Lesson learned: next time I go bowling, I'll ask the facility what their oil patterns are to optimize my strategy, and then after making a big show of that, subsequently lose.
As someone who has bowled for 15 years and averages over 220 in league, I want to say this video is incredible! It goes into so much depth but still explains every concept correctly and simply. If you watched this video you know so much more about the science behind the sport than a majority of regular league bowlers. Most bowlers can not tell what the rg on a ball actually means
For me whats missing, is how to improve on the regular bowling alley balls. Like, im never going to buy my own bowling ball, and im never going to bowl league. What i do from time to time, is bowl on a public alley with some friends. And i guess they use the solid core balls there. Any tipps on those?
@@Caffeine.And.Carvings From now on you can pose questions to the alley staff...."what's the oil pattern used here?"...."do you have the core types documented?" "can you get me a ball with this specific rg?"... I am sure as hell gonna do all of the above and still roll my ball in the gutter HAHAHAHA....and then loudly proclaim that the 'cores are off here' HAHAHA
Why does a guy like Weber have to stay in that I’m a hard guy attitude, why would he think this guy is thr to bust his 🏀⚽️⚾️ no he’s thr learning about a sport or hobby that he is great at. So just answer a question or just do whatever the guy needed you to do. It’s like he asked him to bowl a 300 on a lane that wasn’t oiled
I think he was just confused about why they wanted him to do it. If they had said, "We just want you to do it so our viewers can see the difference between a lane that's oiled and one that isn't," he might have been like, "Oh! Sure."
@@allamericanslacker2378 He obviously know they are doing this for a video, the whole damn crew is back there but he still didn't want it to look bad on him lol
Working around the bowling industry for the last 15 years or so, this actually is the most informative video I've seen on the subject. Plenty of pro shop guys could use to explain things this clearly.
@@aruljebin they vary in price considerably with ‘starter’ plastic balls about $50-$70 the reactive resin sort shown in the video start around $150 but the good ones are $230-$280. If you’re shopping for a ball, alstroemerias keep in mind that the prices you see in bowling center pro shops are often a little higher than what you can order one for, but most shops include the drilling in the price and charge a good chunk to drill balls they didn’t sell.
As someone who has bowled all their life, this is by far the best explained, most accurate, representation of the factors that affect the game. Well done to the Veritasium team.
I watched this a year ago as a non-bowler and was fascinated. Now a year later I joined my first league and have become obsessed with learning more to get better, knowing much more on the subject I watched it again and am so impressed with how accurate the information is and how well organized it is for non-bowlers to understand. Love your videos, keep up the great work!
I’m a bowler and the knowledge I’ve accumulated over 2 years is condensed into a 28 min video. This would have been helpful when I started 😂. Awesome video
It seems like after moving to Europe from the USA, a lot of my team getting out events have involved bowling. It’s always kind of weird to realize that bowling isn’t just like _there_ in the background for everyone. Like, I knew about skid, hook, roll at least in part, because I’ve _seen_ it well before I had to ever do anything of it myself. So, I understand the “ideal” throw even though I couldn’t perform it. Props to you anyways, bowlers are pretty amazing, and I think it’s an incredible skill, especially since I have some practical experience knowing that I’m not good at it. It’s like watching a speedrun, and going “that looks complicated” but then actually getting into it, and you’re like, “oh wow. This is _way_ harder than I imagined,” and you can come back to the speedruns with a grasp of how things would play out if things weren’t done right.
I remember fondly when my dad told me of a story once when he partook in a perfect game competition back in the '80s which awards the winner a car. He said that the more strikes he got the more judges sat near him to observe his throws. He said that he lost his streak at the tenth throw from the pressure of being observed closely by so many people. Having watched this video, I'm guessing that the factors related oil had more to do with him losing the streak than the pressure. This video gave me a new appreciation for that story
It's so common for people to blame themselves for everything bad that happens to them, when, typically, factors outside of out control influence our failures (and successes) more than we realise. All we can ever do is give it our best, and hope it works out. There's no point worrying about our past results
Actually maybe it was the pressure . As a bowler too for me it’s really all about the mental game . For the oiling u could adjust to its changes. If every single one of ur shots r consistent it will be easy to predict wat changes to make on the lane(moving right or left), and how the ball will start moving, relative to the oiling pattern and the amount of times the ball goes over the same line.
Yeah, the pressure and mental aspects are still huge parts of the game. It’s hard to be that consistent, especially with the changing oil patterns, as you mentioned.
It was appreciably harder to throw a perfect game back in the 1980s...ball technology was not as advanced as it is now and few balls had a core, lanes were typically still wood and thus were more variable than modern synthetics, and oil was still often applied by hand and thus was less consistent. Pressure certainly would have been a part of it but overall bowling conditions being less forgiving played a big part as well
I worked evenings in a bowling alley in 1978 & 79 and learned lots of things that were surprising. One was the cost for fire insurance for a building filled with lanes made of oak, surfaced with 7 coats of lacquer, and kept oiled daily with a light coating of oil. All of these were quite flammable which made the insurance bill the largest expense that owners had. I was involved with laying the 7 coats of lacquer during that time and was very happy once we had finished because we pulled 1 coat every 4 hours with the fans turned off which meant the air became heavy with the vapors. As the years passed and balls were made from new materials, the lanes were made out of nonflammable materials coated with safer coatings.
I to remember those days. The house I learned in was a 6 lane establishment built in 1941. Gateway Lanes in Chesterton Indiana. It's a martial arts studio currently but the Lane beds are still there.
@@snakezdewiggle6084It's 3 coats on sand two off until 7 coats at end or almost finished is 41 if you've customized pearls 21coats leafy metallics held up inside ingots brushed etched mirrored Lacquer. If you got mainframe wrong hits the sound barrier fluxes beginning at the fuselage begins to creep and it all cracks up at the developers UV panels chiping off. I bowled a 300 on request 1975 in Alaska likely the other one in question via personal in attending other than my coursework barely 170/5 average. I'm just wasting some time. He handed me a custom made Peralta bowling ball. "I don't bowl" but the few times I did if your in optimum physical condition the most important part of a good score is your shoes.
I’m from Canada eh, where 5 pin bowling is popular. During the 60’s I was a pin setter at our local bowling alley. Every night I came home with bruised shins. My mom didn’t want me to continue but I had a blast. I may have kicked a pin or two over for a pretty girl on league nights. There may have been a fight or two in the pit area too.
I've been bowling for almost 40 years as a kid, teen leaguer, and a fun league as an adult. I'm not great, about a 185 average. I was fascinated by this video. I especially enjoyed part about the 3 stages of the ball, slipping, hitting the dry spot then rolling. Had no clue and i hope this elevates my game with better understanding on how to adjust as the game goes by. Great video, well done, Sir
I wish they would've shown the path line like they did on the normal oiled lane so we could visually see the leftward acceleration imparted by the difference in friction.
@@danfr No need. That thing looked like it hit something heavy and bounced off it! Poor Pete. Always the generous host! A washed lane makes everyone look bad. In 1992, I watched touring pros bowl pot games on a washed pair of lanes. Guys were winning with 170's. It sounds easy, but go try it.
As I was cleaning out my mothers house after she died, I was really surprised by her bowling trophies. I never once saw her bowl, or do anything “sporting.” But apparently she had a 175 league average and a 200-something game. But his was in the late 60’s. After watching this video, I’m even more impressed.
175 is great - one of the goals in league bowling (back when i did it long ago) was to average a 500 "series" (score over the three games).... basically 166/167 per game. Well done mom! With a 175 average she would have bowled many 200+ games.
I know an older gentleman that averaged 201 back in the late 60s. Newspapers came to interview him and take pictures. 175 was a very good average back then.
Bowling was much harder back then. There was one type of ball and pins were usually heavier. My father was a PBA member in 65 and 66. His league bowling average was 198, which was practically unheard of back then.
As a bowler for 32 years, this video made me extremely happy. I had never had a perfect game in my 32 years until last year. I ended up with three 300 games within a two-month period last year. This sport can make you feel on top of the world, but I've been at some tournaments where nothing went right and it felt like I was wasting money and the worst bowler ever. Thanks for the great video, Veritasium. And thank you for showing that there's more to our sport than just getting drunk and throwing a ball down the lane :)
well if they’ve reinvented the weight distribution this many times it feels like you’re getting cheated a bit! I feel it should be a singular type allowed
As a lifelong bowler, I didn’t learn anything new from this video, but I am greatly appreciative of the quality of effort, thought and care put into this production. I have already shared it with several non-bowling friends of mine.
yeah, you could tell he was bothered by not hitting a strike, right after he seemed almost mad. 😂 Mans got it down to a science, and asked to essentially miss on purpose.
I think you guys mis interpreted. I don’t think he was mad just that for him the results were so obvious that it seemed silly to do. I imagine it’s like asking a physicist to drop something so we can observe this “gravity” they’re talking about….
