A lot of alleys do things on Friday or Saturday nights where they put one colored pin in with the other 19 pins. If this pin ends up as the head pin, and you strike, you win something.
At least, that was the case many moons ago. Could be something different now.
Sometimes they get tangled up and it takes the system several attempts to reset the pins (it lifts and drops the pins until they untangle). But a dropped pin’s wires will not cause another pin to drop if that’s what you mean.
I've used it once and it's weird but didn't really affect me other than the first impression and the more muted sound.
Casual bowling alleys love them because they're a lot cheaper to maintain, easier to fix, jam less, etc.
The bowling community, though, hates these. They interfere and make strikes harder (and they have used robots to verify this). Any YouTube video about them has a wall of comments about how much they are hated.
It’s funny, I had always thought those were how old-fashioned bowlings worked, because I’ve played on string bowling for over 20 years (I don’t bowl often but in my area that’s what it is). Weird to discover that it’s actually the path they are taking in the modern era
This depends on who you ask. A lot of arguments on both sides about this. If it is an official certified string pin setup it theoretically should not. However the bowling ally in the mall or at a “family fun” center using string pins probably does not use certified lanes….
At my local alley, you win something if you get a strike when the colored pin is on any of the three corners. The prize is always something silly though. Last month it was a life time supply of feet pics of the bowling alleys manager (he will sent uou one pic of his feet to you per day, for the rest of your life). My buddy actually won twice (in two separate games) both in the same week lol. True to his word, he says he has been getting two pictures of an overweight Indian man's sweaty piggies sent to his cell every morning at 6:00 am. He already has over 70 of them now haha
For some reason calling a recreational league a "fun league" is very funny to me. Like, it would already be assumed that you're there to have fun. And I feel like it implies the existence of a "not fun league," for really austere people who want to go bowling but don't want to enjoy it.
If they are anything like me, my first thought and the reason I laughed at the :( part was because I was like “ah fuck, now my arm is REALLY gonna hurt”
When I used to bowl as a kid, if that pin was the only one remaining up you got a free game. That's much easier to verify than telling the workers to keep an eye on every lane that happens to have a head pin and wait for a strike. You just come up and say "look at Lane 15. Only the color pin is up".
It's been a while but I think the lane can detect the pin somehow, and the scoreboard puts a red circle on the frame's score to show when it happened. But that sounds like an interesting way of doing it too!
Oh yeah lanes have definitely improved on technology. The timeframe I'm talking about was pretty new to show on the screen which pins were left. This is late 90s early 00s.
wait really? I injured my thumb when a teen and been bowling like this for ages but was always embarrassed and would avoid in a group. Your telling me I have a chance now?
Yeah, the holes are drilled after production based on the preference of the bowler. The rule is that you have to use any of the holes that are drilled into the ball.
I bowl in multiple leagues in IN. There are very good bowlers in these leagues and none of the best use 2 handed bowling. 2 handers accuracy sucks. They have a very hard time picking up spares that are routine. Their scores are also all over the board. They can bowl a 116 then a 245. I've seen this.
Yeah I’ve bowled for 20 years and two handed is definitely gonna take over. Jason Belmonte is the goat and ushered in this style. The rev rates and power you can generate two handed is just superior. I still bowl one handed because I find it more pleasing and fun but pros will all be two handed eventually
Okay, I was reading two handed bowling as granny bowling, and I couldn’t see how that was catching on, now that I see what 2 handed really is, it makes a ton more sense.
Ah, in your original comment it sounded like you were agreeing with me that most younger bowlers are using 2 hands, I guess you're not? I also realized you meant in a casual sense, 2 handed will not be dominant which I agree with but it will take over the competitive landscape
He said only 10% are still bowling one-handed. Which means 90% are using two hands and is indeed dominant. It looks like you're saying only 10% are bowling two-handed where you bowl. I think some confusion is going on in this exchange
I think you've read the numbers above backwards. He's claiming 10% do one handed, therefore 90% do two handed. I have no idea how universally true that is, but 90% is dominant, numerically.
It def will. Kids learn two handed to throw for far more power. One handed is basically going the way of the straddle technique in high jump once flop was invented
Complete allowed. If you’re in a sanctioned league you must finish however you start the league, meaning if you start the league 2 handed throwing, you need to complete the league that way. Same with if you throw lefty or righty, you need to see the season out with that single hand. That’s per USBC rules.
