RealTalk Discussion #2 (Righties vs. Lefties)

[Theo McNair]

This is a recent email that I received, after going through all of the top cashers for the season this email has no validity from my perspective. The last tournament in July we had 3 lefties out of 13 to cash. We have not had more than 3 lefties in the cash none this season. Please look at the other payouts from this house on the front page of the website and let me know what this individual talking about. Like I always tell people "please do the research before you start complaining".

"Theo, With all the games bowled during qualifying do you think that you might be able to put a pattern out that R.H. bowlers don't have to deal with the ball returns getting in there way and taking them out of play before they even get to game 4 and 5. Also make the left side of the lane harder so they can't stand in the same area all day long.... The ratio of L.H. to R.H. in this place is stupid."


How should I respond??????

[NISA]

You should tell this right hand bowler:

1. If the ball return is getting in the way, move up if you must swing the ball out that much. Or down grade to a weaker ball so that you can play more of a down and in shot. Straighter is greater!

2. I do agree that there may be more righties than lefties but being that you are bowling in a Real Bowlers Tourney you should know how to adjust by now. So, if your line is being burnt up than open up. If that doesn't work, change your ball, move up, or move back. When the lights turn on, righties have every chance as a lefties to score high. Ask the likes of Greg Black and Jeff Shaw. We all start at zero. Man up!

[Michelle Bowden]

Just maybe the person was referring to league activity in that particular facility. If they were referring to the tournament then give that person the statistics/ratio of R.H. to L.H. cashing in the tournament.

[Keith Beavers]

LMAO!!! Hey Theo, ask him if he wants you to move the pins closer and put covers over the right gutter too!! This guy sucks. Who asks that? That';s what the "trash-talker" in me would say! Basically he needs to take the time to learn and practice hand positions. If you have to move all the way into the gutter by game 4, then take your hand out the ball and starty moving back right. Don't crank it as hard. For example, if your hand position is at 45 degrees, move it to 30 degreesand use the same target. This small adjustment changes the path to the pocket.

Real quick, here's my problem with alot of bowlers. They can't stand to look in the mirror and blame their sorry game on themself. They don't take the time to practice, they don't take time to study the game and evole theirs. They believe what they do is right, and if it isn't working, instead of having the versitility to make changes they try to force their way as being right and it doesn't work. So they balme the house or the shot because THEY didn't take the time to work on all aspects of their game. They basically want it handed to them. You have to take the bad games with the good ones.

[mike myrick]

the lefty righty thing still rages on. for one, lane topography has alot to do with why the lefty stay in one place so long, their side doesn't have as much wear and tear, so their shot is normally tighter. and it really doesnt matter what shot you put out, its gonna be like that. i ran some tournament some time ago and had the same problem. truth is guys, bowlers are lazy. most want everything handed to them in tournaments because it is handed to them in leagues. lefty vs. righty is so old, lefty's have to throw the ball too. that why scratch bowling is becoming a thing of the past, you actually have to know how to bowl lol. theo, you cant please everybody. put a as fair a shot as you can, let the bowlers sort it out. if the guy cant see what he needs to do then let him complain somewhere else. if you have more than this guy complaining, then id say you have a problem.

[Carl Breaman]

I'm a righty and don't mind playing 4th or 5th arrow. Nearly every pattern there is, we all end up there anyway except in league. Even at USBC Nationals we play the middle and I'm not a high rev bowler. So if someone can't play in, pack it in! But it would be fun seeing lefthanders play 5th arrow one time and take the gutter out of play. Since it's one bowler complaing, tell them that's just the way the shot breaks down.

[TIM MCNAIR]

The lefty/righty debate is as old as the sport of bowling and i am pretty sure left handed bowlers get tired of hearing it. As a tournament director, i feel it is not fair to lay down a different condition on one side of the lane to make it more difficult for a particular bowler. We lay down patterns to make it fair for both sides....i know some of you will disagree with that statement because there is significantly more right handed bowlers than lefties in any given tournament. Thats something that cant be controlled......try looking at it on the flip side. There are some patterns that benefit the right side and punish the left......meaning as the pattern breaks down(on the right side) the shot plays easier, where as the left handed bowler still has less margin for error because of less traffic on that side. We can argue the point all day and still everyone will have there own opinion.....like some of the previous posters said its all in how you choose to play the lanes. Change your hand position and/or entry angles....change balls do what you have to do to compete. This same debate takes place in league as well.......have any of you ever thought that the left handed bowler you are trying to put at a disadvantage just might be a great bowler? I know quite a few very good left handed bowlers and i am inclined to believe that if they were a right handed bowler they would still be very good bowlers. Work on your game and stop complaining.....better yet, learn how to bowl left handed and then you would have the same advantage.:) Like i've said many times before, if we want the sports world to give our sport the same respect and regard as other sports, we have to change our thinking and step our games up and stop complaining everytime something is not in place to benefit our game. Keep working on your weaknesses.....we all have them.......overcome excuses and be a "REALBOWLER".