@@Noadvantage246 my degree is in physics and applied physics. Had to drop things all the time to test and measure gravity hahaha but I know what you mean.
As somebody that’s bowled competitively for most of my life this was a good video with accurate information and I think you did your explanation very well, had I known nothing I firmly believe I would have understood everything to an acceptable degree. Good video for sure!
"can you shoot it how you would on the oil, but on the dry lane?" "but its gonna go in the gutter" "yeah thats what i want" "...but its gonna go in the gutter"
So hear me out. What if the pro bowler came in on the condition that they wouldn't show him missing a strike. We never see him miss in the video, and the first clip of him throwing they didn't show the ball hitting the pins (because he missed). So that was why Derek (veritasium) kind of hesitated to question if he would throw the ball on the dry lane. And thats why the pro bowler hesitated to throw there.
It's like asking an NFL Quarterback to throw the ball end over end just to see what happens, or telling a MLB player to hold the bat upside down... it's just the wrong way to do things.
@@stockstreamtwitch There was a kid in the audience heckling him and he wanted to say something like "who do you think you are? I'm the man of the tournament" but then he got too excited.
Great explanation of how much bowling balls have changed. No question that people are bowling better now. That Weber guy is amazing. When he was getting 300's, people would only get them very rarely.
"Hidden technology" is certainly a great legit-bait on this video. I didn't think I'd be interested but I was positively surprised about the depth of the topic and never felt mislead. You're getting better at this.
@@NoConsequenc3 That'll probably not do much, or at least it doesn't feel like it would, but maybe if you made the bullet itself assymetric and designed to curve using aerodynamics or whatnot...?
Can't believe you did all this stuff with Storm and didn't once mention how they make their bowling balls scented. Each model has its own scent (vanilla, cinnamon, apple, etc.)
@@r.j.martin1818 ngl kinda want one to smell like blueberries. I've got an old one that used to smell like "Pear Berry" and the 2 current ones I use smell like cake and orange cream soda (though to me it smells more like root beer)
I've bowled countless times. In high school our alley was BYOB so we'd take a case and have some fun. Some guys were good at spin, I wasn't I just grabbed the heaviest ball and launched it (usually 100+ score). This video at that time would have changed my game completely. Sometimes I think I was lucky to grow up without the internet, other times I think about how limited information was. No one could explain bowling the way this video just did.
Did it for years and thought it was too. But never understood why I could not stay consistent even though I was good. Because I never understood the science (and so much of it, my word, I never realized) behind lane condition changing in relation to the ball etc. And I'm quite scientifically minded too, but this was something that never really crossed my mind. When I was doing bad, I would change it up and do better, now I understand why those changes in approach and throw etc. worked. Because I tapped into the right lane condition, unknowingly. Gives a new meaning to being "in the zone" eh?! lol.
I bowled in kids leagues with Chris's wife Lynda for several years. Her mom (Midge) was our coach and I can still hear her say, "stay behind the ball and roll it."
Yes and Bear is ridiculously difficult due to that it is a "flat" pattern so there is a high volume of oil on each board and it's doesn't taper off like on the house shot
Jeez, I've loved everything Derek does and I'm a bowling geek. I just got back from watching these exact guys, Pete Weber and Chris Barns, bowling PBA50 in Vegas. Go to any tournament and watch them. They are all very nice people and easy to meet n greet. The reference to players selecting balls like golfers selecting clubs is spot on. We know the basic shape of the roll the different balls will give us. It is based on their weight block, surface material and how they are prepped, but also us throwing them all many times, under every condition. We are looking for the ball that gives us forgiveness to miss a little and still get to the pocket at a good angle. The industry will have a device one day that goes in a finger tip of the ball and give you all the computer analytics on your phone instantly. Bowling rocks. Veritasium ROCKS. Thanks, Derek
The golfer/club comparison is one I've been using for a long time when people ask why I carry so many bowling balls: Different balls for different conditions.
This is awesome and super interesting. I'd love to see the same analysis done on disc golf... recently took that up as a hobby and the way disc edge shapes affect aerodynamics and flight paths are really incredible.
This is absolutely wild. The idea that the technology behind bowling is as advanced as it is is fascinating and makes me rethink the sport. Different oil patterns, different balls, different internals, different surface materials. Awesome!
I’ve been bowling all my life and few documentaries get bowling right but I can tell you this hits spot on. The only thing that was lacking is the fact that professional bowling shoes have interchangeable soles. That can help especially when you travel to different centers with varying temperatures and minute differences in lane surfaces. All of this is needed as it’s very important to get a consistent slide and feel on your approach.
As a "retired" bowler, this video explains it so well. I fully expected to comment that something was left out, but its perfect. When I shot my first 300, I used a different ball on the left lane than I did on the right. One was polished, one was very dull (Both were RotoGrip, made by Storm, I'll add). I find it tough to explain to someone who doesn't know about oil patterns why it worked and why I did it this way. Such a great video! Makes me want to start bowling again!
To go along with what Jon Wick said, if you look up PBA tournaments on UA-cam you will see that they use an oil with a blue hue to it for the people watching to better understand the oil pattern on the lane.
"The Determinator" has got to be the best in-house name for a machine ever! Every factory needs two or three good Determinators regardless of what they make.
I could be wrong about this so don't quote me but I believe The Determinator was invented by the late great legend of bowling Mo Pinel. He was a drag racer and engineer that had suffered one too many bad crashes so got into bowling instead and became the most famous ball designer ever. He was really the innovator of asymmetric cores in bowling balls among other achievements.
I used to be on a bowling league and went to tournaments, and you nailed this video! A lot of the stuff you mentioned were the same stuff my coaches would always talk about. Your form and consistency is the biggest, no ball is gonna fix bad aim lol
My vote for the next sport to analyze: Disc Golf. There's a lot of interesting aerodynamics going on in that sport. I'd love to see a full Veritasium-level analysis!
Ooh yes, disc golf is ridiculous amounts of fun, can be played just about anywhere and guys like Paul McBeth have done so much for the sport over the last few years. Yet it is not as easy as it looks at first glance - it deserves the airtime of other major sports. It's a great spectator sport, gets one out into the open fresh air and the start-up cost is not an arm and a leg. I would love to see a more in-depth look at how the discs are made etc etc.
Years ago, at my office, we had a league bowler who seemed an absolute marvel to the uninitiated. There was a bowling alley across the street, and once in a while after work we'd all go over, ostensibly to bowl, but mostly to watch him. To his coworkers, he appeared as good or better than the pros on TV, and newcomers would always ask why he himself wasn't up on the screen. He'd laugh and explain how we were all bowling on a "house shot" - i.e., a recreational oil pattern - and that house shots were easier to score on. He said this was no secret, that most regular bowlers were aware of the difference between patterns used for customer play - even league play - and those used for pro play. He assured us that if he had to bowl on pro patterns, we'd soon see the difference between him and the pros. I think it was pretty classy of him to be honest. I'm afraid that if I had been he, I'd have been tempted to describe myself as an undiscovered Don Carter.
in 2014 I bowled a game at the local alley and got 183 and I thought I was awesome at bowling. Then on a different night they had the lanes oiled like the pros and I bowled 102. The oil is important.
I like to tell people house shot is essentially bumpers for competitive bowling. Sport shot is incredibly more difficult to stay consistent. On house shot you have about 5-6 boards of error, where sport shot you have maybe 2-3 boards to hit to strike. On top of this lane conditions are constantly changing and the only way to know what they are is to bowl and correct it in the next shot, which very well be a different condition due to having other bowlers on the lane. In tournaments you can sometimes have 10-12 people on a pair of lanes (switching lanes every throw). That amount of bowlers, usually at higher rev rates absolutely destroy lane conditions making it almost impossible to throw a consistent shot
@@boomfly9543 There is also a difference in bowling on an end pair. The lane next to the walkway will get goofy oil movement due to the airflow up against a wall. This can cause drastically different shots between the two lanes. Especially if the right lane is the end.
Im really happy someone finally did a good in depth video of bowling. Everyone says that it is easy because you just throw "rocks"(bowling balls) at pins but there is so much more to it then that. This is a great video and i will 100% recommend people to watch this anytime they say, "Ohh your a bowler, that's such an easy sport to do".
Yeah, the problem is that everything that makes the professional game difficult is more or less invisible to casual spectators. it's why the sport doesn't get the respect it deserves and casuals say, "That looks easy!".
I always come across random things at the same time.. I just listened to the dollop podcast episode on bowling and they mentioned that quote. And all the crazy names bowlers had. And now I'm watching the veritasium episode. But I would have never known what the deal with this quote was unless I listened to the dollop episode. This happens a lot to me. I just so happen to get a small tidbit of info on something then happen across the same thing later but I am prepared with prior knowledge
It was like biblical, whatever God you think you serve, I AM! So funny it made it into this video as well. But yeah when the top hang trophy was not glued down to its base was so funny, credit started rolling, then cut to commercial... so funny.
