some guys are doing it better.
In my mixed league, the shot is so bad, you work your butt off just to shoot a low 600 series. The only ball I found to work for me (and I've tried all 20 that I have) is my old purple Quake. My newest ball is over 2 years old and I'm throwing a relic that is 7 or 8 years old. I've had plenty of "clean" games that ended up in the 190's. I lead this league because I make spares. The only real difference that I can see in all the equipment that I've tried, is that the Quake is drilled leverage-axis. Everyone in this league is having trouble kicking out their corner pins. I am carrying marginally better, thus a higher average.
What I'd like to see is a condition that rewards good shotmaking regardless of the technology. I don't want a wall, but I want to enjoy myself at bowling. Lately, its too much like work. Pack the pocket for 30 frames, make 90% of your spares and shoot 595. There's a good time.
Edited on 12/4/2004 7:17 AM
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If you imply this towards bowling, then this is also going to apply to everyday life. We use technology everyday to make life easier. Even though technology has given us an advantage, you may see an uprise in scores, but this is because the bowlers themselfs are becoming better due to research and studies of the game. (releases, angle entry, and learning how to play harder conditions)
But the real test of skill is this. Give a bowler a urethane ball to bowl with, he/she must use this ball on every shot/spare shot. If they dont break at least 185 on a normal shot, well, you know.
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www.csbowling.vze.com
HA HA!!1 IM USING THE INTERNET!!11
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Yeah, didn't people say urethane was going to kill the game once too? Let's use plastic with lighter oil, ball drilled over label and no scuffing.
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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!"