[Robert Riedy]

it's just as hard for lefties as it for righties, so if u think one has an advantage than u need to learn how to bowl with both hands, also haven't u ever heard of lofting the ball over the gutter or switch to a less agressive ball and make the adjutments intead of saying someone has an advantage. Everyone needs to learn to play the lanes intead of complaining that someone has an advantage just because there left handed or they get more handicap.

[Randy Russell]

Tim is 1,000% right...the best example of the "other side" of the righty/lefty debate is the US Open. Traditionally that tournament has been dominated by righties. The pattern is so incredibly brutal but the right side (slightly) opens up after a couple of games. At no point does the shot ever get "open" but the right side can create a little push down the lane between games 3 and 7/8. The lefties get nothing...the same brutal pattern for 18 games....that is why they struggle there for the most part. On a walled up league shot the lefties will have it a touch easier than righties...that is the nature of the beast. Complaining about it won't get you anywhere except frustrated.

The ball return is part of the game....especially if you're a higher rev player. I thought I knew how to play deep until I went to the US Open and saw balls go airborn (20+ feet down the lane). You take what the lane gives you.

The only way to keep the righties away from the ball return is going to be putting out a shorter pattern. This will force everyone to throw weaker equipment and play straighter lines so the pattern won't break down as much. I will say that whoever it is making that comlaint is not a "player"...they need to learn how to adjust better. The lane has 39 boards on it, and to be good you need to be able to play all of them.

[michael k ray]

that was well said Randy! you are trully one good right handed bowler!

Randy Russell said:

Tim is 1,000% right...the best example of the "other side" of the righty/lefty debate is the US Open. Traditionally that tournament has been dominated by righties. The pattern is so incredibly brutal but the right side (slightly) opens up after a couple of games. At no point does the shot ever get "open" but the right side can create a little push down the lane between games 3 and 7/8. The lefties get nothing...the same brutal pattern for 18 games....that is why they struggle there for the most part. On a walled up league shot the lefties will have it a touch easier than righties...that is the nature of the beast. Complaining about it won't get you anywhere except frustrated.

The ball return is part of the game....especially if you're a higher rev player. I thought I knew how to play deep until I went to the US Open and saw balls go airborn (20+ feet down the lane). You take what the lane gives you.

The only way to keep the righties away from the ball return is going to be putting out a shorter pattern. This will force everyone to throw weaker equipment and play straighter lines so the pattern won't break down as much. I will say that whoever it is making that comlaint is not a "player"...they need to learn how to adjust better. The lane has 39 boards on it, and to be good you need to be able to play all of them.

[Nick Smith]

I have heard every complaint possible about lefties and righties growing up with a lefty as a father. I can say at times I understand where the lefties come from, however if lefties would truely learn to open themselves up and move right instead of beating themselves up trying to play out at the gutter and complain when they are finished because they bowled bad, blaming it on the shot. I have bowled every stop thus far and i can only remember only seeing no more than a handful of lefties attend the tourneys. Jake washington is the only one who has done anything on a consistent basis simply because he will move off of the 1st arrow. How ignorant can you be to complain about the ball return getting in the way and requesting a shot to make it so you dont have to move towards it, they do make less aggressive balls that roll very well I can suggest a few if you want me to Theo and you can give them to the person who sent you the e-mail. This age old question will never be solved and, this battle will rage on for many many more years.

[Christopher Moore]

No offense to anyone. But there is an obvious advantage between the left and the right side. I'm not saying that lefties are worse....i know a few good lefties and I think they are really good but I also know a few lefties that get lucky and I would say are bad. Sorry guys. But the ones I think are bad still bowl decent in league and other tournaments. I don't believe that SOME (not all) lefties would even be close to as good as they are on the left side of the lanes if they were right handed. But I could be very wrong.

As for the US Open argument, I would have to disagree on that as well. I believe that the reason for the right dominance would be the fact that there are A LOT more bowlers on the right than on the left. And the US Open being as hard as it is make it equal for everyone. Statistically the righties should win it more just because of numbers.

Take it for what you think it is worth.

[Erik Lee]

Good morning

Let the numbers speak for itself.