Fascinating! My bowling ball is a gyro-balanced 'Don Carter Gyro 2'. It's now 49 years old! I bought it and had it fitted in 1974 when I was 18 years old, and it cost me £21 back then. I've rarely used it since the end of the 70s. I'm old school and prefer manual projection scoring on league games.
@@johngiovanni2440 You marked your score on a clear plastic score sheet using a Chinagraph pencil, (like a crayon) the scores were then projected on to angled ceiling above the bowling lanes for the spectators to see. The score was manual, not computerised. This system was used mainly for league competitions. None league games were scored on paper.
Derek, I'm once again amazed at your ability to build an episode around something we all know and teach us so much more. I had no idea about the physics of pro bowling, thank you!
That's what he gov't gets for being so specific. And to think before there was 10 pin bowling there was no chance at ever picking up a 7-10 split to brag about.
Police: You are all under arrest for illegal 9 pin bowling Bowlers: We are not playing 9 pin look at that wood branch beside the other pin, Its 10 pin bowling Police: Ok how do I place my bet?
This vid reminded me of another veritasium episode where you talked about the intermediate axis spinning in space, how a spinning object flipped around when there was no/very low friction acting on it when spinning on the intermediate axis. I wonder if the pattern of track flare would reverse in the direction of procession if given enough oiled lane time.
@@jackcolson4745 watching UA-cam more at home, algorithm gave this guy bowling videos over the last year and a half or so, and the guy is just saying he is glad to see a Veritasium video on a topic he clearly has been invested on UA-cam over the pandemic.
I bowled competitive league for over 11 years during my childhood and what Pete says about league vs pro bowling is true. I knew about the weights, oil pattern, and the angles of hitting the pins, but literally everything else is new to me
@@SF-li9kh He's famous for that. A lot of bowling guys hated him from what I understand because he was always trash talking. But he also won so many championships that it would be ridiculous to not give him a begrudging respect.
As a bowler, I must say this is one of the best bowling explanation videos I've ever seen. I'm going to start recommending this to anyone who is looking to get into bowling more seriously so they can understand how/why equipment works.
When Derek was saying how oil gets moved around as a bowling game goes on, I thought about how pebble gets warn down in curling and shooters have to adjust.
As someone who worked in a bowling alley for almost a year, oil machines are such wild machines. They have so many presets on them and those in leagues would get so pissy if the oil pattern isn’t right. Same way the shoes are so important on the surface, that’s why you always need to wear bowling shoes when you’re on the wood. The workers getting mad at you for wearing your regular shoes there isn’t because we’re being a hard ass, it’s because those who bowl in leagues and take it serious get furious when their shoes aren’t gripping right because of dirt from regular shoes
That and we don't want you to blow your knees out. I worked at a bowling alley when I was in college and had to explain to people that you need bowling shoes because they're meant to slide while your sneakers/tennis shoes are meant for grip. Customers would always be like don't worry my shoes are new or clean or whatever. I'm like it's not that lady. It's when you walk up and throw a bowling ball without bowling shoes your grippy rubber shoes stop you from sliding causing your whole body to absorb the energy instead. If you want to blow out an ACL/MCL go ahead and bowl without the correct shoes. It's also why you never want to go outside with bowling shoes on. Especially if it's raining. The water makes it the bottoms grippy and can ruin the shoes.
Me: "I'm not watching a 28 minute video on bowling". Me 28 minutes later: "well actually if you change the gyration radius on the oiled side you would drastically increase your chances of getting a 6° angle of attack..."
And that is where throwing forms come in! Some do two hand throwing others do what I call "power thrower" using 2 finger no thumb or like me I use my thumb and 2 fingers
Here's a question I've wanted to get an answer to for decades: Explain the physics of taking the first shot at the racked up balls in pool. How does the force get split up in an ideal state where the balls all touch, and one in a more realist state where some balls touch but some don't.
Great idea, hard to do i think since humans prepare the first shot and those tiny variations probably have a reasonably big impact. Anyway, vid when? 😁
It's a good question, but has a boring answer. Sensitivity to initial conditions is so great, that extremely small imperfections in how the rack is set up makes most tactics obsolete. It's like asking which "tactic" gets you more heads when tossing a coin, it doesn't make much sense, cause it's mostly randomness.
Awesome Video, as a kid in Australia growing up with bowling not only have i lived all the change (everyone had an LT48) but my hero growing up was Pete Weber and I just had to get a Blue Angle because he won the 1983 AC delco classic with one! I'm now 50, had a career at one stage as a ball driller and found this video to be the shortest but most factual about the technological journey of the humble bowling ball. It was brilliantly done and yeah the modern day league bowler probably doesn't know 60% of this.
Awww, now I have warm memories of my dad proudly coming home from the bowling alley, stinking of cigars, with a bowling trophy to add to the collection above the fireplace. He would always pick up a box of Junior Mints from the bowling alley vending machine for me. I miss him.
I once bowled on at a "vintage" bowling alley that had zero oil on their lanes, but probably not by design. It was a little hole-in-the-wall bowling place usually set up for parties and events. Trying to throw a strike was pretty much impossible.
I bowled at a Bass Pro for my company Christmas party a few years back. No oil at all. I was using my spare ball and launching it over the gutter and swinging the whole lane and still hitting on the brooklyn side. It was awful. 🤣
It would be interesting to see a similar type of video about archery. There’s a lot of options out there for every property of a bow or set of arrows, kind of like the variables for the bowling balls.
Yeah I've always wanted to get into that but it seems a bit over the top now with choices. Bowling i just fell into after getting hurt in harder sports but still being competitive. But 🏹🎯always was something i wanted to get good at.
@@Melcavic42 I've been practicing archery alot and its almost addicting how much fun it is. I recently got a new bow last year and it was a great purchase. You dont have to get anything crazy for your first bow though. My first bow was a single cam PSE target bow and still love shooting it. Give it a try!
This video got me into bowling almost 3 years ago now and I’m going into my sophomore year of highschool. I have been very successful so far and I owe a lot of it to you for making these cool in depth and interesting scientific videos. Edit: this is probably my 5th time watching this.
They've actually hurt mine.. My ball hooking over the edge on occasion catches a bumper and bounces straight into the other bumper.. Doesn't even get to the pins..
I have been bowling since I was 5. I stopped when my MS (multiple sclerosis) got worst and could not throw it perfectly like I used to. Jump 15 years after MS diagnosis and a lot of exercising and a couple of medication changes and I can play once more. Still want to get a Turkey that I got when I was younger. That was my 15 minutes of fame.
As someone who's been bowling since I was 5, this was fascinating. I thought I knew a lot about ball tech, but you just expanded that knowledge 10fold! Thanks so much!
Yeah, you can tell it really hurt him lol.. And Derek didnt make it better by "so you want oil on the lane?".. And he was like "No, we NEED oil or theres no fun in bowling".. He was really tryin to justify why the shot went that bad 😅 i bet there was sweat drippin from his forehead as he was throwin the ball and he hoped nobody did just step in the room and see this happen without knowin its on purpose 🤣
That slow mo @ 6:30 showed just how precise a champion pro is. Watching the ball contact each pin looked like one side was mirrored for the other. Amazing.
Yeah, American style bowling is getting more popular these days through American cultural influence, but Kegeln was traditionally more popular. It's what my grandparents used to play
The point is that some similar game of throw-a-ball-into-a-bunch-of-pins has existed since egypt and has been reinvented over and over. Kegeln and bowling clearly are on the same family tree.
Thank you for this. My mother in law, whom I loved dearly, was a league bowler and champion. She loved it and missed it when she became too ill to even pick up her ball. It made me cry. I used to go up with her and watch as she bowled her set each week. It was a good time. Our big joke was that she could consistently bowl 300 and I had once bowled 30. I said I won by golf rules.
Great video. I worked in and around bowling machines through college in the 70s and bowled in leagues for years, enjoying it immensely. My league average was 175, but at a house that was well-known for inconsistent oil conditions because oil was still applied manually with an industrial hand-operated floor polisher. I learned about consistent and extreme oil patterns at a tournament where my best game was 289 and there were several 300 games in the group, and I even threw a 300 in practice, then it was back to 175. I found that I could not control the ball as well if it hooked too much, so I stayed away from the new materials and used a Columbia "white-dot" to keep my hook down to 12-15 boards.
I don't know why I watched this but it was genuinely interesting! The way the video was structured and the way stuff was explain was absolutely top notch! Now do the same for darts 😁
The angle-of-attack breakdown at 8:30 in this video explains why I've never been good at bowling strikes. I always rolled a very straight ball. I could hit the 1-3 pocket pretty consistently, but the strike was still kind of rare. So a common game for me was 10 spares plus whatever that final ball was. And as such, I've never broken 200, yet there was a span when I'd routinely score in the 170-190 range.
