If these come to my local bowling alley, i'm quitting.

this is a disaster for any serious bowler. the end of bowling is near folks.

Wow I've never seen a full-size string pinsetter before usually those are reserved for the kitty games in the arcade room.

Probably fine for fun open bowling, however, a serious bowler would never bowl on this setup. True pin action would be limited by the strings. True pin weight would be altered by the strings. A house set up like this would NEVER be able to hold any kind of competition. I highly doubt that the USBC would sanction an event on a house with this setup. I'm here checking this out, because one of our houses here in Casper, Wyoming just re-opened with these pin setters. If I ever visit there, at least I know what I'm getting....

I'll take "Cheesy Arcade Games" for 100, Alex.

And the strings catch other pins that wouldn’t normally fall and if you slide a pin off spot but dont knock it down it gets respotted to center. Carnival game. No thanks

Our local just upgraded to these and has been allowed as a league accredited. Mind you, I feel slightly unsatisfied when the strings get caught on the other pins and knock them down.

I plan on building a string pinsetter in my backyard, but I would never want one at an actual center.

I recently bowled on some string pins for the first time. THEY SUCK! The pins behave weirdly and you don't get that nice explosion sound from a good hit. This will NEVER be in leagues or sanctioned events. Might be ok for casual people that don't know any better, but I really hope this gimmick doesn't catch on.

These things belong in an arcade, not a bowling alley.

They just took the sport out of the game and made a arcade game out of it.

This is a very interesting video description on how the strings on pins worked. I bowled 5 pin here in Bowmanville Ontario Canada for 20 years(18 in Bowmanville & the last two in nearby Oshawa) I recall the early years bowling without the strings & because I threw hard & fast the pins would sometimes fly into the neighboring lane but not with the strings

We had exactly the same discussion about the string pinsetter in Europe 70 years ago. A Swiss citizen built the first automatic string pinsetter back in around 1933. At that time it was still mainly made of wood. It was driven by the motor of the milking machine. In the 1950s, the first professionally manufactured machines for nine pin bowling came onto the market in Switzerland and Germany. Ten pin bowling was little known in Europe. When I read the comments about string machines in the USA and Europe today, I feel transported back to the 50s and 60s. Already in the mid-60s there was practically no discussion. This was of course also due to the fact that there was no alternative, e.g. ropeless pinsetters for nine pin bowling. But there were advantages: No more searching for pin boys and the bowling alley was always available. What's more, the supposed disadvantages applied to everyone. However, ten pin bowling often has two disadvantages that do not exist, or exist to a lesser extent, in nine pin bowling: First, rope tangles are more common in bowling because 10 pins are closer together in a smaller space. Also, we do not know any off spot position of the pins. If the pin is moved sideways, it must fall because a small ball protrudes from the bottom of the pin. There is only one major disadvantage of the string pinsetter: the rope can sometimes knock over other pins.

Ruins the game on a technical level. Gives me more pins drops due to the strings closelining other pins that I didnt hit.

I've had the displeasure of bowling on these things. I noticed a difference the first time i used them. Can't stand these and i will go out of my way to avoid lanes that have them if possible. The pins bounce different than normal and it can affect your score.

I will miss that old setup and sounds of it

I'm actually looking forward to getting these pin setters for our resort. We have relic A-2s that are more work than than profit. These might not be for the afficionado bowler, but for the casual family vacation bowlers.....god send.

These are fine for bars and gamerooms, etc. As far as using them for any kind of competition or league play, these are horrendous. The strings affect the scoring in a negative way. I have seen them knock pins down and restrict pin action. I would definitely bypass any place that uses this system. 😳😵‍💫

I worked on AMF machines back in the 70s 80s they were pretty complicated, but I wouldn’t want to string bowl if I was serious bowling again , no pin action

So from what I have heard the marching knows which ones to lift up on a trigger system. The trigger system is based on the string, if the string is pulled, that activates the trigger system to pull up that one

Sounds good

How do you make a 7-10 split with this? There's no way a pin can bounce across the lane with those strings attached.

I actually bowled at a place that had that setup 10 years ago when I was in Germany training. That was the first time I ever saw the pins set like that.