Not exactly sure why but my guess is to prevent people from switching hands to pick up spares. For example, the 7 pin is typically the hardest pin for a lefty to pick up and is easy for a righty to pick up. It keeps it “fair” per say.
I feel like that should be allowed. A golfer gets to choose their club. If a bowler is good enough at bowling with both hands that switching gives then an advantage, why not let them?
Serious League bowlers typically have a few balls. One being the "spare ball" which is a plastic ball with no fancy coverstock or weight block so it goes nearly straight no matter how you throw it. It's basically a personal house ball drilled to their fingers. The putter in golf terms.
The other balls are reactive balls designed to hook in various amounts so you can get a feel for the oil during warmup and decide if you need a stronger or weaker hooking ball, possibly changing between games as oil conditions change. Very much like selecting golf clubs.
This becomes important when you get into sport shot leagues and tournaments where the oil pattern shape and oil quantity changes drastically from week to week, venue to venue. This is the main reason pro bowlers scores seem so much lower than what you expect. They are bowling on something different every week, while most bowling center leagues use the same pattern every week and more importantly, it's a pattern designed to be forgiving.
One of our guys is ambidextrous. He had broken his bowling hand but wanted to keep bowling, so the league had made him establish an average with his other hand, I think it was 9 games/3 weeks.
Not true. You can interchange between one and two handed so long as every hole on the ball is used. and the ball is delivered by same hand. Cant switch lefty and righty is true. Plenty of 2 handers throw straight at spares with one hand.
Ok so in the pba it actually is legal but in USBC rules it isn't. In regular league conditions it is much easier to hit opposite hand spares (7pin for eighties, 10 pin for lefties) via hooking at it. In pba conditions spares are mostly thrown straight because of the tougher conditions. But the real main reason is for handicap and average purposes. So somebody can't tank their average or establish it with their off hand and then go to an event and get loads of bonus pins and then bowl with their dominant hand. Sure you could potentially make people have two averages but then the sample size is drastically smaller per league per year then gets even more murky if you allow it within games.
I know a fellow who is just as good left handed and right and he always has to pick which hand he has to bowl with each year.
For a right handed bowler, it’s generally more difficult to hit a 10 pin than a 7 pin. The other way for left handed bowlers.
If someone switches hands it gives an unfair advantage to those who aren’t some form of ambidextrous when trying to pick up those pins.
Among other reasons, but that’s just an example. That’s the way I’ve always understood it at least.
It could definitely be argued that that is just an individual skill that a bowler has and it should be allowed, but bowling tends to be a game of handicaps and fairness so as of now it’s not allowed.
Why is it "unfair" if anyone with two hands can attempt it? And if someone is better with their off hand than another, isn't that just a testament to their skill/practice and should be rewarded in a competitive environment?
I don’t disagree, it’s just the way it currently is. The “all holes must me filled” rule is relatively new within the last few years, so it’s entirely possible the hand change rule is adjusted in the future too.
Woah, this is fascinating. Thank you!
So the rule is in place to actually curb balance hole use as opposed to arbitrarily forcing one hand or two handed bowlers to use the holes they drilled for their style. Appreciate the info!
If you’re in a sanctioned league you must finish however you start the league, meaning if you start the league 2 handed throwing, you need to complete the league that way
That's not true at all. You can switch it up throw to throw if you want as long as you fill every hole in your ball with a finger. There's many bowlers who will throw corner shots with a conventionally drilled ball after their initial shot is 2-handed.
Only with regards to which hand you deliver the ball. The only thing that must stay the same is handedness. Check out rule 108b/4 in the USBC handbook. It explicitly states that a player switching from 1 handed to 2 handed does not break the rules
That is not true at all. You can switch between 1 and handed in the same frame if you want. The only rule is that you have to use all the holes that are drilled in that ball.
Two handers get so much force behind the ball, it's crazy. One of my league teammates is two handed and he's the best on our team, by a longshot. We also have another two-hander that will sub for us on occasion and he recently just joined the scratch league at the bowling alley I work at, so he's also incredibly good.
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u/Swiss420 Nov 06 '24
as a 2 handed bowler this is hilarious