I thought I was bad at bowling personally, but now I know I'm bad at bowling scientifically. Thanks!
Why not both!
@@thisisralph14 You ruined it.
@@wizard_dynamo You ruined his reply.
Heh, me too! I wish I had known as a kid that there was a possible future in coaching the actual talented people!
Two-handed bowling is the best.
Lesson learned: next time I go bowling, I'll ask the facility what their oil patterns are to optimize my strategy, and then after making a big show of that, subsequently lose.
They usually have the house pattern online, and it's dead easy. Stand left, throw right.
If you're finding it hard to get enough spin. I started throwing 2handed like Jason Belmonte and it really improved my game.
As is tradition!
Then ask to raise the bumpers.
before every throw, you gotta bend down and look down the lane with a face as if you know what you're looking at
As someone who has bowled for 15 years and averages over 220 in league, I want to say this video is incredible! It goes into so much depth but still explains every concept correctly and simply. If you watched this video you know so much more about the science behind the sport than a majority of regular league bowlers. Most bowlers can not tell what the rg on a ball actually means
For me whats missing, is how to improve on the regular bowling alley balls. Like, im never going to buy my own bowling ball, and im never going to bowl league.
What i do from time to time, is bowl on a public alley with some friends. And i guess they use the solid core balls there. Any tipps on those?
@@Caffeine.And.Carvings From now on you can pose questions to the alley staff...."what's the oil pattern used here?"...."do you have the core types documented?" "can you get me a ball with this specific rg?"...
I am sure as hell gonna do all of the above and still roll my ball in the gutter HAHAHAHA....and then loudly proclaim that the 'cores are off here' HAHAHA
@@omnicurious2949 my dad works at amf!
@Keshuel The funny part is that they know a ton about the game but nothing at the same time
@@professorfukyu744 as a native of Cleveland, I'd like to thank him for his service.
I like how stressed Weber gets when asked to bowl on the dry lane.
his cocky demeanor and swagger has only been surpassed by buddy rich😆
it's probably like nails on a chalkboard to him. painful.
Why does a guy like Weber have to stay in that I’m a hard guy attitude, why would he think this guy is thr to bust his 🏀⚽️⚾️ no he’s thr learning about a sport or hobby that he is great at. So just answer a question or just do whatever the guy needed you to do. It’s like he asked him to bowl a 300 on a lane that wasn’t oiled
I think he was just confused about why they wanted him to do it. If they had said, "We just want you to do it so our viewers can see the difference between a lane that's oiled and one that isn't," he might have been like, "Oh! Sure."
@@allamericanslacker2378 He obviously know they are doing this for a video, the whole damn crew is back there but he still didn't want it to look bad on him lol
Working around the bowling industry for the last 15 years or so, this actually is the most informative video I've seen on the subject. Plenty of pro shop guys could use to explain things this clearly.
How much cost one bowling ball is??
I agree. All the knowledge I've picked up over years of bowling was summed up so easily
I had no frigging idea bowling science was this involved.
@@aruljebin they vary in price considerably with ‘starter’ plastic balls about $50-$70 the reactive resin sort shown in the video start around $150 but the good ones are $230-$280. If you’re shopping for a ball, alstroemerias keep in mind that the prices you see in bowling center pro shops are often a little higher than what you can order one for, but most shops include the drilling in the price and charge a good chunk to drill balls they didn’t sell.
@@aruljebin depends. Performance of the bowling ball can make them cost around 220-240 at your local shop.
As someone who has bowled all their life, this is by far the best explained, most accurate, representation of the factors that affect the game. Well done to the Veritasium team.
Agreed !
And he got Pete Weber and Chris Barnes to talk bowling!!! That's like having Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela in your daggum UA-cam video
He even got the LT-48 in there!!
Agree
I don't think so. He didn't talk about beer.
“who do you think you are?! i am!!” toooootally forgot about this clip and did not expect to see it here 😂😂😂
🤔 eh?
@@gabbonoo 6:17
I was so happy to see it. Also that there was a quick forshaddow of it like 2 minutes prior, he shows up for a quick second.
I forgot about it too. A damn classic!
haha me tooo
I watched this a year ago as a non-bowler and was fascinated. Now a year later I joined my first league and have become obsessed with learning more to get better, knowing much more on the subject I watched it again and am so impressed with how accurate the information is and how well organized it is for non-bowlers to understand. Love your videos, keep up the great work!
I’m a bowler and the knowledge I’ve accumulated over 2 years is condensed into a 28 min video. This would have been helpful when I started 😂. Awesome video
It seems like after moving to Europe from the USA, a lot of my team getting out events have involved bowling. It’s always kind of weird to realize that bowling isn’t just like _there_ in the background for everyone. Like, I knew about skid, hook, roll at least in part, because I’ve _seen_ it well before I had to ever do anything of it myself. So, I understand the “ideal” throw even though I couldn’t perform it.
Props to you anyways, bowlers are pretty amazing, and I think it’s an incredible skill, especially since I have some practical experience knowing that I’m not good at it. It’s like watching a speedrun, and going “that looks complicated” but then actually getting into it, and you’re like, “oh wow. This is _way_ harder than I imagined,” and you can come back to the speedruns with a grasp of how things would play out if things weren’t done right.
It definitely feels like this should be required viewing before even just bowling for fun! No wonder I always hated bowling haha
@@puellanivis same thing with billiards! Way harder than one would imagine
@@DUK703 same thing with pretty much any skill. There’s much more nuance behind most things than people who aren’t into them can fully comprehend.
@@NoahOD_22 absolutely
I feel like this should become a series. I would definitely watch more deep dives into sports like this.
I agree
I wanna see one about tennis. Specifically why its scoring system is so fucked up.
How Hidden Technology Transformed Rochambeau
@@B3Band We need to see Derek's demonstrations on that one!
I remember fondly when my dad told me of a story once when he partook in a perfect game competition back in the '80s which awards the winner a car. He said that the more strikes he got the more judges sat near him to observe his throws. He said that he lost his streak at the tenth throw from the pressure of being observed closely by so many people. Having watched this video, I'm guessing that the factors related oil had more to do with him losing the streak than the pressure. This video gave me a new appreciation for that story
Science
It's so common for people to blame themselves for everything bad that happens to them, when, typically, factors outside of out control influence our failures (and successes) more than we realise.
All we can ever do is give it our best, and hope it works out. There's no point worrying about our past results
Actually maybe it was the pressure . As a bowler too for me it’s really all about the mental game . For the oiling u could adjust to its changes. If every single one of ur shots r consistent it will be easy to predict wat changes to make on the lane(moving right or left), and how the ball will start moving, relative to the oiling pattern and the amount of times the ball goes over the same line.
Yeah, the pressure and mental aspects are still huge parts of the game. It’s hard to be that consistent, especially with the changing oil patterns, as you mentioned.
It was appreciably harder to throw a perfect game back in the 1980s...ball technology was not as advanced as it is now and few balls had a core, lanes were typically still wood and thus were more variable than modern synthetics, and oil was still often applied by hand and thus was less consistent. Pressure certainly would have been a part of it but overall bowling conditions being less forgiving played a big part as well
I worked evenings in a bowling alley in 1978 & 79 and learned lots of things that were surprising. One was the cost for fire insurance for a building filled with lanes made of oak, surfaced with 7 coats of lacquer, and kept oiled daily with a light coating of oil. All of these were quite flammable which made the insurance bill the largest expense that owners had. I was involved with laying the 7 coats of lacquer during that time and was very happy once we had finished because we pulled 1 coat every 4 hours with the fans turned off which meant the air became heavy with the vapors. As the years passed and balls were made from new materials, the lanes were made out of nonflammable materials coated with safer coatings.
I to remember those days. The house I learned in was a 6 lane establishment built in 1941. Gateway Lanes in Chesterton Indiana. It's a martial arts studio currently but the Lane beds are still there.
Wow, I can't believe you guys have any memory of anything after breathing those fumes. lol.
@@snakezdewiggle6084It's 3 coats on sand two off until 7 coats at end or almost finished is 41 if you've customized pearls 21coats leafy metallics held up inside ingots brushed etched mirrored Lacquer.
If you got mainframe wrong hits the sound barrier fluxes beginning at the fuselage begins to creep and it all cracks up at the developers UV panels chiping off.
I bowled a 300 on request 1975 in Alaska likely the other one in question via personal in attending other than my coursework barely 170/5 average.
I'm just wasting some time.
He handed me a custom made Peralta bowling ball. "I don't bowl" but the few times I did if your in optimum physical condition the most important part of a good score is your shoes.
I’m from Canada eh, where 5 pin bowling is popular. During the 60’s I was a pin setter at our local bowling alley. Every night I came home with bruised shins. My mom didn’t want me to continue but I had a blast. I may have kicked a pin or two over for a pretty girl on league nights. There may have been a fight or two in the pit area too.
