Thinking about Pete Weber and the U.S. Open oil pattern...

[sprocket]

Have you ever bowled on the U.S. Open pattern? For those who don't know what it is, it a completely flat oil pattern. There is the same amount of oil on every board across the lane. For anyone but an elite level bowler it will seem like an inverted block. You will swear there is much more oil on the outside than there is in the middle. A ball thrown slightly right will get you 3 and a ball pulled will miss the headpin left.

I think the reason the pattern seems inverted goes beyond just being spoiled by walled up typical house shots. I believe the average or even higher average league bowler develops habits over time that enable them to take even greater advantage of the typical house shot. I think they develop the habit of letting off the ball when missing right and hitting the ball more when missing left. This prevents the ball from over correcting when missing right and then going high, and also gets the ball to bite in the oil when missing left.

Actually it's just bad habits that the THS doesn't force you to correct. A muscled or turned early ball is often a pulled ball but it doesn't matter on a THS. It still ends up in the pocket. A flat ball is often a ball that misses right, but again, it works on a THS. There is simply no need to correct the bad habits.

Now bring those bad habits to the U.S. Open pattern and see what happens. IT'S UGLY!!! A flat ball that misses right might end up in the right gutter. A muscled, turned early, pulled ball might end up in the left gutter. You might have a 200+ league average but not break 140 on the U.S. Open pattern.

So about Pete Weber...

He actually can create some area on the U.S. Open pattern. Yes, the pros know how to break down an oil pattern to give them area but I think it goes beyond that for Pete Weber. I think he can create a small amount of area even on a fresh U.S. Open pattern. He can miss a tad right and get recovery. He can miss a tad left and get a little hold. HOW?? Well I don't know the exact physics of it, but it really comes down to how he has trained his release. When he misses right his automatic adjustment is to get MORE on the ball so it recovers, and when he misses a little left he lets off the ball a bit so it holds pocket. I think his extreme axis rotation allows him to exploit that skill even more on the U.S. Open pattern. More so than the other top pros. I think they all have the ability to create recovery and hold, but his release allows him to do it BETTER. That's why he has won the U.S. Open five times.

Someone will say he is just more accurate than anyone else and repeats shots extremely well. He is highly accurate but there are other super accurate pros too. Plus, I've SEEN Pete miss left and get hold and I've SEEN him miss right and get recovery. I've seen him do it on TV, in the U.S. Open finals when the other bowlers on the show couldn't do it.

So what's my point with this topic. Nothing really; mostly just observation. I do think the THS allows for bad habits that don't need to be fixed and bowling on the U.S. Open pattern can be a VERY humbling experience. Everyone should try it.

[Greenday]

Pretty much the same thing on any sports pattern. The US Open just happens to be the king of all patterns to screw you up. Just have to break a specific point down, then abuse the hell out of it.

[billf]

I love that pattern myself. Not sure if I like the challenge or just being humbled by something I can't really see.

I think Pete's ability to correct DURING the release as you said coupled with his slow ball speed helps him over the others on this pattern. He is also one of the very few pros who consistently uses a 90° axis rotation.

[sprocket]

Pete is amazing. I don't know if he does it anymore but he used to be able to throw really hard as well. I saw him bowl a regional here. It must have been at least 20 years ago. He was throwing darts at the pocket. His ball hooked about two boards on a hooking oil pattern and he was throwing strikes and ten pins and nothing else. The strikes outnumbered the ten pins by about 8:1. I'm not joking; I watched him bowl about four games and never saw him leave anything but a ten pin. I think he might have been about 1/2 in the bag too. This was back in his drinking days.

[billf]

I'm sure the PBA had just cause in banning him. I'm just thankful for the sake of the sport that it only lasted a short time. Bowling needs more characters and less stiffs. It really needs a rivalry to stir the fans up more.