bowling fanatics

[Mr.WeakTight]

+it seemed like he was using a little piece of athletic tape to mark a spot inside the finger or thumb hole

+he had 9 balls, 3 each in a carrying case on wheels.

When I first got there he was talking to a friend, and after that he was there by himself for about an hour.

[Dids]

Did he look like this:



or this

[AbreuTime]

[ QUOTE ]
Dids is correct. Bowling in an open bowling session vs. a semi serious men's league vs. what the pros face are not even the same sport. The lane conditions are so dramatically different that a person who maintains a 200 average (which is totally useless as a pro nowadays anyway) would have a tough time even maintaining a 175 under pro lane conditions. It's sort of like golf in the respect that they are forced to play under conditions much more difficult than you.

[/ QUOTE ]
Are the conditions different,
1) requiring an adjustment, afterwhich you can bowl just about as well
2) making it difficult to bowl as well.

I suspect 2, but why is this? The slickness of the lane makes it objectively more difficult to get the proper break?

[hamsamich]

Or this.....

[casey_brick]

[ QUOTE ]
+it seemed like he was using a little piece of athletic tape to mark a spot inside the finger or thumb hole

+he had 9 balls, 3 each in a carrying case on wheels.

When I first got there he was talking to a friend, and after that he was there by himself for about an hour.

[/ QUOTE ]

yes he was using tape in the thumbhole is looks like this right?
you put the tape in here.


And yes the do make bowling bags capable of carrying more than one ball


More than likely this guy is not a pro, but just some guy out practing. Yes people practice bowling, belive it or not.

[TomE.]

[ QUOTE ]

Are the conditions different,
1) requiring an adjustment, afterwhich you can bowl just about as well
2) making it difficult to bowl as well.

I suspect 2, but why is this? The slickness of the lane makes it objectively more difficult to get the proper break?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not the slickness as much as the placement of the oil. In a typical house or league shot, the oil is applied heavier in the middle of the lane and drier on the outsides, effectively creating a track to the pocket. The easier it is to get to the pocket, the higher you will generally score. The PBA players bowl on one of 5 different patterns each week, patterns in which are there are no generated paths to the pocket, and if you do find one, there is little or no room for error with your accuracy or speed.

Explanation of oiling patters here: Oiling patterns

As for the OP questions, the guy with 9 balls may have been practicing for a tournament and was tweaking his thumb holes to adjust for swelling/shrinking of his thumb. Putting tape in fingerholes is not very common, but your thumb can swell/shrink as much as 3 pieces of tape over the course of 3 games. Carrying 9 balls to a tournament is excessive, but not unheard of. Bringing 9 balls to open bowling is silly, and could easily strain your beer drinking arm.


--
TomE.

[TacoVendor]

[ QUOTE ]
the only reason to have 9 balls is if you are doing a demo, testing how they react, or are just a huge douchebag trying to look like a pro. most people don't test 9 balls at once, that's kinda silly... so it was most likely either a sales rep or some huge douche. judging by the thumb tape i'll go with douche.

[/ QUOTE ]

One of the main reasons that anyone I know would ever take that many is to figure out reaction comparisons between all of them. I have done it on occasion, but it is very rare.

When you buy equipment you typically won't buy more than 2-3 at a time. Some people will get equipment comped to them and may get 4 or 5 different balls at a time.

Once you get a bunch of bowling balls over a couple of years that you use (or can use) consistently, it can be time to figure them all out and see what works best for you at that time. I have taken a large number at one time so that I can throw each, find differences or similarities in reaction, and decide what to carry to a tournament or what to simply get rid of because you have something else that reacts the same way.

If he was not doing any of that, then he was wasting practice time. One should keep with the same ball for a while and focus on tweaking a particular shot, or getting better at repetition with the shot. Using one for 2 or 3 throws and then swapping to another ball is not effective practice.

[B00T]

just to add about tape...

There are 2 different kinds of tape. There is a white grip tape as pictured above that you put on the front part of the hole where your thumb is pressed up againist. That is used for grip. There is also a thinner electrical black piece of tape that is placed on the back of the ball which adjusts the snugness of your thumb in the ball.

The non-pro who is semi competitive really only needs 2 different balls when bowling on non-tournament conditions. One ball hooks more than the other and you pick one. You really don't have to be concerned with breakpoints and coverstocks when bowling on a regular wall shot.

[siccjay]

[ QUOTE ]
[The PBA players bowl on one of 5 different patterns each week, patterns in which are there are no generated paths to the pocket, and if you do find one, there is little or no room for error with your accuracy or speed.


[/ QUOTE ]

While the PBA patterns are normally tougher, there are still these "paths to the pocket."

You can still make them easier or harder depending on how you play the lanes. 2 of the 5 can actually be pretty easy if you play them right.

On the Cheetah as long as you get your ball out towards the gutter at your breakpoint you will score and score a lot. If you try to play it like a normal house shot (like most bowlers do) the will be impossible.

['Chair]

or this...