Yup, I'm 45 years old and have known 4 bowling alleys in the region I live in burn to the ground. Pretty sure one was an insurance scam.
".. We need the oil. If there was no oil, nobody would have fun."
That's the most American thing ever said coincidentally
Damn. This would be hilarious if it wasn’t so true.
American forces proceed to liberate bowling allies to topple the bowling regime
@@minecraftminertime *bowling ball coincidentally crashes into the twin towers just before invasion*
Just wouldn't be fun because they'd all be worse players. Well and the shots wouldn't be impressing too.
They should have a non oil class for those who want more challenge.
Compared to other sports, bowling is relatively easy as it is.
He really did not want to throw a bad strike on that dry lane.
It really sounded like playing on a dry lane is blasphemy and would land you in hell.
Probably the first gutterball he had thrown in years.
Yeah he looked almost offended.
He shuddered to think there'd be video of him throwing a gutter ball
Wars have been started over dry lanes
Never have I thought that I will be watching a video about bowling with such interest. Thanks V!
@@frackingfluidinjection 😏
@@frackingfluidinjection 😏
@@frackingfluidinjection 😏
@@frackingfluidinjection 😏
1:45am here and I've just finished watching this. And I don't even bowl.
I've been bowling for almost 40 years as a kid, teen leaguer, and a fun league as an adult. I'm not great, about a 185 average. I was fascinated by this video. I especially enjoyed part about the 3 stages of the ball, slipping, hitting the dry spot then rolling. Had no clue and i hope this elevates my game with better understanding on how to adjust as the game goes by. Great video, well done, Sir
Have you noticed a difference since then?
“…makes the balls perfectly round” he says to a guy who’s held the Avogadro Project kilogram sphere.
Shots fired!!!
Lmaoo
That'd be way too light to bowl with, surely?
Finally
The perfect bowling ball
@@daniellewis1789 just need to throw it down faster
The production quality exceeds many TV shows at this point! Well done Derek and everyone involved in the production.
Not just many but most. There's a lot of trash on TV.
13:26 his hesitation on throwing a gutter ball is palpable
Pete's soul leaves a little....
You could tell it hurt him 😭🤣
I wish they would've shown the path line like they did on the normal oiled lane so we could visually see the leftward acceleration imparted by the difference in friction.
@@danfr No need. That thing looked like it hit something heavy and bounced off it! Poor Pete. Always the generous host! A washed lane makes everyone look bad. In 1992, I watched touring pros bowl pot games on a washed pair of lanes. Guys were winning with 170's. It sounds easy, but go try it.
Felt that too...and he immediately went defensive after
As I was cleaning out my mothers house after she died, I was really surprised by her bowling trophies. I never once saw her bowl, or do anything “sporting.” But apparently she had a 175 league average and a 200-something game. But his was in the late 60’s. After watching this video, I’m even more impressed.
175 is great - one of the goals in league bowling (back when i did it long ago) was to average a 500 "series" (score over the three games).... basically 166/167 per game. Well done mom! With a 175 average she would have bowled many 200+ games.
I know an older gentleman that averaged 201 back in the late 60s. Newspapers came to interview him and take pictures. 175 was a very good average back then.
And to think, she did it without the technology of today 😎 .
Bowling Queen
Bowling was much harder back then. There was one type of ball and pins were usually heavier. My father was a PBA member in 65 and 66. His league bowling average was 198, which was practically unheard of back then.
As a bowler for 32 years, this video made me extremely happy. I had never had a perfect game in my 32 years until last year. I ended up with three 300 games within a two-month period last year. This sport can make you feel on top of the world, but I've been at some tournaments where nothing went right and it felt like I was wasting money and the worst bowler ever.
Thanks for the great video, Veritasium. And thank you for showing that there's more to our sport than just getting drunk and throwing a ball down the lane :)
well if they’ve reinvented the weight distribution this many times it feels like you’re getting cheated a bit! I feel it should be a singular type allowed
Who do you think you are? I am!!!
dudes legit btw has a 15 year old bowling video on his channel
most people didn’t even youtube existed at that point!
@@calypsa I sure do! My first YT video was taken at work when I was a pinsetter mechanic at the college I attended :D
sounds a lot like golf in that aspect, it's so hard to be consistent and easy for it all to go sideways and look like your first game
As a lifelong bowler, I didn’t learn anything new from this video, but I am greatly appreciative of the quality of effort, thought and care put into this production. I have already shared it with several non-bowling friends of mine.
you did learn one thing -- the face pete makes when asked to bowl on a dry lane.
@@timq6224 he was definitely uncomfortable
Astounding to see a crossover between two giants - Derek, and "Who do you think you are - I AM"
g(old)
I still don't like that guy. Way too in the zone my dude.
@@jecht86 who
Why that is one of the best quotes in human history. This guy is definitely a major douche
I am that I am
I love how the pro bowler was practically insulted by Derek's request that he try bowling on the unoiled lane.
yeah, you could tell he was bothered by not hitting a strike, right after he seemed almost mad. 😂 Mans got it down to a science, and asked to essentially miss on purpose.
Totally. Really put me off the guy. It's for science dude, not ego polishing.
@@PollokPoochesDogWalking He did seem like a cocky asshole too.
I think you guys mis interpreted. I don’t think he was mad just that for him the results were so obvious that it seemed silly to do. I imagine it’s like asking a physicist to drop something so we can observe this “gravity” they’re talking about….
@@Noadvantage246 my degree is in physics and applied physics. Had to drop things all the time to test and measure gravity hahaha but I know what you mean.
As somebody that’s bowled competitively for most of my life this was a good video with accurate information and I think you did your explanation very well, had I known nothing I firmly believe I would have understood everything to an acceptable degree. Good video for sure!
Yes! These types of videos need to reach more people.
As somebody who's bowled maybe 2 or 3 times, I do indeed feel like I understand most of this now :) so you're right about that
@@coryman125 Ditto. I did have to do a couple of double takes at the section about which shapes affects the spin progression in what way though...
Agreed. 32 year bowler here. It's great to see someone like Veritasium devling into the physics of my favorite sport.
I love how offended he was when you asked him to make the bad shot on purpose. The man loves his job for sure.
"can you shoot it how you would on the oil, but on the dry lane?"
"but its gonna go in the gutter"
"yeah thats what i want"
"...but its gonna go in the gutter"
So hear me out. What if the pro bowler came in on the condition that they wouldn't show him missing a strike. We never see him miss in the video, and the first clip of him throwing they didn't show the ball hitting the pins (because he missed). So that was why Derek (veritasium) kind of hesitated to question if he would throw the ball on the dry lane. And thats why the pro bowler hesitated to throw there.
Saw that too! He is definitely a little bit full of himself but in that video, it looks at least good hearted.
It's like asking an NFL Quarterback to throw the ball end over end just to see what happens, or telling a MLB player to hold the bat upside down... it's just the wrong way to do things.
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE - I AM!!!
"Who do you think you are? I am!"
he really put that in there 😂
Was the guy trying to say Who Do You Think I Am? 🤣
@@stockstreamtwitch There was a kid in the audience heckling him and he wanted to say something like "who do you think you are? I'm the man of the tournament" but then he got too excited.
Great explanation of how much bowling balls have changed. No question that people are bowling better now. That Weber guy is amazing. When he was getting 300's, people would only get them very rarely.
"Hidden technology" is certainly a great legit-bait on this video. I didn't think I'd be interested but I was positively surprised about the depth of the topic and never felt mislead. You're getting better at this.
Hahaa I always check on Veritasium's videos to see how he changes the title and thumbnail throughout the week.
That’s his new strategy: only make videos that can be accurately described by what seems like clickbait. Best of both worlds.
someone stole your comment and got more likes
Got me thru Hidden Lost Ancient Technology vids I watch.
@@archevenault I don't mind, I don't comment for likes or originality. I was curious though, so I looked, and it seemed more like a bot to me anyway.
I'm honestly surprised there's room in the bowling industry for 11 manufacturers. Insane.
Which is actually really good for competition and innovation. I wish more sports, or product categories in general, had such vibrant competition.
Lol
Every small poor city of the world has at least one alley, someone must provide
11 on different parts of the world, those 11 monopolise the market where they are located, check earlier bits of this where he mentions it,
The world is a pretty big place, my guy. Yeah, pro bowling isn't that big, but a lot of people bowl.
so thats how Wanted worked, curved bullets with grease in the air
Underrated comment🔥🔥😂
ACTUALLY WAIT
IF THE BULLETS HAD WEIGHTS INSIDE
BRO WAIT
@@NoConsequenc3 🤔
@@NoConsequenc3 That'll probably not do much, or at least it doesn't feel like it would, but maybe if you made the bullet itself assymetric and designed to curve using aerodynamics or whatnot...?
