Are today’s two-handed bowler yesterday’s Dodo bowler?

When reading about USBC’s recent quest to coach the two-handed style of bowling, I could not help but think back to some articles that were shared about the early days of the American Bowling Congress and how the leaders of the time governed the game. In those very early times of governance, when the game was still being defined at a rapid pace, a new crop of hotshot bowlers came into vogue because some of the more ingenious players figured out how to make exotic bowling balls and use them to their advantage. Those early high tech balls were known then as ‘dodo balls’ and the players that used them were called ‘dodo bowlers.’

From 1900 to 1913, the hotbed of dodo ball competition was Cleveland, Chicago, and Louisville. There was a great debate on whether these balls should be legalized or outlawed, which divided bowlers from these cities into factions that either supported or opposed the use of dodo balls.

However in 1913 the ABC, in favor of equipment standardization, outlawed the dodo ball and officially adopted a rule limiting the weight of a bowling ball to a maximum of 16 pounds and "required all bowling balls be evenly balanced".

Some of the early ‘dodo’ balls simply exceeded the 16 pound maximum weight limit and a few bowlers in those early years were using balls that weighed up to 22 pounds to knock down those stubborn pins. The extremely heavy ball, called a “phony” at the time, gradually went away as bowlers discovered the greater effectiveness of the unbalanced dodo ball.¹

The most common way of loading a ball in the early 1900’s was called the “7-9” combination; where a 17 pound ball was cut in half and cemented to half of a 19 pound ball. The extra weight was primarily used on the left side of the ball, but not always.

To make the dodo ball as effective as possible, nearly everyone used a two-finger grip and common practice was to drill both finger holes the same size. Then the only thing the dodo bowler needed to do to significantly change the "action of the ball" was reverse their grip.

This is where today’s two-handers may be missing the boat, or at least not hopped on board yet. With today’s bowling balls and their dynamically unbalanced cores, by flipping the ball around 180 degrees, a two-hander can get two distinctly different ball motions out of one bowling ball; much like the dodo bowler of the early 1900’s.

By strategically placing the core in relation to their PAP, if rolled in one direction that one ball could have a significant amount of flare potential but when turned around and rolled the other way, it could result in almost zero flare potential.

Note: Since the article was written in 2010, experimentation has continued and some two-handed players, or no-thumb players, have even used a drilling with three holes, increasing layout options for these players. Please refer to “Drilling Specifications” section of Equipment Specifications and Certifications Manual which can be accessed via USBC web site. Also, the USBC has added additional limitations to the ball rules of the 2016 US Open.

On the majority of bowling conditions, when side rotation is employed on the bowling ball, the amount of potential hook is directly related to flare potential. Flare is what enables the bowling ball to track over a fresh surface every revolution which increases the amount of friction between the ball surface and the lane surface.

The extreme amount of flare today’s weight blocks create is mainly what prohibits a bowler using a traditional grip from doing this. If two thumb holes were drilled into the ball, not only would it be difficult to statically balance out the ball and the core layout, the flaring action would eventually roll over one of the thumb holes. When the ball track rolls over such a large hole like most thumb holes, it can jump up off the lane causing unpredictable ball motion.

But a two-handed player does not use or need to drill a thumb hole and therefore could drill their finger holes in the middle of the CG and rotate the core as they see fit. When not drilling a thumb hole into a ball, all the player has to do is satisfy the ‘one ounce in any direction limitation’ set forth by the WTBA , the world governing body of tenpin bowling. The UBSC recently changed their balance rules for bowling balls drilled without a thumb hole and now allow up to three ounces top or bottom weight.

In events that limit players to the number of balls they are allowed to check in for competition, like the WTBA World and Zone Championships, this technique could prove to be particularly advantageous over players relegated to using a thumb hole, or not having the ability to turn the ball around 180 degrees. If done strategically, that 6 ball limitation could become 12 balls for the two-hander. Players using thumb holes do not have this option.

In the early 1900’s, even though there was a clear advantage to use a dodo ball, it was not that popular during those years for two reasons; the dodo ball was difficult to control and there was a strong desire by the ABC to bring ‘fair standard conditions’ to the game.¹

As previously mentioned in my “I’ve been thinking too” article, the modern high tech bowling ball, when used on flatter oil patterns, is also extremely difficult to control and very unpredictable for the less skilled. This volatility is why blocked lane conditions are favored by the majority of bowlers.

Simply put, with the highly sensitive and frictional bowling environment of today, blocked lane conditions are more predictable and therefore just more enjoyable for most bowlers.

Perhaps the two-handed game will also remain a technique for very few since that style is also “difficult to master” and an extreme departure from the style so many have already learned.

As far the game today having ‘fair standard conditions’, like the dodo bowlers of the early 1900’s could do with dodo balls, so can two-handed bowlers with the modern ball. And that contradicts the founding fathers decision that “all bowling balls must be evenly balanced.” A component to the game they felt was necessary in order to have “fair standard conditions.”

¹Bowling Magazine – November 1960 – Dizzy Doings of the Dodo

Dual Oil Patterns are here! What’s next?

