Ten Pin Bowling on Strings

[rammieib]

Are there any Bowling centres around Derby/Nottingham which have not converted themselves onto the string pins yet?

It's ruined the always expensive bowling experience. It's not a true bounce (or whatever the bowling terminology is!) and I don't like it!!

OK Moan over but if anyone knows a Ten Pin Bowling Centre which still does it the proper way - I'd love to know.

[TigerTedd]

47 minutes ago, rammieib said:

Are there any Bowling centres around Derby/Nottingham which have not converted themselves onto the string pins yet?

It's ruined the always expensive bowling experience. It's not a true bounce (or whatever the bowling terminology is!) and I don't like it!!

OK Moan over but if anyone knows a Ten Pin Bowling Centre which still does it the proper way - I'd love to know.

That’s horrible. I had that once at centre parcs or something and thought, ‘fine, it’s just a bit of fun for the kids.’ But to have that at a proper bowling alley is piss poor. It’s not proper bowling at all. 

[Boycie]

2 hours ago, rammieib said:

Are there any Bowling centres around Derby/Nottingham which have not converted themselves onto the string pins yet?

It's ruined the always expensive bowling experience. It's not a true bounce (or whatever the bowling terminology is!) and I don't like it!!

OK Moan over but if anyone knows a Ten Pin Bowling Centre which still does it the proper way - I'd love to know.

Aren’t sinfin and Ilkeston proper?

[rammieib]

Sinfin definitely not.

Not done the Ilkeston one.

[Mucker1884]

Well, I never knew that!

Planning on taking grand kids bowling in the run up to Xmas, as they're too old for panto now.  Didn't realise Sinfin had changed to strings!  Thought you only got that at the arcades at the seaside! 
Was obviously thinking of either Sinfin or Ilson.  Will need to look into it now. 

Strings are crap... and I take my bowling seriously... yes... even against the grand kids!  LOL!

[rammieib]

1 hour ago, Mucker1884 said:

Well, I never knew that!

Planning on taking grand kids bowling in the run up to Xmas, as they're too old for panto now.  Didn't realise Sinfin had changed to strings!  Thought you only got that at the arcades at the seaside! 
Was obviously thinking of either Sinfin or Ilson.  Will need to look into it now. 

Strings are crap... and I take my bowling seriously... yes... even against the grand kids!  LOL!

I'm with ya - the reviews on Ilkeston online are all absolutely abysmal so I'm staying clear of that place.

So I'm stuck now and need the help of this forum to find a good place...

[Mucker1884]

2 hours ago, rammieib said:

I'm with ya - the reviews on Ilkeston online are all absolutely abysmal so I'm staying clear of that place.

So I'm stuck now and need the help of this forum to find a good place...

Just been confirmed... by a member of staff... that Sinfin is defo now on strings!  So BOOO to them!

 

My preference would now be Ilson, but Muckerette is the organiser-in-Chief, so I'll let her know, and leave it with her.

Not been to either for a good few years now, but I'm well aware of what to expect at Ilson... as I'm married to an Ilson Lass.  Poor reviews don't just relate to the bowling alley!  LOL!

Whichever we go to, I don't think I'll bother polishing off my (own) bowling balls and dusting down my shoes.  (I think they're in the attic anyway?)  I'll use the ones provided, as it seems the standards have gone down in both... a bit embarrassing turning up with your own gear!  (Used to play in a league... our team finished bottom every year, if memory serves... so very much a case of "All the gear, but no idea!)  LOL! 

[Eddie]

According to both the BTBA and the PWBA, there is no difference as far as overall averages are concerned, and some string pinspotter centres are being fully sanctioned for tournaments. However, this isn't to say that there aren't some differences - there may be rare occasions where the strings help you (strings tangling and bringing others down) but on the downside, there will be fewer 'messenger' pins, so picking up the elusive '7-10 split' will be even rarer.

 

 

 

[Eddie]

29 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

Just been confirmed... by a member of staff... that Sinfin is defo now on strings!  So BOOO to them!

 

My preference would now be Ilson, but Muckerette is the organiser-in-Chief, so I'll let her know, and leave it with her.

Not been to either for a good few years now, but I'm well aware of what to expect at Ilson... as I'm married to an Ilson Lass.  Poor reviews don't just relate to the bowling alley!  LOL!

Whichever we go to, I don't think I'll bother polishing off my (own) bowling balls and dusting down my shoes.  (I think they're in the attic anyway?)  I'll use the ones provided, as it seems the standards have gone down in both... a bit embarrassing turning up with your own gear!  (Used to play in a league... our team finished bottom every year, if memory serves... so very much a case of "All the gear, but no idea!)  LOL! 

What league did you bowl in (I assume your league bowling was at Ilkeston)?

That was my home centre for a number of years, and I bowled my biggest game and 3-game series there.

[Mucker1884]

2 minutes ago, Montgolfier said:

According to both the BTBA and the PWBA, there is no difference as far as overall averages are concerned, and some string pinspotter centres are being fully sanctioned for tournaments. However, this isn't to say that there aren't some differences - there may be rare occasions where the strings help you (strings tangling and bringing others down) but on the downside, there will be fewer 'messenger' pins, so picking up the elusive '7-10 split' will be even rarer.

