By Gabe D'Angelo
Herald Bowling Writer
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After what seemed an eternity of “status quo,” it appears as though the Mercer County Men’s Bowling Association may be heading in a new and different direction. The elections that were held at the annual meeting in May brought new faces to the board. However, perhaps the most important change occurred Aug. 1 when Jim Faylo became the association manager.
Let’s hope these changes transform our association into a positive and progressive one whose main goals are listening to the concerns of the local bowlers and enhancing the sport.
ä Speaking of local associations, Bob Johnson has an interesting article that appears on the last page (92) of the August edition of Bowler’s Journal. It’s entitled “Reviving Competitive Bowling: It Needs to Begin with the Local Associations.”
The article bemoans the high scoring environment that is so prevalent today and gives some suggestions as to how local associations might be able to bring back the spirit of competitive bowling.
Here are some of his ideas: (1) A scratch travel league; (2) An association that includes prizes and recognition for the highest scratch score in each event; (3) An annual Masters and queen event that would reward the winners with prize money and an entry into the same state event; (4) A monthly scratch tournament that would alternate between the county bowling centers; (5) selection of an association All-Star team each season. This would include men, women. seniors and youth; (6) An annual awards banquet to honor winners of the association tournament and all those listed in suggestions 3, 4, and 5.
My suggestion is that every member of the association board read this article and make an attempt to implement some of these ideas (if feasible).
ä Here are some interesting facts that offer some proof of how important USBC membership affects the bowling industry. Last year, the number of people who bowled at least once increased from 67 to 69 million.
However, bowling ball manufacturers have found there is no direct correlation between the casual bowler or non-certified league bowler and bowling ball sales. But, there is a connection in sales when USBC members are involved. This is just another reason why the entire bowling industry (from USBC leaders to proprietors and bowlers) need to place emphasis on USBC membership.
ä For any bowler who is on Facebook, I would suggest you become acquainted with a page called “True Bowler Adjustments.” It gives some excellent tips and there are some rather interesting discussions. A recent discussion on sandbagging (whoops, let’s be politically correct — average control) caught my eye. However, that topic is for another time.
ä Previous articles have dealt with oil depletion and carrydown (both terms can be classified as lane transition). We know there are many reasons for lane transition. They include (but are not limited to) lane surface, type of lane conditioner, weather (to include humidity, etc), thickness of conditioner, equipment and lane play. Let’s focus on equipment.
Previous equipment had neither the porosity nor flare that is so common today. That meant oil stayed on top of the ball and the absence of flare gave the bowler an ample quantity of oil in the same place.
We all know that today’s equipment can be described as sponges that soak up oil. Both the width and depth (considered to be the largest influence) of the cover pores play an important role on the amount of oil that is soaked up.
The porosity and flare of modern equipment makes the dry coverstock come in contact with more oil to soak up. This usually means you need to be able to read the transition and make rapid adjustments.
Tests conducted at the Kegel Training Center have shown that oil depletion begins when you throw the first practice ball and transition begins almost immediately. After practice and one game, 35 percent of the oil was gone. After two games, 50 percent was gone and after three games, 60 percent or more was gone.
What can we ascertain from the above? We can say that resistance created by carrydown can have either a positive or negative effect on the bowler.
Oil depletion may be the most important factor in ball reaction. Because of this, bowlers need to be aware of the carrydown process and its effect on your game. Tests have shown how early and rapidly it occurs. If you want to survive, you need to learn how to make the proper adjustments to this problem.
Gabe D’Angelo is a local bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Writers Association who writes this weekly column for The Herald
