Got back from State yesterday and thought I'd share my experience. First, I have to say I was probably not at my best while bowling on Friday and Saturday. I had bowled in our league playoffs on both Wednesday and Thursday nights which included fairly late nights of partying afterwards. Since I switched which arm I throw with, I admit if I bowl a lot and don't make sure I get the proper rest, I'm usually a little arm weary. I was this weekend and it did affect my ability to make good shots consistently. Now, on to the lanes. I thought that Mountain lanes head area had quite a bit of friction causing the ball to check up a little early. This coupled with not being able to get the ball around it on the outside because a lack of recovery from there made the shot fairly demanding. Playing inside without a strong rev type game was not possible for our group which is dominated by older guys whose games are more of the stroker type. There was a lot of oil inside and if you missed there you went through the beak as the ball wouldn't cross over and you had to play direct at your right side spares (I'm a lefty) or you could miss them on the left.
At Weston lanes the heads had far less friction up front but also had very little room for error. Like Mountain lanes, when missing your target inside, it did not cross and usually went through the nose. Didn't have to lead the ball as much though to hit my spares on the right side. The one thing I heard from guys we talked to at both places was that they thought it was tough conditions at both places. I thought is was more about accuracy and and if you made good shots you were around the pocket. The only telling thing about the scoring was the fact that shooting a low score in brackets did not prohibit you from advancing and even winning more than one bracket. I think that says a lot. I had never heard so much displeasure from bowlers about the lane conditions and I've been bowling state for over 30 years.
I told a buddy of mine that I thought this was the kind of shots that we bowl on every so often and when we get done, you think, "If I could bowl again I could hit it" and in reality given another shot, would probably not yield a big difference unless you are a much more accomplished bowler. Nationals, you expect a tough shot. At State, I think the best years for the masses have been when the condition requires you to make good shot but there is at least a little area outside to play in. The tournament attendance is dominated by average league bowlers looking to have a fun weekend including the bowling. I don't think our tournament was ever meant to separate the men from the boys.
I have a few very good bowlers who go with my squad and they usually average over 200 for the weekend. I don't think I had any do that this year and I watched them miss a lot of spares and throw some pretty low games. I average in the 190s and the last few years had shot over 1800 at state. This year I averaged 187.
As far as both lanes are concerned, Mountain as everyone knows is old but the bar had nice bartenders and it seemed everyone had a good time there Friday night, well after we were done bowling. Weston is a very modern, gigantic place. We were done bowling at about 4:30 and didn't stay late but it didn't look like a place that would keep the bowlers there. Good bartenders but not much to going on. I thought Wausau in general is a nice city, but not the easiest to get around. We also did not find many places where the 35-55 year old crowd fit in. Some live music with a classic rock sound would have been great. Fond du Lac won't offer much more, I'm afraid.