The European Bowling Tour has recently announced it will have two tournaments in the 2009 schedule where players will compete on dual oil patterns. Following the lead of Ronald Dol and Luc Jensen, organizers of the EBT Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament which will use dual oil patterns for the third year in a row, the Brunswick Aalborg International will also be contested on dual oil patterns for the second straight year.

Although dual oil patterns have been a mainstay of international championship competition for the last several years, most other high level singles events still use a single oil pattern, but times are changing.

Even the 2008-09 PBA Tour season is testing the waters with an event that utilizes six different oil patterns and another event will employ dual oil patterns on each pair during the PBA Match Play Championship in Norwich, CT.

The format of the recently concluded PBA National Bowling Stadium Championship followed past Foundation Games, the WTBA World Ranking Masters, the EBT Masters and the ETBF European Champions Cup.

In all those events, one qualifying block is played on a short oil pattern and the other qualifying block is played on a long oil pattern. During the match play rounds, all games are played on pairs where every left lane is conditioned with the long oil pattern and every right lane conditioned with the short oil pattern.

How did this all come about?

There are two major reasons why dual oil patterns came into existence. One seemingly clear but not so obvious reason is the technological advancement of the modern lane machine. In the not so distant past, conditioning bowling lanes was done by hand or by machines that could only condition the lane. The challenge however was the time consuming cleaning of bowling lanes. Today’s combination lane machines can consistently condition and clean a bowling lane in less than two minutes making it possible for dual oil pattern events to become a reality.

The other and most significant reason is a group of people came together with a vision and were not afraid to depart from status quo. In the year 2000, then WTBA President PS Nathan called for a World Symposium in Malaysia to address many of the perceived problems related to the sport of bowling.

Out of that symposium, which included the likes of Sid Allen, Tom Kouros, John Davis, Len Nicholson, the late Bill Wasserberger along with other highly respected people in bowling, the WTBA Technical Committee concluded “that a single oil pattern format was unfair, since it overly favored a particular style of play regardless of how the lane was oiled.”

During that same symposium, the WTBA Technical Committee also felt the question of “who is the best bowler” needed to be examined further. Through much discussion and digging deeper into the question, the WTBA defined what they feel are the most important traits that should make up a World Class bowler.

The committee agreed to and created the synonym V-PARK which stands for; Versatility, Power, Accuracy, Repeatability and Knowledge. There was one trait however that was at the very top of every members list, Versatility.

The Technical Committee felt that “the ability to bowl over a wide range of conditions elevated a player from one of quality to that of greatness” and therefore led to the conclusion “that WTBA’s present oiling procedures were not conducive to identifying and rewarding great players, but instead only identified specialists.”

Then committee member Craig Woodhouse suggested the concept of multiple oil patterns and it was unanimously agreed that this would be the standard for all future World Championships.

From where does it go from here?

There is no question that every winner of a dual oil pattern event has garnered the respect of their peers for that week’s competition. It would be reaching pretty far for anybody to say “so-and-so” only won because “they matched up” to both oil patterns. In that regard, the WTBA Technical Committee’s vision about versatility held true but that doesn’t mean dual oil patterns doesn’t have it detractors.

There is no debating the fact that airlines have decreased the allowable weight limits and travel by way of air has been a challenge for the modern bowler. Automobile travel has even been impacted by the modern game and the number of bowling balls competitors need, or feel like they need, to travel to any one tournament even in single oil pattern events.

So one can only imagine that one of the more common negatives of these dual oil pattern events is the perception that the players need to travel to tournaments with an increased amount of equipment to combat this extra oil pattern.

Although dual oil pattern events solely utilizing very long and very short oil patterns actually limit the number of ball choices because optimal ball motions are very similar and the best line is normally very defined, as tournaments move towards dual oil patterns in the medium distance range, that perceived issue will most likely become more reality than perception. When competitive oil patterns are in the medium distance range, all the other variables that make up the playing field come into play more and optimum ball motion becomes an unknown until a player is onsite.

Another remarkable trend in the competitive bowling world the last few years is tournaments being organized and played with severely limited equipment rules or utilizing less frictional bowling balls. The 2005-2007 Dutch DVA Open, the 2006 WTBA World Challenge, the 1997 Scandinavian Plastic Only tournament and multiple Foundation Game events have been held with strict equipment limitations. Some events allowed only one ball while others allowed only one type of ball.

In the Scandinavian Plastic Only event, organizer Ulf Hämnäs stated that “many players in the region had the perception that the higher level players were the best because of their unlimited access to high tech equipment.”

Once the results were tallied however, those same high level players not only still finished at the top of the leader board, they far outpaced the field. Hämnäs said “the equipment advantage perception was replaced with the surprise that the amount of time spent on the lanes practicing actually made the difference, not just getting new balls.”

Hämnäs further stated, “I think this was the time when a lot of bowlers actually understood the greatness of bowlers like Tomas Leandersson.”

So did the winner “match up” best in these events? Much like the 1997 Scandinavian Plastic ball event, according to the other organizers the winners of their events received the same accolades from the competitors as the dual oil pattern event winners, respect from their peers for a job well done. The overall feelings were it was not that the winner matched up the best; it was that the winner bowled the best.

