ehh...I don't like the idea of making the bowlers "have" to use only one ball of choice for practice but you may be one to something when it comes to perhaps only using 1 ball during play though I would think every member would hate it. Some that are dependent on making a spare with only a "somewhat straighter" release with a plastic ball like Ryan Shafer would be screwed.
What could work is they get no practice on the tv pair and limit the player to only allowed to use 1 ball in game play. If they win a match, they are allowed to switch balls. They can practice all they want to the side of the tv pair setting which they do anyways. One problem, aside from potential scores dropping 20 some pins from normal is what if the ball doesn't feel right, gets damaged, thumb slug flies out. Of course these things would rarely happen. Then on the telecast all your going to hear from Randy Pedersen is how good or bad of a ball choice the bowler made. If you think your hearing it now, then that is all you would hear.
I have no problem with the way it is right now. My argument for the PBA is instead of just worrying about the lane conditions, why not go back to the idea of using heavier, colored pins and perhaps even a different shape of pins. This way it visibly shows the viewer that the professionals are using different pins then what open play and league bowlers are using. Also, not just use them for the telecast but use them for the entire tournament. Force the players to have to get flush and the great shot making would return and the high nose shots and light mixed shots would be harder to come by. You can try to sell lane conditions all you want but the fact is we can't see a lane condition. It's not like golf where you can add a sand trap here, move the tee back, move the hole to a harder part of the green...