@@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149 Bro. Don't bring problem, bring solutions
Can't believe you did all this stuff with Storm and didn't once mention how they make their bowling balls scented. Each model has its own scent (vanilla, cinnamon, apple, etc.)
That's the reason I stopped using their gear. The pong!
Mine smells like blueberries and is dark blue.
@@r.j.martin1818 ngl kinda want one to smell like blueberries. I've got an old one that used to smell like "Pear Berry" and the 2 current ones I use smell like cake and orange cream soda (though to me it smells more like root beer)
I can't think of few things more annoying than smelly bowling balls. So I know the brand to avoid now.
After rolling, will you be smelling some cooking oil?
I've bowled countless times. In high school our alley was BYOB so we'd take a case and have some fun. Some guys were good at spin, I wasn't I just grabbed the heaviest ball and launched it (usually 100+ score). This video at that time would have changed my game completely. Sometimes I think I was lucky to grow up without the internet, other times I think about how limited information was. No one could explain bowling the way this video just did.
Yeah last time I went bowling with my friends we were like googling oil patterns while we were there lol.
My dad took a bowling class in college, so he would always give me tips during bowling alley birthday parties.
I read that as bring your own ball before I got to the word case. For a split second I thought, wow who can afford their own ball in high school!?
I think that has more to do with why there are more perfect games. Information is shared so much they've got it down to a science.
I never thought that the science of bowling was so interesting but I never thought that there was much science to it. Thank you.
Amazing video, it was awesome learning the complexity of a sport that looks "simple"
Joder shadoune q haces aca jaja
A la madre JAJAJAJJA QUE HACES AQUÍ
Did it for years and thought it was too. But never understood why I could not stay consistent even though I was good. Because I never understood the science (and so much of it, my word, I never realized) behind lane condition changing in relation to the ball etc. And I'm quite scientifically minded too, but this was something that never really crossed my mind. When I was doing bad, I would change it up and do better, now I understand why those changes in approach and throw etc. worked. Because I tapped into the right lane condition, unknowingly. Gives a new meaning to being "in the zone" eh?! lol.
@@MrBilld75 mucho texto xd
Its a lot of research to learn on its own doesnt begin the small adjustments you need to make constantly
Getting to bowl with Big Pete is a peak experience
I bowled in kids leagues with Chris's wife Lynda for several years. Her mom (Midge) was our coach and I can still hear her say, "stay behind the ball and roll it."
I'd like to believe that "Bear" was just a random guess lol. Made me chuckle
As if Derek doesn't do his research before going on site.
It wasn't - Derek was prepared like always
Yes and Bear is ridiculously difficult due to that it is a "flat" pattern so there is a high volume of oil on each board and it's doesn't taper off like on the house shot
Its a actual lane pattern
@@gotgt500 **wolf has entered the chat**
Pete was like: The audacity, this lunatic wants to make me throw my first gutter since i was a kid, outrageous!
True!
Yup the look on his face like....you want me to do what aww man ...ok for science....I guess
Haha exactly he looked so unhappy
He was so uncomfortable. He had to defend and justify the gutter ball at 13:45 like we were judging him for it.
He REALLY didn't want tot do that. ANd totally top and tailed the throw with the "yeah, no oil, it WILL do this...[throw] see, I told you!"
Fair play.
Jeez, I've loved everything Derek does and I'm a bowling geek. I just got back from watching these exact guys, Pete Weber and Chris Barns, bowling PBA50 in Vegas. Go to any tournament and watch them. They are all very nice people and easy to meet n greet. The reference to players selecting balls like golfers selecting clubs is spot on. We know the basic shape of the roll the different balls will give us. It is based on their weight block, surface material and how they are prepped, but also us throwing them all many times, under every condition. We are looking for the ball that gives us forgiveness to miss a little and still get to the pocket at a good angle. The industry will have a device one day that goes in a finger tip of the ball and give you all the computer analytics on your phone instantly. Bowling rocks. Veritasium ROCKS. Thanks, Derek
Go Dirk!
The golfer/club comparison is one I've been using for a long time when people ask why I carry so many bowling balls: Different balls for different conditions.
SHUT UP
@@LoanShark_QQQQQQQQ If you r gonna troll, your channel shouldn't be for only 5 yr olds.
@@livinb450 how is it for 5 year olds?
This is awesome and super interesting. I'd love to see the same analysis done on disc golf... recently took that up as a hobby and the way disc edge shapes affect aerodynamics and flight paths are really incredible.
This is absolutely wild. The idea that the technology behind bowling is as advanced as it is is fascinating and makes me rethink the sport. Different oil patterns, different balls, different internals, different surface materials. Awesome!
Wow, now I can finally beat Roman in Grand Theft Auto
Let's go bowling!
Nice
Hey, cousin! Let's go bowling!
I just went down the right side with little spin, aimed just right of center pin.
COUSIN!!!!
I’ve been bowling all my life and few documentaries get bowling right but I can tell you this hits spot on. The only thing that was lacking is the fact that professional bowling shoes have interchangeable soles. That can help especially when you travel to different centers with varying temperatures and minute differences in lane surfaces. All of this is needed as it’s very important to get a consistent slide and feel on your approach.
As a "retired" bowler, this video explains it so well. I fully expected to comment that something was left out, but its perfect.
When I shot my first 300, I used a different ball on the left lane than I did on the right. One was polished, one was very dull (Both were RotoGrip, made by Storm, I'll add). I find it tough to explain to someone who doesn't know about oil patterns why it worked and why I did it this way.
Such a great video! Makes me want to start bowling again!
I know it would be a nightmare for the lane owner, but it would be really neat to use dyed oil to see how the pattern smears over time.
Some professional tournaments actually use dyed oil. You should check it out. :)
Also a nightmare for the hands and clothing of the bowlers
@@jonwick893 No kidding? I’ll definitely try finding some pictures and videos. Thanks!
To go along with what Jon Wick said, if you look up PBA tournaments on UA-cam you will see that they use an oil with a blue hue to it for the people watching to better understand the oil pattern on the lane.
@@stevenz6424 Wow, this shows how long it's been since I've seen any pro bowling. haha 😅
"The Determinator" has got to be the best in-house name for a machine ever! Every factory needs two or three good Determinators regardless of what they make.
If Skynet had a Determinator then Sarah Connor could have lived a normal life.
Also a Turbo Encabulator.
I like the german word endmaßsatz.
I could be wrong about this so don't quote me but I believe The Determinator was invented by the late great legend of bowling Mo Pinel. He was a drag racer and engineer that had suffered one too many bad crashes so got into bowling instead and became the most famous ball designer ever. He was really the innovator of asymmetric cores in bowling balls among other achievements.
This was surprisingly fascinating. You've got a knack for doing that.
@@aratirao9007 search Aditi Rendy Rao, she makes random comments about random stuff. She is actually a he - HisRa :D
@@rajadhirajmaharaj show bobs and vegene
I used to be on a bowling league and went to tournaments, and you nailed this video! A lot of the stuff you mentioned were the same stuff my coaches would always talk about. Your form and consistency is the biggest, no ball is gonna fix bad aim lol
My vote for the next sport to analyze: Disc Golf. There's a lot of interesting aerodynamics going on in that sport. I'd love to see a full Veritasium-level analysis!
It will happen now. Because suggestion and good idea.
Ooh yes, disc golf is ridiculous amounts of fun, can be played just about anywhere and guys like Paul McBeth have done so much for the sport over the last few years. Yet it is not as easy as it looks at first glance - it deserves the airtime of other major sports. It's a great spectator sport, gets one out into the open fresh air and the start-up cost is not an arm and a leg. I would love to see a more in-depth look at how the discs are made etc etc.
Good suggestion. He thought bowling had a lot of variables, wait till you throw a nose up DX destroyer hyzer flip into a headwind on a humid day.
I've never hward of this sport up untill now.
But now I want a video
Seriously, I think the most underrated sport in the world. Look up the world championship. I think this game is the sh*t!
“Who do you think you are I AM!?” I had forgotten all about that gem. Classic…
Years ago, at my office, we had a league bowler who seemed an absolute marvel to the uninitiated. There was a bowling alley across the street, and once in a while after work we'd all go over, ostensibly to bowl, but mostly to watch him.
To his coworkers, he appeared as good or better than the pros on TV, and newcomers would always ask why he himself wasn't up on the screen. He'd laugh and explain how we were all bowling on a "house shot" - i.e., a recreational oil pattern - and that house shots were easier to score on. He said this was no secret, that most regular bowlers were aware of the difference between patterns used for customer play - even league play - and those used for pro play. He assured us that if he had to bowl on pro patterns, we'd soon see the difference between him and the pros.
I think it was pretty classy of him to be honest. I'm afraid that if I had been he, I'd have been tempted to describe myself as an undiscovered Don Carter.
That was well-written and a pleasure to read, thank you.