I have a visceral negative reaction to these silly looking things. Maybe if they hid what was going on ? Yet I imagine the people who will be growing up with string bowling won't care. I haven't bowled in 15 years, I'm part of the reason the industry has needed cost cutting measures. I watched Roger Creamer from AMF interviewed about string machines, they cannot be stopped, they're coming to a town near you. The Mendes magnetic idea now looks attractive, if only those worked better. Semi auto pinsetters with teenagers back there loading them would be an improvement with no strings attached. Anything but strings.

Oh my God, I wasnt sure if we just had too much beer and was seeing things but I went to a place here in Oregon that has these and there was at least 4 times that we noticed during our 3 games that there was abnormal pin reactions. It happened on my friends last throw we all clearly saw the pin just freak out like it was shot by a sniper but it was barely touched. I will never go back there again.

How often do the pins get put in alternative positions? So that the head pin gets rotated out to reduce wear and tear declining pin action?

What about replacing the pins over the normal course of wear and tear?

Fun for kids at small lane centers or arcades. Keep that out of my lanes.

Is the ball returned by a wheel or a lift?

this is when i quit bowling.

I'll be done bowling if and when they come to my bowling center

As a candlepinner, it would ruin the game if this garbage was adopted. Changes the physics of the game. Hard pass.

A tournament was recently held in Florida and there was virtually no significant change in average scores. Yes, league bowlers had a fit about strings but, in the end it wasn't much different at all. They aren't approved yet for league play however, the sheer expense of maintaining ANY standard alley is astronomical and takes a special mechanical talent and lots of training! (Been there and done that!). A teenager can (and have) maintained string machines.

Back around 1956 I had children's toys bowling alley operating on this principle

To all of the league bowlers complaining about this: your bowling leagues are the reason I don’t bowl. Why? When I was a teenager in the late 90’s my town had 2 bowling alleys. There were many instances where my friends and I would show up to either of them on a Friday or Saturday night only for them to tell us that there were no lanes available because they were all being used for league bowling. I’m not sure if this happened everywhere or just in my town. One of the bowling centers was an AMF and the other was privately owned. If my experience was the norm, then an entire generation of people was turned away from the sport because of bowling leagues monopolizing the facilities.

and the pins never get tangled up with one another???...lol...give me a break!! Don't tell me that attaching anything to a bowling pin won't restrict its action especially with a light pocket power sweeper looking for the 'messenger' to clear out the back row!! New fangled 'out of the box' idea sending bowling back to the days of young kids setting pins (really cool stuff)...and now those kids are repairing the machines that replaced them........ all in the name of the almighty buck!!! it's the American way!! Who'd have thunk it !!

The problems are the bowling leagues left the bowling alley in Prescott Valley, because they wanted the machinal pin setter. All the leagues left one bowling alley because of the string. The place is losing money.

You know the funny thing about this mess. If they make us bowl like this then they should make the PBA AND WPBA bowl on it first. If they haven't already.

So what clears the pins knocked down laying on the alley? And what resets the remaining pins still standing for a spare ball?

Bowled this set up the other day it was terrible. Pin action is ridiculous and the strings are always getting tangled. The pins bounce up and down on the lane trying to untangle themselves. If this becomes the industry standard bowling is finished.

This is Just Pure laziness. I honestly do miss the bowling alleys where they didn't have pin setters. I eventually would like to build a bowling alley where there is no pin setter.. And they're set up manually.. I'm pretty classic.

How the heck do you pick up big splits?? 7-10 for example? 😮

That's not bowling that's a carnival game

Bowlero is all in on these string setters from what I understand, and I am not a fan. If they come to my main alley Northrock, I'll 100% be finding a new alley to bowl at.

Bowling is already dying...this will be the last straw.

I think most will agree, mechanics will be rubbing their hands in glee... Lazy enough as it is!!! Go from Lane Mech to lane 6, pin jam on lane 6, Mech - just move them... Lane Mech to Lane 6, something stringy on lane 6 - mech, get someone on reception to sort it...

Strings just make more sense. The older pinsetter system was very very dangerous. Most people would be shocked by the number of serious injuries and deaths that happen every year. As far as, "death of bowling" the string system has nothing to do with that. If anything it makes maintenance and insurance so much cheaper which needed to keep Alleys competitive with all the new entertainment options to compete with.