Now in the year 2009, even the PBA Tour is going to hold an event using only one type of bowling ball, the 50th Anniversary PBA plastic ball. In this historic PBA Tour event, all competitors will be limited to two of the special 50th Anniversary plastic balls for the entire event. The main idea is to level the playing field by taking the perceptual equipment advantage, or disadvantage, away so success is determined solely by a player’s physical and mental skill.

In other words, the event goal is to “ensure that the abilities of the athlete, first and foremost, will determine the outcome of the competition.”

Sound familiar?

History - ANNUAL Resurfacing Requirement Produces Results

 ANNUAL Resurfacing Requirement Produces Results Beneficial to Operator and Bowler

Protects Investment of the Operator While Providing Uniformly Better Alleys for His Bowlers and Reacts Generally in Favor of the Game

By E.H. BAUMGARTEN

TO OPEN THE BOWLING SEASON on newly resurfaced alleys should produce a feeling of pride enjoyed by both alley proprietors and the members of leagues bowling on those drives.

The operator is the man who has invested his money in costly equipment, which he takes just pride in keeping up to as nearly the original condition as humanly possible. He knows that a little carelessness here and there, a little neglect such as we are all guilty of at times, is the starting wedge for a rapid and costly deterioration.

He also knows that he is doing the wise thing by observing the annual resurfacing rule prescribed by the A.B.C., because by doing so his bowlers spread the word around that his alleys are always the same; present a uniform condition throughout the bowling season.

This also means that the operator sees the logic of checking up on his alleys at regular intervals after they are resurfaced, for the two-fold purpose of protecting his alleys while keeping them uniform for his bowlers.

“This particular rule has perhaps done more than any single rule toward popularizing the game, because it means more toward creating uniform alley surfaces than any other.”

Many an operator of the old school, in days past, will confirm this from experience costing as high as $50 an alley, when his drives were allowed to "go too far"; and in the resultant serious loss of business which even perhaps led to the entrance of a live-wire competitor into the field.

How often have you heard it said, "This is where we bowl," when a league bowler is showing an out-of-town friend through the plant where his loop functions?

You have heard such remarks, uttered with pride, in those establishments which accept the resurfacing of their drives each year as a matter of good business procedure, for they are the places which also take pride in seeing that other conditions surrounding the business are up to a like standard.

That is why the bowler is proud to take his friends in and show them around the place where he bowls; why he is glad to number the proprietor as a friend and recommend his place of business to others.

Why does the typical bowler assume this attitude? Because, no matter how much he may "crab" after a poor series, he can leave the establishment knowing that he cannot alibi because of poor alleys or inferior wood; that if he hits a swell series, he knows that he was "right” and that soft alleys and round-bottomed pins played no part in it. This is just the condition which the resurfacing rule tends to promote.

The American Bowling Congress is not "on" the alley operator. Its purpose is to produce the best possible conditions for the bowler and for his game, and in so doing the operator is bound to profit.

Let me quote from a letter received from a Nebraska alley operator: "I cannot conceive how anyone would want to soften up his alleys, because we all offer prizes for perfect scores and, furthermore, I paid too much for my alleys to have them ruined by permitting hollows to form in their surfaces."

That old trick of "softening up" or allowing grooves to form to "shape" the ball into the pocket, so the boys would hold a higher average than on alleys of a competitor, belongs to the "pin-head" age long since past. A few dumb bowlers may fall for it, but bowling is attracting entirely too many thousands who "use their heads," for the few unscrupulous operators to put this trick over.

Let the bowler bowl on this type of alleys, then watch him perform in a tournament conducted on alleys which are really kept in condition; or after he has whooped up an average of around the 200 mark, watch him in an A. B. C. tournament, where the alleys are new, perfectly flat and kept in perfect shape, just as they should be. Any enlightened bowler or operator will tell you what happens, should the reader be a novice at the game.

Simply this: these bowlers have not been encouraged to develop skill, but have simply been duped into believing they had developed it - that they were real bowlers.

As a matter of fact their high scoring had been produced by illegitimate aids and devices for which a man should hang (and does as the truth leaks out) for permitting to exist in his bowling plant. There is less and less of this cheap cheating from season to season, "for bowlers are wiser than the crooked operator knows.”

“The idea back of the founding of the ABC was to produce uniform conditions surrounding the game in order that all elements within it might profit therefrom.”

Back a few years ago, when this trickery of softening or grooving was more general, it was just that type of dishonesty which led to such rules as the annual resurfacing stipulation in Congress law. It tends to favor the honest business-man operator by discouraging unfair competition and by encouraging him to preserve his investment and create a priceless reputation among his patrons.

This particular rule has perhaps done more than any single rule toward popularizing the game, because it means more toward creating uniform alley surfaces than any other.

True enough, the "cheap screw" can get around it, but he carries his own business-strangling noose around his neck. He gets around it by complying with the rule, then gradually lets his alleys "groove in." There are very few of them who are this shortsighted. Those that the depression spared are being speared by a popular feeling of indignation held toward them by more and more bowlers who are wise to the injustice which such unfair means produce.