@@iBringTheRain24 Thank you very much for taking the trouble to say so.
in 2014 I bowled a game at the local alley and got 183 and I thought I was awesome at bowling. Then on a different night they had the lanes oiled like the pros and I bowled 102. The oil is important.
I like to tell people house shot is essentially bumpers for competitive bowling. Sport shot is incredibly more difficult to stay consistent. On house shot you have about 5-6 boards of error, where sport shot you have maybe 2-3 boards to hit to strike. On top of this lane conditions are constantly changing and the only way to know what they are is to bowl and correct it in the next shot, which very well be a different condition due to having other bowlers on the lane. In tournaments you can sometimes have 10-12 people on a pair of lanes (switching lanes every throw). That amount of bowlers, usually at higher rev rates absolutely destroy lane conditions making it almost impossible to throw a consistent shot
@@boomfly9543 There is also a difference in bowling on an end pair. The lane next to the walkway will get goofy oil movement due to the airflow up against a wall. This can cause drastically different shots between the two lanes. Especially if the right lane is the end.
Veritasium is an elite channel. Loaded with videos I get captivated by.
Im really happy someone finally did a good in depth video of bowling. Everyone says that it is easy because you just throw "rocks"(bowling balls) at pins but there is so much more to it then that. This is a great video and i will 100% recommend people to watch this anytime they say, "Ohh your a bowler, that's such an easy sport to do".
Yeah, the problem is that everything that makes the professional game difficult is more or less invisible to casual spectators. it's why the sport doesn't get the respect it deserves and casuals say, "That looks easy!".
or people who say “bowling isnt a sport” like okay lmao watch this vid then
Its just like golf. All skill and tactics, no show. Basketball is all show and otherwise boring as tennis.
The "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??? I AM!!!!" Pete Weber reaction has never failed to make me laugh for so many years now it's ridiculous
One of the greatest memes of all time
Better is when he was being awarded the trophy he went right by.
I always come across random things at the same time.. I just listened to the dollop podcast episode on bowling and they mentioned that quote. And all the crazy names bowlers had. And now I'm watching the veritasium episode. But I would have never known what the deal with this quote was unless I listened to the dollop episode. This happens a lot to me. I just so happen to get a small tidbit of info on something then happen across the same thing later but I am prepared with prior knowledge
It was like biblical, whatever God you think you serve, I AM! So funny it made it into this video as well. But yeah when the top hang trophy was not glued down to its base was so funny, credit started rolling, then cut to commercial... so funny.
Pete was never the "man" his dad was. Dick Weber was a class act. Pete is still an immature baby.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM"
Best line ever, bowling isn't the same without Pete
did he retire? pardon my ignorance
@@jeremylawson6648 Yeah, he did. He was one of the biggest trash talkers I've seen in professional bowling
@@motifity3416 > biggest trash talkers
With lines like "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! I AM!", I absolutely believe you.
Legendary
whoever you thought you were, he was.
Fascinating! My bowling ball is a gyro-balanced 'Don Carter Gyro 2'. It's now 49 years old! I bought it and had it fitted in 1974 when I was 18 years old, and it cost me £21 back then. I've rarely used it since the end of the 70s. I'm old school and prefer manual projection scoring on league games.
What does that mean manual projection scoring on league games?
@@johngiovanni2440 You marked your score on a clear plastic score sheet using a Chinagraph pencil, (like a crayon) the scores were then projected on to angled ceiling above the bowling lanes for the spectators to see. The score was manual, not computerised. This system was used mainly for league competitions. None league games were scored on paper.
Definitely the most times Derek has ever said 'Balls' in a single day.
His boyfriend would disagree
Not*
But not the most times you've said it I bet.
Well "ho ho ho" - how very amusing. -_-
Derek, I'm once again amazed at your ability to build an episode around something we all know and teach us so much more. I had no idea about the physics of pro bowling, thank you!
Government: bans nine-pin bowling.
Smart guy: invents ten-pin bowling.
That's what he gov't gets for being so specific. And to think before there was 10 pin bowling there was no chance at ever picking up a 7-10 split to brag about.
@@14yeartwitch14 It probably didn't help that the game at the time was literally called "ninepins" in the common parlance...
Police: You are all under arrest for illegal 9 pin bowling
Bowlers: We are not playing 9 pin look at that wood branch beside the other pin, Its 10 pin bowling
Police: Ok how do I place my bet?
lol
...
......
...Why are you still here
...
...
...
... bye......
@@lilbigbob3836 I was hoping for something profound at the end... ya cut me deep.
When he said
This is the biggest, most in depth video about bowling ever.
He meant it.
This vid reminded me of another veritasium episode where you talked about the intermediate axis spinning in space, how a spinning object flipped around when there was no/very low friction acting on it when spinning on the intermediate axis. I wonder if the pattern of track flare would reverse in the direction of procession if given enough oiled lane time.
That video was awesome, no one ever believes me until I show it to then XD
I’ve been a mechanic at my local bowling alley for years, love to see the increased interest in the work we do and the sport :)
@Emily An approach is everything!
This is actually an incredibly hype video. Pandemic Algorithm has gotten me into bowling videos and a 30 Min Veritasium is epic
Now you just have to get into actually bowling
The Pandemic generally has gotten me into watching UA-cam daily and the recommended videos that I get from UA-cam are spectacular
REEEEEEEEEEEEEE DIS A SCAMDEMIC!!!!!!! FAEK NIEWZZZZZ!!!!!!!
What does the pandemic have to do with this?
@@jackcolson4745 watching UA-cam more at home, algorithm gave this guy bowling videos over the last year and a half or so, and the guy is just saying he is glad to see a Veritasium video on a topic he clearly has been invested on UA-cam over the pandemic.
It’s 2:09am. I have work in 4 hours. I don’t know how I ended up here but I will watch every minute of this video about bowling balls. Thank you
I bowled competitive league for over 11 years during my childhood and what Pete says about league vs pro bowling is true. I knew about the weights, oil pattern, and the angles of hitting the pins, but literally everything else is new to me
do you use the same arm everytime?
well yea its quite hard to bowl consistenly with your other arm
SHUT UP
The interviews are sometimes so amusing, where everyone one is so amused because they come from such different backgrounds
Yeah, but the ridiculous ones aren't the ones you think they are.
Well that guy seemed like an asshole. He started by screaming "You think you are better than me ? Huh? ", Talked like a cocky ass too
@@SF-li9kh It's the American way haha.
@@SF-li9kh i think he was talking to the robot
@@SF-li9kh He's famous for that. A lot of bowling guys hated him from what I understand because he was always trash talking. But he also won so many championships that it would be ridiculous to not give him a begrudging respect.
As a bowler, I must say this is one of the best bowling explanation videos I've ever seen. I'm going to start recommending this to anyone who is looking to get into bowling more seriously so they can understand how/why equipment works.
Great video ❤
Laughed alot about how in depth this was but also loved your commitment and how informative this was
Keep up the work
Please do Curling next. I would like to learn about cutting edge Broom technology in that sport. 😸
The science behind curling is actually really cool and interesting
Destin from Smarter Every Day, of all people (because he’s from Alabama, where it’s warm), has done a video on the physics of curling.
When Derek was saying how oil gets moved around as a bowling game goes on, I thought about how pebble gets warn down in curling and shooters have to adjust.
So funny dude, cutting edge broom tech... can't wait to share this joke with my mom she loves that sport for whatever reason
As someone who worked in a bowling alley for almost a year, oil machines are such wild machines. They have so many presets on them and those in leagues would get so pissy if the oil pattern isn’t right. Same way the shoes are so important on the surface, that’s why you always need to wear bowling shoes when you’re on the wood. The workers getting mad at you for wearing your regular shoes there isn’t because we’re being a hard ass, it’s because those who bowl in leagues and take it serious get furious when their shoes aren’t gripping right because of dirt from regular shoes
That and we don't want you to blow your knees out. I worked at a bowling alley when I was in college and had to explain to people that you need bowling shoes because they're meant to slide while your sneakers/tennis shoes are meant for grip. Customers would always be like don't worry my shoes are new or clean or whatever. I'm like it's not that lady. It's when you walk up and throw a bowling ball without bowling shoes your grippy rubber shoes stop you from sliding causing your whole body to absorb the energy instead. If you want to blow out an ACL/MCL go ahead and bowl without the correct shoes. It's also why you never want to go outside with bowling shoes on. Especially if it's raining. The water makes it the bottoms grippy and can ruin the shoes.
Sad lives, really..
🐫🐫🐫🐫😝😝🐫🐫😏
Qaq
Idk man i seem to get better grip in jordans. When i wear bowling shoes i just glide around the floor like michael jackson
Me: "I'm not watching a 28 minute video on bowling".
Me 28 minutes later: "well actually if you change the gyration radius on the oiled side you would drastically increase your chances of getting a 6° angle of attack..."