 

 

 

That's good to know.  Cheers.
I have to admit, I don't recall ever bowling at a full size alley with strings, if I'm honest.  (In fact, I wasn't even aware they had them!
My (biased) views regarding stringed bowls is based entirely on the arcades at the seaside, and the ensuing tangles I have been frustrated by!  I hate it when the grandson beats me!  LOL!    

[Wolfie]

I had no idea bowling with pins on strings was a thing. Show's how long it's been since I went bowling.

[Eddie]

1 minute ago, Mucker1884 said:

That's good to know.  Cheers.
I have to admit, I don't recall ever bowling at a full size alley with strings, if I'm honest.  (In fact, I wasn't even aware they had them!
My (biased) views regarding stringed bowls is based entirely on the arcades at the seaside, and the ensuing tangles I have been frustrated by!  I hate it when the grandson beats me!  LOL!    

Ah, the old 'Bowlingo' with the wooden balls. Those buggers are difficult to hook.

[Mucker1884]

2 minutes ago, Montgolfier said:

What league did you bowl in (I assume your league bowling was at Ilkeston)?

That was my home centre for a number of years, and I bowled my biggest game and 3-game series there.

Actually I was referring to Sinfin... but now you mention it, I did also play Ilson for a while.  Way back c. '79/80/81, so in my late teens.  That was trio's (me and a couple of mates).  Monday nights from memory?  No idea what the league was called... or the team name!  Didn't have my own gear then, and I was the worst player, in the worst team!  (Average c. 115 if I recall?)

Much later, we played Sinfin on a Tuesday night.   4 per team (Me, missus, eldest son and sister).  Son was still at school, so must have been around the turn of the millennium... Oh, we were there the night Argentina beat us on peno's, so defo '98!)? 
This time, we had our own balls/shoes/bags... and a rather fetching sponsored shirt apiece (actually, it initially said "Sposered by...", but we sent them back for replacements, once somebody pointed it out! Doh!)  Team name was "Swan Vestas"... a strike every time... geddit?  Oh, never mind!  

Again we were bottom team each season... even allowing for the generous handicaps we had!... but I wasn't our worst player this time!  Yeah me!  Average hovered c. 160, and (very) briefly in the 180's.

Best score wasn't in the league, but on my own, on a practice (day off work)... 10 strikes + 7 +1... 286... and no fec**ng witnesses!  I got a print out as my only proof!  LOL!  Best league score was something like 208?

I'd probably struggle to get 100 now!

 

Sorry... you didn't ask for chapter and verse, did yer?... That'll teach you to talk to strangers!   
I'm a good listener though... so feel free to blurt out your scores etc... I don't embarrass easily!  :-)

[Eddie]

7 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

 

 

Sorry... you didn't ask for chapter and verse, did yer?... That'll teach you to talk to strangers!   
I'm a good listener though... so feel free to blurt out your scores etc... I don't embarrass easily!  ?

Chapter and verse snipped. ?

I bowled a couple of open tournaments at Sniffin' back in the 1990s and did ok - I made the stepladder in one, but I didn't like the centre because of the plastic lanes (how's that for traditionalist?). Of course, the old days of maple and pine boards are probably long gone now.

I suppose for me my highlight had to be my first and only 300 (at Ilkeston back in the mid-1990s), but it felt really good the first time I was positioned at the top of the national league averages as published in 'World of Tenpin', the monthly magazine of the BTBA. That got cut out and stuck up on the noticeboard at work to wind a couple of colleagues and rivals up.

I also once bowled 20 strikes in a row without getting a 300, but it was my best series and broke the house record (270, 289, 231). 

[rammieib]

2 hours ago, Montgolfier said:

According to both the BTBA and the PWBA, there is no difference as far as overall averages are concerned, and some string pinspotter centres are being fully sanctioned for tournaments. However, this isn't to say that there aren't some differences - there may be rare occasions where the strings help you (strings tangling and bringing others down) but on the downside, there will be fewer 'messenger' pins, so picking up the elusive '7-10 split' will be even rarer.

 

 

 

I'm amazed by that stat. In my game yesterday, I hit the middle pin on an angle (I'm not a spinner, just throw from the edge directly straight) and only got 2 strikes all game. Pins definitely were not falling over the same way they used to. I've done Sinfin and Derby Intu now and both it just feels different.

You don't get that lose pin anymore which rattles across the lane and knocks the 10 pin out at the very end.

[Eddie]

15 minutes ago, rammieib said:

I'm amazed by that stat. In my game yesterday, I hit the middle pin on an angle (I'm not a spinner, just throw from the edge directly straight) and only got 2 strikes all game. Pins definitely were not falling over the same way they used to. I've done Sinfin and Derby Intu now and both it just feels different.

You don't get that lose pin anymore which rattles across the lane and knocks the 10 pin out at the very end.

I'm just going by published stats - the last time I ever bowled was in Ireland over a decade ago before having to go under the knife a few times (knee and hip, all caused by bowling an average of 30 or so games a week). I've only even been in a bowling centre once since then, and that was at Ilkeston to watch the last match in the Midland Scratch League the season I retired.

Apparently they maintain stats at Airport Bowl (near Heathrow) and they have noticed that in the first 6 months after conversion to string pinsetters, they determined that league averages went up by about 3 pins there compared to before.

As you say (and as I suspected), you can't get 'messenger pins' any more. Where's the adulation for picking up the 7-10 or the 'big four' going to come from now?

[Boycie]

Jeez, first skittles what next?

Dominos on elastic bands?