Bowlers do not want unfair aids toward increasing their averages. What they want are uniform alley surfaces throughout the country, so that where ever they may be the same conditions will prevail without being compelled to change style too radically as they try different alleys.

The idea back of the founding of the A.B.C. was to produce uniform conditions surrounding the game in order that all elements within it might profit therefrom.

The fact that bowling popularity has grown to the extent that it has, is conclusive proof that the bowling public places its faith in the A.B.C. ideal.

The A.B.C. Bulletin 1937

History - The Balance of Bowling

TWO PREDOMINATING MOTIVES lead the average person to take up bowling. Stated simply, one is the desire for a pleasant and health-giving recreation; the other is the hope of becoming reasonably expert in the game. To gain a sensible balancing of these prime motives is to benefit immeasurably as a life-long and happy follower of the tenpin art.

First and foremost, bowling is a game. This simple fact should never be lost sight of, no matter how fascinating the game becomes. From the player’s standpoint, it cannot successfully be looked upon as a "profession," a "vocation," or a "high-scoring medium."

This statement of course, precludes to an extent those rare individuals who have become so highly proficient in scoring as to warrant the spending of a portion of their time as "touring instructors" and boosters of the game. However, it does apply with marked emphasis, to that multitude of individuals who bowl for pleasure.

From bowling, as a game, come numerous benefits which are gratifying to the higher sense of living. Many are so self-evident that they are too often taken for granted as one progresses from year to year in the enjoyment of these benefits. Any bowler realizes that he is treating his entire system to a mild, needful stimulant every time he rolls a line.

Followers of the game, "for the 'game's sake," find many ailments are corrected; a stronger nervous and muscular constitution is created; a happier mental state is developed; new and congenial friendships are formed; a better sporting instinct is born: the thrill of friendly competition is experienced; and, on occasions, one's vanity or ego, is tickled by turning in a high single, or a creditable three-game series.

Furthermore, the grouch learns to drop his gloom, and the overburdened, his mental weariness. "Old stuff," someone may say with a trace of sarcasm - but forever true. Without these manifold benefits, bowling could never have reached the height of popularity which it enjoys.

Those thousands who have preserved the happy faculty of accepting tenpins from the recreational viewpoint are the ones who are possessed with a more conscious appreciation of the blessings which the game provides.

To become obsessed with the “high scoring fever” is to miss nine-tenths of the pure joy of bowling. If the bowler thoughtlessly' allows his interest in scoring to predominate, failing to appreciate the more stable features which have been mentioned, he is most certain to rob himself of the true happiness and comfort bowling can give when intelligently indulged in (as a game). Even the ‘top-notchers’ cannot always turn in mammoth scores, but this does not remove the enthusiasm of those among them who have wisely preserved their bowling balance.

It is these high type individuals found within the ranks of “class A” bowlers who become ardent boosters of tenpins in a most constructive sense. Even so, it is not reasonable to suspect that because of their prowess they enjoy the game to a greater extent, or excel the enthusiasm and constructive leadership of their lower average brethren in bowling. Only the “rare-and-far-between” exception tends to mar ever so slightly, this general happy condition among followers of bowling, as a game.

Originally published in THE A.B.C. BULLETIN -- February 21, 1936

History - Scoring Problem Real 'Puzzler'

Scoring Problem Real ‘Puzzler’
Uniform Polish, Lowering of Body of Pin, Are Among Latest Suggestions to Reduce Heavy Totals
By BILLY SIXTY

SINCE suggesting that something be done to bring bowling back to saner and collectively more satisfactory scoring, I have had the pleasure (and indeed it was a pleasure) of visiting-Duluth for its yearly Arrowhead international tournament. I wish to report that never have I traveled to a meet in which totals were so uniformly low, and spirits so uniformly high, before and after having a whack at the wood.

Undoubtedly the bowlers about the nation who didn't compete at Duluth read the scores and agreed that the boys must have been lousy. But such was decidedly not the case. Duluth attracted 300 odd teams, including some mighty flingers from Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Paul Minneapolis and other central western points. And when the bombardment had ended only one count over 3,000 was on the boards, with 2,887 in second spot. A mark of 1,882, by the one and only Hank Marino, won the all-events.

Compare those figures with the counts going up in other tournaments and leagues and, well, you are entitled to snicker up your sleeve--IF you weren't at Duluth. But, in all sincerity, the winning totals represent the very highest in proficiency. For here is a meet that embodies all that makes for the best in bowling: Fast alleys, polished to a shimmering sleekness, and pins that acted as if they were loaded with lead.

Conditions were tough, believe you me, but they were as nearly equal for every participant as conditions can possibly be. Officials told you before you swung into action that the wood wouldn't fly all over the building; that you wouldn't be carrying thin hits in swishing fashion off the boards; that you had to drill your ball into the one-three pocket solidly, and then, doing that, you had to CARRY your hits. The wood WAS heavy - from three pounds eight ounces to three pounds 10.

