Bowling - SportsDope

Rough Bowling Balls Lend Unfair Edge
Inspectors declare that bowling balls with too rough a surface offer players an edge.

The Bowlers Journey May 2005-Update
So how cruel is this sport of bowling? I practice and make a plan and committ to it only to arrive at the center and find a condition that I had not seen in that facility in forever. The previous post stated that I would be rolling the white dot up the 10 in an effort to gain a straighter line and more consistancy. Keep in mind that my average is dismal in this facility. I throw out the practice shot…hit the mark and the ball holds the straight line all the way down. Thinking it was just the first ball, I throw the shot again. Same spot, same result. I stand back and watch the other bowlers in the house that I am familiar with and they are all getting no movement out of the ball. This is a notoriously dry house and now it feels close to being flooded.

Move to the Jekyll, the middle ball in the bag. Very straight ball down the lanes with only a few boards of movement. Throw again….same result. I never throw the Throttle in this house except when I am fooling around. Take an inside line and the ball holds but finds the pocket. Figured, well I guess I should stick with it since the lanes felt so different to me. Went 14 frames before finding an open. Felt the hits moving towards the high side of the pocket and switched balls to the Jekyll. Followed the line I had grooved in and had the same success. Went another 10 frames with out an open when I tugged and left and 6-7-10 split. No conversion but finished strong. 38 pins over average for the night. What the heck?

Talked to one of the managers and he told me that there is a big difference between the daytime open play on my normal league night compared to this new night summer league. It will be interesting to see if this is the exception or the rule as we go forward next week. What a wild ride. The assumption is that the lanes will be slick to the right of the center and get drier as the machine moves left due to a senior league that bowls during that day on the far right 8 lanes. So I am assuming that on 12-16, the reactive balls will be the choice and on the 5-9 will be the urethane/plastic ball. 10-11 should be right in the middle

I will let you know, but it will be interesting to see what conditions are like from week to week. In some centers, the machine strips and cleans the oil on the way down and lays new coming back. I guess this machine does not do that but will have to research that next week to be sure.

Bowl Well