OK, first off - no, I am not on tour. Shut up.

1. Why can't everyone figure out by now that the right lane's approach has a sticky spot when shooting crosslane at 10 pins? How many times in these telecasts have we seen somebody stick on the right lane when shooting at a 10-pin? Don't they practice sliding in that area before the show? It baffled me each and every time I saw somebody stick at the line and whiff the 10-pin, then look down at the approach as if to say "Well, I wasn't expecting that." Seriously?

2. The blue oil is still stupid and useless, no matter how many times Randy tries to pump it up as a great innovation.

3. Those Bear pattern lanes were TOUGH! Question: When it gets to the point where if you miss a hair left it runs away Brooklyn, but you miss a hair right and you leave 2-8-10 or super washout - then why are these guys still aiming for the 1-3 pocket? Wouldn't it be better to, say, launch urethanes (or something similarly non-aggressive) straight at the 1-2 pocket and go for Brooklyn strikes? As somebody with a "grinder" background, I can assure you that this tactic works pretty good on a reverse block condition (which is what those lanes turned into after a game or two). Is it just a pride thing? Do they really think that they will suddenly find some stable hold if they keep moving left?

Anyway, those are just my thoughts after watching the telecast.

Chucking a urethane ball at the 1-2 is not grinding.

Quote from: itsallaboutme on June 25, 2014, 08:40:06 AM

Chucking a urethane ball at the 1-2 is not grinding.

Its "I give up, I'm a house bowler" strategy.

+1

Actually, the strategy of firing straight with a urethane  would not have been a give up strategy.  From a distance I was thinking it would have made sense.  I think the reason nobody did it was that they were throwing just enough strikes to stay sucked in to the strategy they started with.  Also note that Tacket and Lochester both started with strikes.  I have been in that situation a few times, and your own confidence and experience works against you, in a single game format where the remaining frames decrease quickly. 

What makes the Bear pattern so tough is the length.  40 feet just long enough that trying to play from outside is not attractive, but it is short enough that the hold area doesn't set up in the middle quickly enough either.  Note that the Wolf is also a very flat pattern, but you can use urethane and play out with good results

Im curious as to how someone like Duke would have done on the pattern.  I think having someone who played the lanes straight(er) would have been interesting to have in the final.

It's possible that Duke with playing outside and using the soft speed could have done well.  The reason I think this is because it is a very flat pattern, similar to what we would see with the US Open.  At the same time, Duke could move in and hook the lane as needed. 

Watching the show last night, it was clear that the pattern gave everyone hell, especially on the right lane.

Quote from: Walking E on June 25, 2014, 12:43:46 AM

Question: When it gets to the point where if you miss a hair left it runs away Brooklyn, but you miss a hair right and you leave 2-8-10 or super washout - then why are these guys still aiming for the 1-3 pocket? Wouldn't it be better to, say, launch urethanes (or something similarly non-aggressive) straight at the 1-2 pocket and go for Brooklyn strikes?

I think, and this is for a LOT of the national touring pro's, they DON'T miss a hair to the left or right and they repeatedly "pure" the shot.  If they do......it's not often.

JMO

I watched the show. What I saw was not "puring" every shot.

Well, for Duke, Voss or one of the women to shoot 200 on that they would need to make the show.

These are some of the best bowlers in the world and they have a coach standing behind them.  If there was someplace on the lane that they felt gave them a better chance to strike they would be playing there.

If you think chucking the ball at the 1-2 is grinding then you are not a bowler, you are someone that bowls.

Well, for Duke, Voss or one of the women to shoot 200 on that they would need to make the show.

These are some of the best bowlers in the world and they have a coach standing behind them.  If there was someplace on the lane that they felt gave them a better chance to strike they would be playing there.

If you think chucking the ball at the 1-2 is grinding then you are not a bowler, you are someone that bowls.

So I take it you were impressed with the lane strategy. We all know who was bowling and we know how good they are. We know that the shot was horrifically tough. That does not translate into they necessarily played the lanes the most effectively, or that a different approach would not have worked better.

I did not see anyone ball down, take their hand out of it and play straighter. There are many that say that straighter is greater.