Yeah, and the fact you can understand what are you talking is even more impressive
And that is where throwing forms come in! Some do two hand throwing others do what I call "power thrower" using 2 finger no thumb or like me I use my thumb and 2 fingers
But honestly the people I had to bowl against consistently threw in tournaments at 30 mph minimum literal 8 hours
Same here.
Wow
Man I suck at bowling but this was one of the most interesting videos I've watched in a while!
I used to bowl a lot and in 28 minutes you have explained the game and technology very well. Kudos.
"This is the most biggest and indepth video about bowling"
Me: (changes my sitting posture)
Here's a question I've wanted to get an answer to for decades: Explain the physics of taking the first shot at the racked up balls in pool. How does the force get split up in an ideal state where the balls all touch, and one in a more realist state where some balls touch but some don't.
One for the slowmo guys and veritasium explain
Great idea, hard to do i think since humans prepare the first shot and those tiny variations probably have a reasonably big impact. Anyway, vid when? 😁
It's a good question, but has a boring answer. Sensitivity to initial conditions is so great, that extremely small imperfections in how the rack is set up makes most tactics obsolete. It's like asking which "tactic" gets you more heads when tossing a coin, it doesn't make much sense, cause it's mostly randomness.
@@juozsx So its a chaotic system?
@@BurgahBoyy precisely
Awesome Video, as a kid in Australia growing up with bowling not only have i lived all the change (everyone had an LT48) but my hero growing up was Pete Weber and I just had to get a Blue Angle because he won the 1983 AC delco classic with one! I'm now 50, had a career at one stage as a ball driller and found this video to be the shortest but most factual about the technological journey of the humble bowling ball. It was brilliantly done and yeah the modern day league bowler probably doesn't know 60% of this.
Awww, now I have warm memories of my dad proudly coming home from the bowling alley, stinking of cigars, with a bowling trophy to add to the collection above the fireplace. He would always pick up a box of Junior Mints from the bowling alley vending machine for me. I miss him.
I once bowled on at a "vintage" bowling alley that had zero oil on their lanes, but probably not by design. It was a little hole-in-the-wall bowling place usually set up for parties and events. Trying to throw a strike was pretty much impossible.
I bowled at a Bass Pro for my company Christmas party a few years back. No oil at all. I was using my spare ball and launching it over the gutter and swinging the whole lane and still hitting on the brooklyn side. It was awful. 🤣
I HTAE YOU
It would be interesting to see a similar type of video about archery. There’s a lot of options out there for every property of a bow or set of arrows, kind of like the variables for the bowling balls.
Yeah I've always wanted to get into that but it seems a bit over the top now with choices. Bowling i just fell into after getting hurt in harder sports but still being competitive. But 🏹🎯always was something i wanted to get good at.
it doesnt fall on too many heads
@@Melcavic42 I've been practicing archery alot and its almost addicting how much fun it is. I recently got a new bow last year and it was a great purchase. You dont have to get anything crazy for your first bow though. My first bow was a single cam PSE target bow and still love shooting it. Give it a try!
This is the case with most sports and it's fascinating. They look simple from the outside but get increasingly complex the more you know about them.
Every game has many scientifically explainable factors 🤩
This video got me into bowling almost 3 years ago now and I’m going into my sophomore year of highschool. I have been very successful so far and I owe a lot of it to you for making these cool in depth and interesting scientific videos.
Edit: this is probably my 5th time watching this.
Nice, that’s awesome
*Best Bowling aid: The blue bumpers, improves my score every game*
They've actually hurt mine.. My ball hooking over the edge on occasion catches a bumper and bounces straight into the other bumper.. Doesn't even get to the pins..
I have been bowling since I was 5. I stopped when my MS (multiple sclerosis) got worst and could not throw it perfectly like I used to. Jump 15 years after MS diagnosis and a lot of exercising and a couple of medication changes and I can play once more.
Still want to get a Turkey that I got when I was younger. That was my 15 minutes of fame.
Glad you're doing better.
You can do the turkey again, I believe in you, fellow internet stranger!
glad you’re able to roll again.
@@jeremylawson6648 me too. I felt like a kid again.
@@scrotymcboogerballs6756 the kindness of strangers is always worth it ^_^
id say this is way more than i ever need to know about bowling, but who knows i might be a bowler someday
thanks derek
Still fun to know "how" to crush your friends. If you actually pull it off you can just act like you're skilled.
THAT was a well done video and FASCINATING!! THANK YOU 👍🏼
As someone who's been bowling since I was 5, this was fascinating. I thought I knew a lot about ball tech, but you just expanded that knowledge 10fold! Thanks so much!
The title "How Hidden Technology Transformed Bowling" is more enticing than "fascinating physics of bowling"
I too watched his clickbait video.
but..... but.......b..........
@@abhitruechamp ?
This changing of titles business is why I wait on his videos for a few days till he has settled the title.🤷
@@chopholtz4950 Yeah I think it was a fair title.
That must have been the first ball he'd thrown in the gutter ever since he started bowling
The look on his face was priceless
Yeah, you can tell it really hurt him lol.. And Derek didnt make it better by "so you want oil on the lane?".. And he was like "No, we NEED oil or theres no fun in bowling".. He was really tryin to justify why the shot went that bad 😅 i bet there was sweat drippin from his forehead as he was throwin the ball and he hoped nobody did just step in the room and see this happen without knowin its on purpose 🤣
@@baadlyrics8705 Might have been thinking about how an editor might chop it up and how it could affect sponsorships as well...
That seriously f'd him up, like in a fundamental, soul crushing way.
He really didn't want to throw it.
Wow.. excellent explanation. No wonder I can't never do a strike. I gotta get that curve going!
That slow mo @ 6:30 showed just how precise a champion pro is. Watching the ball contact each pin looked like one side was mirrored for the other. Amazing.
Side note: The German "Bowling" is actually "Kegeln" and an entire different game than bowling. We actually have both, bowling and kegeln.
Yeah, American style bowling is getting more popular these days through American cultural influence, but Kegeln was traditionally more popular. It's what my grandparents used to play
and in Kegeln the balls have no finger-holes etc. I am sure Martin Luther played Kegeln (in one of its early variations) rather than bowling.
What is the difference? Now I want to go to Germany to try this
To be fair they are very similar games and they have the same origin.
The point is that some similar game of throw-a-ball-into-a-bunch-of-pins has existed since egypt and has been reinvented over and over. Kegeln and bowling clearly are on the same family tree.
Mark Rober: *constructs an automated bowling ball*
Also Mark Rober: "I'm a perfect bowler"
Mark Rober and/or Stuff Made Here
the bowling ball tour guy is exactly the type of guy i would expect to work in a bowling ball factory
Thank you for this. My mother in law, whom I loved dearly, was a league bowler and champion. She loved it and missed it when she became too ill to even pick up her ball. It made me cry. I used to go up with her and watch as she bowled her set each week. It was a good time. Our big joke was that she could consistently bowl 300 and I had once bowled 30. I said I won by golf rules.
Great video. I worked in and around bowling machines through college in the 70s and bowled in leagues for years, enjoying it immensely. My league average was 175, but at a house that was well-known for inconsistent oil conditions because oil was still applied manually with an industrial hand-operated floor polisher. I learned about consistent and extreme oil patterns at a tournament where my best game was 289 and there were several 300 games in the group, and I even threw a 300 in practice, then it was back to 175. I found that I could not control the ball as well if it hooked too much, so I stayed away from the new materials and used a Columbia "white-dot" to keep my hook down to 12-15 boards.
"I'm even more impressed than you are."
_Translation:_ Oh man you got lucky.
This is definitely one of the coolest videos on UA-cam always wondered these things about bowling and sure learned a ton
Knowing that Pete's famous "Who do you think you are, I am!" line was actually directed at a child makes it even better.
sounds like another clown to me
@@Daniel-dj7fh nope
Love the time Belmonte beat him throwing Brooklyns.
Damnit right!
I thought that was ridiculous.
I don't know why I watched this but it was genuinely interesting! The way the video was structured and the way stuff was explain was absolutely top notch! Now do the same for darts 😁
Imagine going to hell because you could not knock all your sins out in a game of bowling.
1 John 1:9
Sounds like something right out of a 80s-90s comedy movie
@@hugofontes5708 woody harelson, randy quaid..... aka Kingpin
Being Germans they are probably to drunk to really care after the first round. 😁
@@sebastianriemer1777 never not drunk. beeing not drunk is like beeing drunk for you.
The angle-of-attack breakdown at 8:30 in this video explains why I've never been good at bowling strikes. I always rolled a very straight ball. I could hit the 1-3 pocket pretty consistently, but the strike was still kind of rare. So a common game for me was 10 spares plus whatever that final ball was. And as such, I've never broken 200, yet there was a span when I'd routinely score in the 170-190 range.
What bowling balls do you use?