It is because you were advised about conditions in no uncertain terms that you went to work for all that was in you and, failing to score well, were satisfied that you just didn't have the necessary stuff on the old pill.

This reference to the Duluth tournament is made for a purpose, and a very specific purpose. It is evidence that, contrary to what squawking-stare may make, much satisfaction can come of ordinary scoring, and that, given tough conditions, as in the old days before the shallow gutter and fiber inlays, a mark of 200, a 600 series in singles or a 3,000 count in team represents "par" as it would apply in bowling.

Down with the gutters, out with the fibers and up with the weight of pins, and such as that 3,797 of the Hermanns of St. Louis will never be repeated. Of course it wouldn't do, perhaps, to ask the alley operator to undergo all these changes simultaneously, but it could be done in a period of two or three years.

I have been rolling along for a quarter century and know that bowlers today just aren't as good as totals would indicate. Take away the ricocheting swoopers off the boards that come with dizzying repetition, don't have the "schleiffer" thin hits pay, and the old 3,000 team standard will be something to whoop about. And the poor little fellow, struggling along with his 175 to 185 average, without help off the boards, will appreciate his efforts instead of being inclined to toss his ball and shoes into discard and quit.

Answering my piece about ‘Sane Scoring for Sports Sake’ comes an alley operator, a Chicagoan, with this:

 "I was one that was highly opposed to the change of quarter rounds, as I tried to bring out that the change was not sufficient to eliminate the improvement of bowlers with uniform conditions which are bound to make the bowlers better and better.

"The wonderful score shot in St. Louis will be knocked off some day. The three 300 games shot by Jim Murgie will also be duplicated and surpassed (did you ever hear of surpassing perfection?),  just as we read everyday where a record is being broken in every sport there is, swimming, horse racing, running, jumping and what-not.

"So, if we have to make a change to lower the scores, which I do not approve of, let's make the change where the change should be made and that is in the construction of a bowling pin. I am a great believer in keeping good scores, as in the many years of experience in the bowling game I never have heard of a bowler quitting because his average was too high, but I have heard of many bowlers who got disgusted and quit the game because they could not average what they did in previous years.”

And there folks, is the very point that I have endeavored to bring out: The matter of a bowler quitting because his average is too low. Too low to begin to compare with what the big shots are rolling. The gap between the average scorer and the star, under present conditions, is simply too great. To the little fellow the difference looms too large; too big to ever be overcome, regardless of practice. The positive way to encourage the average roller is to narrow the gap – by toughening conditions.

Taking no credit from the Hermanns for their amazing 3,797 mark, but desiring to prove that conditions contributed to not only that figure but all others rolled by that team on the particular alleys whereon they got their bulgingly fat count, I obtained figures to compare their scoring "at home" and on "outside alleys." The statistics were all that I anticipated. In 17 series, climaxed by that 3,797, the club missed 3,100 only once, and it was below 3,100 only five times. Its average at home for the 17 series stretch was 1,090 up to Jan. 27, when the big blast occurred. On other alleys the squad went along at a 978 average. Figures speak for themselves.

It is interesting that letters at hand, approving the suggestion that steps be taken to slash scores, come, for the most part, from stars whose averages would be materially reduced by proposed changes. But they think not of themselves, but of the game -- and the little fellow.

Following is a letter from the well known Chicago veteran, Jules Lellinger, who has been gunning for strikes for more than a quarter century and knows the bowling game upside down, inside out, vice-versa, or any way you might look at it:

March 8, 1937
Dear Billy:
Having read your article on "Sane Scoring for Sports' Sake" in the A.B.C. BULLETIN, and some of the replies you have received, it seems sort of a duty to me to at least give my moral support to your grand idea of getting down to bowling scores such as we had before 1921, when, in my opinion, the mediocre bowler had just as good a chance as the good bowler in tournament and league play. You may or may not know that it was I who conceived the idea, in an endeavor to check these increasingly high scores, of replacing the inch and a half quarter-round with a smaller one, as I believed that when the smaller quarter-round was installed it would, to a great extent, eliminate the high scoring. However, it would seem as though it has not accomplished that purpose to a very marked degree.

The condition of the bowling alley is our next best bet--such as having a uniform polish; also a rule, to be strictly adhered to, of having alleys finished at least twice a month, so that our A.B.C. representative will have the opportunity, at a moment's notice, of inspecting such conditions, and where the rule has been conformed with, recognition can then be given immediately to high scores. It seems to me that the bowling game as it is now needs more stringent rules, whereby the Executive Committee representatives of the A.B.C. may go and direct alley proprietors to have their alleys shellacked and polished. The seasoned bowler who travels around a great deal absolutely sees and knows the easy conditions of some of the establishments in which he has bowled in various parts of the country.

Such scores as the 3797 and 3713 referred to in your article, and which were published in newspapers all over the country, are of no help to the bowling game. Your suggestion of inlaying the fiber on the kickbacks or sideboards would doubtless go far towards cutting down the high scoring. In short, I am heartily in accord with the idea of "Sane Scoring for Sports' Sake."

