Charlest, This year my league bowled 3 11 week sessions on 36, 39 and 42 feet.  Max volume topped out at 40 units.  

In the four years that I have been bowling in a sport league, the one thing that I can predict is how well I will score based on who is on the pair.  On a house shot, you can have guys playing different parts of the lanes and still be able to find a path to the pocket.  On a sport condition, if there are guys all over the lane scoring will be inconsistent.  This is especially true for guys like McCracken who want to pull out the charcoal because they appear too slick.  

I have had my best looks on the longer patters where people don't abuse the charcoal and play a similar part of the lane.  I would encourage people to be sensible about their lane play and equipment selection if they want to make sport bowling a pleasant experience.  The folks who don't will no doubt join the whiners on this board who think sport bowling is a reverse block, unfair, too hard etc.

Hope that helps.

Urethane Game and Anthony,

I didn't mean to imply all ABC-sanctioned Sport shots were reverse blocks. The people who ran last Summer's Sport Shot league downloaded 15 different oil patterns from ABC's sanctioned choices. Every one of them had a light, 2:1 ratio or less of oil from 10 to 10 board for the most part and 5 to 5 board in general. I asked the principals why they continually chose a pattern which quickly disintegrated into an "apparent" reverse block. They told me that virtually every choice that the ABC gave them was similar.

All I can relate was what I learned and what I saw. I can only and must assume that they were not lying to me.

Our maximum average at the end of that league was 188 and while we had a lot of people who need a wall and play only house shots, we also had more than a few truly good players. Maybe our shot was not fair; I had a lot of fun and finished 10th out of 32, although I entered with the low book average. It was quite frustrating for everyone and many did not have fun. It was a singles league where we changed lane pairs and opponents with each game.

Fun, for me, is when you're rewarded for making good shots; that didn't happen often here. This league will become a PBA shot this Summer.

Glad you two were able to find Sport shot league that have turned out to be more fair, more fun and had decent amounts of oil.
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"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."


Edited on 4/27/2004 2:31 PM

Edited on 4/27/2004 2:32 PM

MCM42,

If in fact it is a sanctioned sport condition, it is unlikely that you will be much above 170. By sanctioned, I mean you purchase a sport sanction and tapes are taken prior to each session.

There are a half dozen PBA members in my league and only 2 people averaged 200+ this year.  Most of the PBA guys, a few whose names are quite recognizable, averaged in the 190's.  You can follow this link to see for yourself: (Note the entering averages reflect the first week scores and not actual entering averages)

http://beverlylanes.2gobowl.com/?PAGE=SPORT_BOWLING_2

If you are a buck ninety, the adjustment scale generously puts you in the 170's on a sport condition.  The more you hook it and or fling it the greater that gap will be.  Good Luck!

Edited on 4/27/2004 4:51 PM

Hey McCraken, (Munson's looking for a rematch)

It is going to depend on your oil concentration.  Urethane Game makes a very good point but if it's flooded to begin with, you'll have no choice but to play with something that has some surface on it or you'll just hydroplane.  You'll just need to get deeper then the rest and probably change balls accordingly.  The main key to reverses in my opinion is control as UG stated also.  The more stable, the better off you are because most sports don't offer a lot of room for you to just send it right.  It'll play a lot on your accuracy, good test actually to see where your game is at.  Is this an ABC approved sport league?  If so, they will have to adhere to certain guidelines on the oiling but if it's not a sanctioned sport, anything goes.  I was high average last year in my sport league at 188 but we had some brutal stuff (bowled w/ the asst. mgr) so we put out everything, even to 50 feet.  I was using my Mutant(for some surface), but it's drilled 1x1 cg, almost label axis and it was bottom weighted as well, very smooth overall reaction.  

You'll still need to match up surface to oil as usual but nothing with too much hook is definitely recomended, let me know what you see in the early weeks and maybe I can find something fo you to play with.
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Rick Leong
Ten Pins Pro Shop
Track Amateur/Pro Shop Staff
Vise Grip Staff

Edited on 4/28/2004 7:24 AM

UG,


I bowled at Beverly last summer in the Sport Trios and booked 183. I also missed a boatload of spares which made me place a premium on spare shooting. That shot was tough. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Zikes' arent putting out a soft shot. UGame is correct though. Too often "sport shot" comes up and a few things happen, they look at you funny and change the subject or assume its "heavy oil" and bring out a dull beast of a ball and mangle the pattern. Even after all this guys like Curt Aemissger (Sp?) continues to average over 200 on these challenging patterns. Curt is a great, and I mean great bowler. He sometimes makes the Beverly sport shot look like a wide open wall.
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"I dont have a girlfriend. But I do know a woman who would be mad at me for saying that."- Mitch Hedberg