There’s a bowling revolution in play, and not all bowlers are willing participants. In fact, a few are on strike, and it’s all because bowling alleys across America are getting rid of traditional pinsetting machines in favor of a string-based system.
In hindsight, it seems obvious to this American: attach strings to the tops of bowling pins so they can be yanked upward into holes that settle down the action so that the pins can be reset. In fact, European bowling “houses” have used string pinsetters for decades, instead of lumbering machinery that needs regular maintenance and costs several thousand dollars a month to maintain.
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Recently, the U.S. Bowling Congress recently certified these string pinsetters for both tournament and league play, to the dismay of many bowlers. The problem is that the physics of pins suspended on strings affects the game more than you’d think. There is no satisfying crash when the ball hits. More scientifically speaking, obscure forces such as the radius of gyration and the coefficient of restitution make it so the tethered pins go flying around differently than those that are allowed free-fall.
Hundreds of participants during the testing phase reported that bowling to the strung pins felt off, less active. And, perhaps most alarmingly, the players noted occasional spares that occurred because the strings crossed. But the U.S. Bowling Congress recently published new research claiming that the differences are negligible. But as we all know, there is theory, and then there’s operation.
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