Sincerely,
 JULE LELLINGER, Chicago, Illinois

What are your ideas?   Do you want high scores to continue?   Or do you favor saner scoring based on pocket hitting rather than freakish rebounds off the boards?

Reprinted from THE A.B.C. BULLETIN MARCH 1937

About Billy Sixty:
Billy Sixty, actually William Soechting, had a big impact on Wisconsin sports as a champion golfer and bowler, and a sportswriter for the Milwaukee Journal. Soechting means 60 in Dutch, so Billy was known as Sixty by the time he was playing in major golf tournaments as a young man in the 1920s. Sixty qualified for the State Amateur golf tourney 20 times and reached the finals four times. He captained the great Milwaukee Heilman bowling team that won five national titles and the world championship in 1930. Sixty recorded nine holes-in-one in golf and nine 300 games in bowling. Sixty had a long career as a sportswriter and had a bowling tournament names after him. He retired after 61 years of involvement in state sports.
From the Wisconsin Athletic Walk of Fame

History - Dizzy Doings of the Dodo

The loaded ball of unpredictable behavior was a favorite with the hotshots in the early 1900’s. If you were challenged to a bowling match 50 or 60 years ago, chances were about even that your opponent was an expert in the delicate art of controlling a dodo ball.

The dodo, or loaded, ball isn’t yet as rare as the extinct dodo bird but it’s rapidly approaching that distinction. Fifty years ago, however, there was much long, loud, hot argument over legalizing the dodo. That controversy was fatally crippled in 1913 when the ABC outlawed the dodo, a stunning setback to some of that era’s hotshots but one of the more important single steps in equipment standardization.

Some of the earliest dodos were simply far over the present 16 pound maximum weight. Two well known Chicagoans of the early 1900’s, Bill Lee and Gus Steele, used 20 pound balls, although neither man weighed more than 120 pounds. Some men were even using a 22 pound ball.

The extremely heavy ball, called a "phony" at, the time, gradually disappeared as bowlers discovered the greater effectiveness of an unbalanced ball. The most common practice in loading a ball was called the "7-9" combination; half of a 14 pound ball cemented to a 18 pound half with the extra weight on the left.

Nearly everyone used a two-finger ball in those days and to make the dodo as effective as possible, the holes were drilled the same size so the bowler needed only to reverse his grip to change the' action.

Despite the advantage of using a dodo ball, by someone who knew how, that is, the loaded pellet wasn't universally popular during the early years of this century for two reasons: the difficulty in controlling it and a spreading desire for fair standard conditions brought to the game by the ABC.

Good bowlers in 1960 throw the ball with speed that fits their own style and lane conditions. They give the ball lift to get a working "turn" as it hits the pins. Not so with the dodo.

It can easily be imagined what would happen if a ball weighted an extra two or three pounds on the left side were given a little normal lift: it would be in the left gutter in no time. To compensate for all the natural left turn built into the dodo, bowlers had to keep the fingers perfectly straight when releasing it and kill any tendency to follow through.

Now instructors constantly stress the value of the follow through. In 1902, if you used a dodo ball, follow through was definitely a handicap. Phil Wolf of Chicago had a ball so heavily weighted on the left that most bowlers couldn’t keep it on the lane no matter what they tried.

The dodo presented still another little problem to its adherents; the "dodo split.” What is now popularly called the "washout" was originally a "dodo" since it was a common leave when the ball was thrown too fast and did not come up to the headpin.

In one of the early ABC tournaments, a well known bowling of the time drew 12 dodo splits, the 1-2-4-10 as often as the 1-2-10. Legend has it that this performance quickly converted the man to a legitimate ball.

Cleveland, Chicago and Louisville were the centers of the hot dodo ball competition from 1900 to 1913. As the influence of the ABC efforts towards standardization spread through the game, the bowlers in these cities divided into factions, either supporting or opposing the use of dodos.

The 1913 ABC convention ended the controversy, officially at least, as the delegates adopted a rule limiting the weight of a ball to a 16 pound maximum and requiring that the ball be evenly balanced. The rule ran into stiff opposition at first, but by consistent enforcement and the prevailing trend toward fair standards, the dodo gradually disappeared.

One of the early dodo experts, Louis Levine of Chicago, gave up his loaded ball but then became so good at hooking a legal ball that he often had trouble convincing people he hadn't returned to the dodo.

The present balance scale used by the ABC was only a hopeful dream when the Congress began enforcing its balanced ball rule. In the early 20s, a Philadelphia man patented a balance scale that helped somewhat. It required some calculations and moving balance weights but did the job.

Abe Langtry, ABD secretary from 1907 through 1932, would have given a lot for the balance and gross weight scale now used at the ABC tournament. The weighmaster has only to shift the ball in a balance cradle, glance at the indicators and he knows precisely how the ball is balanced.

