Walter still has the prettiest strikes to watch. As far as the string pins, I wonder if they're going to sanction the arcade bowling at Chuck E Cheese next.

Thanks for posting this. it's really great to be able to follow you this way. It's cool to see someone from the good ol days still getting it done. best of luck.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Wow way to bounce back after the open. You the man

Congrats but the string pins robbed Shaffer of a strike in the 11th which would have changed the outcome to him winning.

Strings don't belong in competitive bowling. IMHO

Congrats Champ! Glad to see you still competing and showing everyone who is the GOAT

Congratulations, one of your best outings for a little while! You bowled great (and all with one hand, yay!!!)

String pins are the equivalent to the NFL removing kickoff returns. Its watering down all the fascinating pin action of the game, period. Why change the game, just because some centers want to save a few dollars? That is not a good enough reason. The sport comes first. Whats next,m are they going to want softer balls so that they dont damage the lanes or the pits or the pins? You cant just let centers dictate what they want the sport to change to. Its bad enough they did away with wood lanes, which were so awesome to bowl on.

Congrats on the win Walter, thanks for the vids!

🤠👍 This was old school match up back in the day you did it.

Congrats Walter. Another check and title for the GOAT. U DA MAN!!!!

There are many challenges in bowling and string pins are just the latest of them. A GOOD shot will strike regardless of whether string or free fall pins are used. I bowl in 2 leagues that use string pins and don't have an issue with them. I spoke to the owner of our local house and he said that string pin machines are far more reliable and don't requiring finding a decent mechanic to keep them running. String pin machines have about 1/3 the parts of a free fall pin machine, so there are fewer parts to go bad and in need of replacement. After two years of bowling with string pins, I can verify that there are a lot fewer problems that stop games in progress than with free fall pins. Is it the same? No, it's not. But what IS the same is that everyone bowling on string pins has an equal chance of bowling well and winning their matches. I'd rather see string pins in bowling alleys than bowling alleys closing due to the higher cost of maintenance of free fall pin machines and the difficulty in finding decent mechanics to keep them running. The choice here is simple: bowl where you want. I can bowl on strings or on free fall pins. I have a 195 average, which is about what I used to bowl with free fall pins, so it doesn't matter all that much to me. But I get it that all sports have their purists, so feel free to disagree... *after* you've bowled on string pins and can compare that experience to regular free fall pins.

Good win. But strings obviously played a factor. Sad to see

Congrats Walter Ray!

I thought the two handed crap was bad until I saw these "string pins". This just "sealed the death" of ten pin bowling.

Awesome game, Walter Ray! What is your opinion of string pins? Do they screw up the pin action?

String pins have no place in competetive bowling

This is like watching a freaking arcade game! Ridiculous!

Walter, any way you can capture the scores throughout the games? Not knowing how close the bowlers are we cannot predict if you need to strike out or if the match is even close.

both string and free fall pins have ups and downs. we as athletes should be aware of the change and adapt to it.

The physics is so different. Just like different turf in football or different fields in baseball.

going to be real interesting to see how well the pin action stays "close" to freefall since these pins see twice the use (freefall has 2 complete sets usually).

Walter Ray still the man

String pins will make anyone look like a pro now

Ryan's 2nd ball in the 10th is why I won't bowl league in a house that has those.

Whether it is Bowling string pins or horseshoes king of the world Walter Ray Williams❤🎉❤ kingpin champion

Walter, I’d love to hear your thoughts on string pins being used in competitive bowling.

SHAYF! Big fan. Quirky style, but what does Shayf do well? He works the inner half or back of the ball, and does it very well, like Chris Barnes or Sean Rash.

F F F F String pins!

WRWJR...still the best at rollin' the rock!

By the way, congratulations on your victory over Ryan!

Strings beat Ryan. They do not belong.

The fact you pros even remotely allowed this garbage is mindboggling to me.

Great bowling. I saw some highlights of the match and the string pins fell different but just like everything else in bowling we have to adjust to the change

