SPORTS SHOT vs. HOUSE SHOT - "Why don't the RealBowlers Tour use a house shot? You would attract so many more bowlers."

[TIM MCNAIR]

This is a comment that i hear more times than i care to remember. Is it a fact or an assumption? Maybe, maybe not. There are legitimate valid points on both sides of the argument and the factor that drives my response is the original mission and goal of the REALBOWLERS TOUR. For those of you that don't know, we originally designed the RBT to provide a consistent structured tournament circuit for the competitive scratch bowler. When I think of a competitive scratch bowler I think of a individual that revels at the chance to compete against the best in a some what challenging environment. That environment don't have to be tough, it at least should be challenging. Challenges make you stronger. I've had bowlers tell me many times that their participation in our tournaments have made them better. Competing against the best will eventually aid in developing your overall skill and mental toughness if you approach it from the right perspective. WHY NOT USE A HOUSE SHOT? I believe the name sums it up......House shot= a pattern bowling center uses to build bowling leagues and increase open bowling etc. House shots were designed to lead your ball to the pocket rolling up the 10th board which encourages more strikes, which increase league membership and bowling center patronage. There is nothing wrong in my opinion with tournaments using house patterns, because I do believe that most 200+ average carrying bowlers prefer to compete on the condition there average was established. Its your natural comfort zone.....its human nature. Think about this question......What makes bowling a SPORT and not a activity? In my opinion, what makes bowling a legitimate respected sport is the challenge factor of the lane conditions and the grinding formats. If there is no different challenge to the lanes than what an open bowler faces, in my book it becomes more of an activity than sport. Now thats my opinion and my opinion is simply that, my opinion.:) Now don't get me wrong, the conditions don't have to be extremely tough to make it different and we are experimenting with patterns for next season so that it is not so difficult where it becomes discouraging. Nobody likes to bowl bad. We don't want the shot conditions so tough that its frustrating and you feel you have no shot at succeeding. Next season we will not use the PBA patterns, we will find patterns that are playable with a element of difficulty so that more bowlers have a chance of success on them. Our goal is to ultimately help develope more competitive scratch bowlers so that we can grow the SPORT of bowling. What do you think? I want to hear your thoughts. Tim McNair

[Theo McNair]

Tim,
Do you feel that house shots will or will not attract more bowlers? I feel our tournaments attract the more competitive bowlers. I personally don't think you would get anymore bowlers if it was a house shot. What I feel is alot of people do not like to compete or like you said don't like to be challenged. It's not about about what lane conditions they are shooting on. I feel because we host tournaments on a consistent basis, only the more serious bowlers want to participate. I know this question is being raised because of this past weekend tournament which is a once a year tournament. "Local bowlers" show up because its only once a year and it makes a lot of them look as if they would be willing to participate if they had more of them to bowl. I disagree. I feel that our numbers would be close to the same if we had a house shot tournament paying the same thing once a month. There were only 52 bowlers that showed up for $5000 on a house shot!! I know there may be some other factors but its still $5000 on what everyone knows going in its a house shot. What makes people think that the shot is what keep bowlers away. Some one once told me "never change what you desire to do because of what some people may say." Look at the PBA Regionals to me they consistently get 70-100 bowlers every weekend and they never run a house shot. Reason being the people that are serious about the game and want to get better, always want a challenge. That just how I feel. That's all I will say for now :) You'll know I can get long winded.