Elmer H. Baumgarten, who succeeded Langtry and now is secretary-emeritus, likes to tell about a Sunday long ago when he was supervising the Illinois state tournament in Chicago. Two men, both notorious dodo experts, came in to bowl doubles. The scale said each man's ball was legal, though, so they started bowling. Early in the second game spectators thought a shotgun invasion had come and the pinboy was sure of it. One of the suspects had run out of luck. A plug came out of his ball as it hit the pins, spewing a buckshot load through the pit. That night the same thing happened to the other man in the team event. Both were suspended.

Most present day bowlers have probably never heard of a dodo ball. Still, a man occasionally shows up at the ABC tournament with an unbalanced ball, hoping to get it past the weighmaster. But anyone who thinks there's some advantage in using the dodo could take a tip from today's stars.

Without exception they ask "Why?" when someone brings up the loaded ball issue. It's difficult enough learning control and accuracy with a legal ball, they say, without the extra hazard of trying to control the unbalanced kind.

Article originally published by Bowling Magazine – November 1960

Is bowling a test or a contest?

There are many debates on what makes up the game of bowling on bowling forums and in bowling circles. These discussions usually revolve around scoring pace, high tech balls, blocked lanes and even styles of players. But it seems to me, everyone, including sportswriters, tournament organizers, proprietors and even the leaders of bowling are confusing the issues when the real question we need to be asking and answering is, “what is bowling supposed to be, a test or a contest?”

It’s the same as taking a trip and asking “where are we going?” When that question can be answered, only then can a proper direction be decided upon. But even when the direction is known, the route can still be a debate. Do we take the slow route with lovely scenery or the quick highway? In bowling terms, do we take the show route or the sport route? Of course there is a time and place for both as long as we reach our destination and don’t get lost along the way.

When talking about scoring pace, we are referring to a test where the results should be an indicator of how a player did on any given day against a given set of difficulties. It should be a linear relationship; play better, score better. If the test does not work this way, it would not be fair, let alone valid.¹

When discussing the overall environment and saying "no matter what, good players will always come out on top,” we are referring to a contest where players are trying to solve a problem (take a test), but doing it better than at least one other similarly committed person (win a contest).²

In competitions when winners are decided, bowling for sure is a contest. But if we read the reporting of these contests, the stories are proliferated with average numbers, high games and record scores. Add to the fact that during these events many tournament organizers and proprietors request a certain scoring pace or cut score to those providing the challenge. And last, but not least, the US governing body has been awarding high score awards to its membership since the cows came home.

Therefore, on those fronts, instead of a contest, bowling is definitely perceived as a test. But is it a test for the center/proprietors, industry factions or the players?

If we read advertisements from the equipment manufacturers, it’s all about promoting their product by way of higher scores. Buy our product and your scores will be higher. It’s been this way since the early 1930’s during the pin war days. That era produced scores not seen again until the early 1990’s.

 On the league front, for many years now it seems to be all about this center scoring higher than the center across town, at least for those bowlers who scream the loudest. So over the year’s proprietors have been investing in a myriad of bowling equipment from pins, lane machines, lane conditioners and synthetic lanes all to provide their sporting customers with the highest scoring environment they can.

As more and more centers obtain these items, equalization will set in but you can be sure there will be something else around the corner to fuel the fire so they can score higher on “the test” than the center down the street.

While the industry and proprietors continue to test themselves by providing a higher scoring and easier environment, they are also making “the test” for the players much easier, on every level.

During the recent PBA King of Bowling, Wes Malott averaged over 276 for his five games shooting two 300 games in the process, on USBC Sport Conditions. And on a recent string of four tournaments on the PBA Senior Tour, in two of the events, the winners averaged 250 for the entire tournament. In another event there were 11 players that averaged over 240. By providing such a high scoring environment, some are concerned that the Senior Pro Tour is following down the path of everyday league bowling.  And we all know how much respect that "test" gets these days.

The increased scoring pace trend is not limited to the PBA Tours either. At a recent European Bowling Tour event utilizing dual oil patterns, which were both USBC Sport Compliant, three players cracked the 1500 barrier during the six game qualifying rounds. At the 2009 USBC Championships which also utilizes USBC Sport Conditions, the all events record was shattered with another 250 average performance and the singles record was broken with an 862 series.

Because there is an upper limit to the scoring system in bowling, when 300 games, 800 series’ and 250 plus tournament averages become common place, the test becomes invalid. So as much as some players, proprietors, tournament organizers and industry factions may like and wish high scores, high scores are only exciting, and therefore valid, when they are not common place and can be directly correlated to performance.

Of course there are ways to lower scores but that can swing the pendulum of sport performance too far into the other direction. The goal in sport is to provide a test that challenges the players but at the same time allows extraordinary performances to shine through. That critical balance however seems to be more and more difficult to achieve which is essential so the game of bowling remains a valid test in the eyes of the media, spectators and in the minds of the players. When the test becomes invalid, so can the contest. When the contest becomes invalid, we have lost the sport.

It could be said what most people like best about the game of bowling are the challenges against the environment more so than just against other people. In a study by Frank Thomas about the reasons people play and quit golf called ‘Growing the Game,’ for the great majority of golfers the personal challenge far outweighed competing against fellow golfers. Basically, the test is more important than the contest. I would believe this human nature trait would be the same for a similar game like bowling. But when a given set of difficulties are compromised as often as they seem to be in today’s game, then the game of bowling needs to take a hard look at the challenge it is providing.