The da t it came down to that is exactly the point wow

There have been many comments, mostly negative about these string pins. Here is what Ryan Shafer had to say about the string pins regional tournament copied from his Facebook page: Well I had a very positive experience on the string pins at Lehigh lanes for the PBA 50 regional. First let me say like many things, there are a lot of misconceptions that are propagated by people who don’t recognize the inevitable. Here’s how I see it. First, the pins are always on spot. Huge plus. You aren’t getting a messenger to the 10 or 7… sorry. And if you do it’s a complete aberration. But that is a good thing. You want to strike, hit flush. You can get a light hit but it looks slightly different. Trip 4s are not that common. So for the most part it requires better shotmaking. Flat 10s are prevalent but that’s nothing different for me. The most annoying hit seems to be leaving the 4-10 on a slightly high pocket hit. Lane play will become more important because you can’t get away with the wrong angle into the pocket. You go high, the split % is high. Nothing coming off the walls to break them up. The misconception? That the strings are going to knock down pins that shouldn’t fall. My experience was the opposite.. especially in my last 10th frame. The strings laying on the deck can stop a pin from knocking over another one. There are 2 types of string pins… certified and recreational. The recreational ones are actually shorter and those are the ones that knock over pins they shouldn’t. All I can say is try them before you judge and don’t listen to all the naysayers. I can see where league bowlers might not like them as lucky strikes are less prevalent. I finished second to the great Walter Ray in a reversal of our title match from 2 years ago. I needed to double to force him to strike and the second one in the 10th was a potential messenger stopped short by a string on the deck. But that’s ok. I didn’t expect a messenger. Walter rang a 10 and spared it to beat me 236-234. It was a fun match. In the semis, I beat newly minted Hall of Famer and good friend Tom Hess. Anytime you beat him these last few years you accomplished something. It took 259 to get the job done. In the round of 8, I defeated good friend CK Moore 2-0. He bowled well but rang too many 7s. Thank you to bestie Troy Lint for sticking around to watch and keeping me hydrated and focused. I’m lucky he didn’t bowl because he would have won. And thanks to hosts Chris Keane and Dennis Bush for the added money and being so gracious. Was great to see Gary Alstott finish in the top 4 as he lost a one ball roll off to WRW. My Monopoly jersey designed by the incomparable Genie Cox Franklin of #Kameleon provided me with good fortune. And my #Hammer Envy Tour and Scorpion Low Flare did the job for me. Thank you to all my friends and fans for cheering me on…Sam Maccarone, Robin Cronk Bennett, Car Asselta, Nicole Walker, Mark Sullivan, Howard Ayres, Deke Handlowich, Michael Rennells, Robert W Eddy, and Gregory Warters.

Hello Walter. Could you please recommend a ball that goes pretty far down the lane before it starts to hook and still has some hitting power. I'm 72 years old and my ball speed is about 10 to 12 mph. When the lanes are dry, which is most of the time i have a hard time getting the ball down the lane. I have heard about the Axe and the Tropical Surge but i just don't know. I already made the mistake of listening to the wrong people and bought a Wine Pearl Hustle. It hooks like crazy on the back end where as i hardly use it. Please help! Thank you Sir.

All the string pin haters: "How come you are not using wooden balls".. hahahah too funny.

So much hate for stringpins GG Walter, you the fkn MAN

That last shot by Shafer needs to be saved and used as the leading evidence for why stringpin bowling can not be supported by the PBA. If that was a regular roller pin, it would have obviously been knocked down and he would be the champion. Instead, the string tugged it away with obvious force and it cost him the tournament.

Would avoid (like the plague) bowling in a house with string pins after seeing Shaffer get robbed of a strike. Surprised at the USBC sanctioning these pins.

Does Ryan Shafer hold the record for most 2nd place finishes or does it just seem that way? Congratulations on another championship, you ageless wonder, you.

what people dont realize is string pins will limit the range of the pins movement. So all those split conversions of the past will be much more rare and the 7-10 conversion will be non-existent because the pin wont be able to kick off the side or the back and make it all the way over. It was a crap system when I saw it in Canada decades ago and not a lot has changed. Why they decide to do this in the 2020s is really puzzling after all these years. If this ever makes it to the PBA I will stop watching because it should never be used in professional tournaments. If you want to puit them in kids leagues with bumper bowling, that is their best use. It is really just bowling centers wanting to do this for their best interest and not the players.

Walter ray what happened to bowling 2 handed???

"Certified" strings? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

So instead of rolling the ten pin for Ryan the string stopped it. Fair enough I guess.

The GOAT is now also the string pin GOAT! Even though it's absolutely horribly atrocious to have to bowl on them. BRING BACK BOWLING!

Why WRJ,...just why.

I don't get the animosity. Just create stats for string pins (certified) and regular, they are still competing on the same field, they are still the best in the world. String pins are more cost efficient and will be the future of bowling, what's the issue? The hit in the 10th by Ryan was a strike non string pin, I get it. Belmo changed bowling 2-handed, but nobody complained then. Would he be as dominate on string pins? The balls that are in use now eclipse the boundaries of reality, they are are probably 40 d-scale in the pit. So what if they can pickup the 7-10 4-6-7-10 now and airborne double messengers aren't a thing? Still a competitive game. Congrats to both Walter Ray and Ryan, was great to watch.

Aww, it's not considered a PBA50 title? Hopefully they'll retroactively change that in the future. But regardless Congrats 🎉🎉

Strings don't belong in bowling PERIOD!

Are you still married to Paige Pennington? I don't see her at the tournaments.

String pins......joke

String pins...bahahhahaha