Fair or not, and knowing the monetary pressures that can be put upon them, the leaders of the sport must ensure the test, as well as the contest, remains fair and valid. It is the task they have chosen and their responsibility to the game. More importantly it is their responsibility to the people taking the test, the players, so the challenge is preserved.

After all, when was the last time you played tic-tac-toe?

Bibliographies
¹Kretchmar, R. Scott. Ethics and Sport.  London, U.K. Published by Taylor & Francis, 1998. pp.27, 28
¹Kretchmar, R. Scott. Ethics and Sport.  London, U.K. Published by Taylor & Francis, 1998. pp.28

Bowling Bedlam - Oil

The playing environment of bowling today may be as complex, unpredictable and chaotic as any time in the history of the game. We're not talking about the weekly league or club game where the participants just want to have fun. We're talking about professionally maintained and controlled tournament environments where bowling sports people compete.

It is in this type of sporting environment, along with the basic premise of playing well both physically and mentally, that the decisions the modem player makes will ultimately determine whether they perform up to their expectations or have to wait until the next event comes around.

This is the second in a series of articles that will try to shed some light on many of the variables in the current game of bowling and why the players of today need to be very open minded and aware of the total environment at all times when competing. The supplied information is all in the quest of understanding and to increase performance, not to create excuses.

Oil (Conditioner)

There are low viscosity oils and high viscosity oils. There are oils with different amounts of additives such as friction modifiers and flow agents for different types of lane machines. There are oils with varying surface tensions which help the oil bond to the lane surface.

Mineral oil is used in most lane conditioners as the base oil but over the years lane conditioner has evolved. Today's conditioners are now mixed with a percentage of specialized additives to increase the performance and durability of the conditioner.

All these different types of conditioners will make your bowling ball react differently on the lane. At the same time, different types of conditioner can make the same pattern play different.

If using a wick machine, some conditioners will flow through the wicks more than others making the same pattern settings apply a different pattern. With wick machines, temperature will affect the flow rate since temperature not only affects viscosity or the thickness of the conditioner, it will affect the size of the capillaries of the wicks as well.

If using spray type machinery, different conditioners will either peel off or hold onto the buffer brush more or less which can change the shape of any specific pattern even though the machine settings remain constant. Different lane surfaces will do the same thing so add that into the equation also.

There is a very good online article by Kegel's Chris Chartrand on lane conditioner (oil), "10 Things That Everyone Should Know about Lane Conditioners" which you can view by clicking on the title. Therefore we won't go into specific details on all conditioner properties but one thing we will touch base on is viscosity since the USBC has just made a new specification on this lane conditioner property.

The new viscosity rule the USBC has implemented "requires that lane conditioners used during USBC competition read between 12 and 81 centipoises at 70 degrees Fahrenheit." Centipoise (cps) is the standard unit of measurement for fluids and many lane oil manufactures will have this designated on their product.

Viscosity is very misunderstood in common bowling discussions. Most bowlers believe the higher the viscosity of oil, the "slicker" the bowling ball reacts to it. Actually the exact opposite happens.

By definition, viscosity is the measurement of internal friction of a fluid. The greater the amount of friction, the more force is required to move the fluid against itself which is called shear. Therefore the higher the viscosity, the more force it takes which increases friction. The lower the viscosity of oil, the less force it takes to shear which decreases friction.

In terms of a bowling ball rolling through these different oils, the higher the viscosity, the more resistance there is which makes the ball slow down more. When we get to the bowling ball portion of the series, we will spend more time on this subject but in short, friction is what makes the ball slow down and therefore enables it to hook.

Temperature is one of the biggest environmental factors in changing viscosity of a conditioner. So as the weather changes, so can the bowling conditions.

So what is the purpose of viscosity in lane oils? In short to provide durability to an oil pattern however, because of the many different additives being used in today's oils, viscosity is not as important as it once was in regard to lane maintenance. But as a bowler, you should be aware of how it relates to ball motion.

Oil Patterns

This subject of oil patterns is a difficult one and probably the most blamed and misunderstood subject in bowling. Lane conditioning rules have changed many times over the years and even today with the USBC 'three unit rule' or the USBC Sport Bowling rule in place, there are an infinite number of pattern combinations and ways to apply an oil pattern to the lane.

Kegel's Founder and CEO John Davis had a saying when he was entrusted in doing lanes over the years which goes something like this;

"Its 4 o'clock in the morning and the tournament starts at 8:00. You know if you do this; this might happen. But if you do something else, that might happen. So what are you going to do? Who do you call? Who can you call? You have to do something but there is no book. It is all up to you."

In these simple questions lies the major dilemma for every laneman at every bowling tournament in the world. Only after the tournament do they ever know if the job was socially acceptable or unacceptable. In simpler words, did the laneman do a good job or a bad job?

Of course the laneman might ask the same question to the bowlers; when trying to figure out the conditions, did the bowlers do a good job or a bad job?