"I can get kids to go back and fix things." Bro just said he was gonna use child labor lol

Oohh so that's what's going on back there, one place I bowled at, the screen said "Brunswick"

This is the type of pinsetters I don’t wanna bowl on. I don’t even care with maintenance improvement with these cause there are far better centers can handle that properly with their original Free Fall Pinsetters and not only that Pinboys or setting pins manually is still the same thing as String Pinsetters that had no maintenance costs and you don’t have to buy a pinsetter if you’re a type of guy worrying about costs while wanted to retain the free falling or free flying pins to keep your Sanctioned Leagues satisfied.

So how does the strings still have tension but come out loosely? What happens when the pins get tied up in a knot?

My local bowling alley has these, it feels fake. The pins don't fly the same, it doesn't have the same feeling as the old style bowling alleys. Felt more like a carnival. How about next we put a screen projector with a picture of pins. Better yet, I will just stick to wii bowling.

He said it, save money! You can't have the same pin action.

What do the league bowlers think

Hola vendes esta maquina de bolos?

“Saving Money”. Not when your average or above average bowler isn’t coming anymore because of it. Unless I am just playing with my family, I will never bowl at a place with this tech.

If bowling proprietors would stop thinking that they're the only ones who should make money bowling wouldn't be in this position.....

So it is possible that the string of a falling pin gets wrapped up in a standing pin's string and knocks it down.

Strings alter the game.

I will quit bowling before I bowl at a center with these. Pinch a few pennies and you’ll start losing pounds

I have been bowling on these for four years. First thing I learned on. I don't notice much difference when I bowl without the strings. The owner thinks all leagues will go to this at some point. I notice two things different. A pin every now in then will get knocked down more. And if a pin moves the strings can put it back. These are very slight differences for an average bowler. Most people here don't know what they are talking about. The average bowler won't even know there are strings.

Video keeps cutting away from the machine after the first throw with pins remaining, so it doesn't show how it works between the first and second bowl. Disappointing. Also, I notice some of the strings hitting other strings, I feel like that changes the action.

nope! I worked too hard to get my messenger pins moving :)

Ich spiele seit etwas mehr als einem Jahr auf einer Bahn, die auf Stringpins umgestellt hat und ich finde jeden Kritikpunkt der USBC bestätigt. Die Pinbewegung auf dem Pindeck ist - höflich ausgedrückt - miserabel. Pins bleiben stehen, obwohl sie mehrfach getroffen wurden, Pins werden verschoben, ohne zu fallen. Die Splitquote ist deutlich nach oben gegangen und die Strikequote gesunken. Der einzige Vorteil ist, dass verschoben Pins auf dem korrekten Punkt wieder aufgesetzt werdne. Fazit: Stringpin-Anlagne sind der letzte Dreck.

Count me out. It sounds so different. I'm sure the strings will be knocking pins over, and strings getting all tangled up. I'd rather pay a little more to help with costs rather than these string pins. I see a bigger decline in bowling at centers that switch to this. Also, if you are switching, I better see a price reduction.

The pin action isn't the exact same though.

My late husband and I bowled two leagues a week for many years (more than ten)--this would make it more like a child's game, one to be set up in a back yard. I would never want to bowl a serious game with those string pins! It's not natural, it doesn't look natural, it doesn't sound natural. It's like puppets-on-a-string, and would seem to me it would be so easy for the alley owners to control. If that's the way the sport is going--I'm glad I no longer participate.

No messengers or rollers? No thanks

Put it out for what it really is.....cost saving move. Well....we will see I guess and how it impacts tournaments, leagues, etc

Sucks the 1,3 get absolutely demolished since the dont move.

I don't like that! So the chances of getting a strike is slim & none

We try it once and don't like it, so we call it tampon on a string.

I don’t care for it. I would probably just quit bowling. You can see in the video that strings are knocking pins down that otherwise would be left standing.

Pins cant spin either

This is the true definition of pseudo bowling

The pins dont spin tho do they, and if they do it will tangle. What does the leagues say to use?

Watch the destruction of bowling. Ever since USBC took over bowling...... I think they're trying to kill the sport.

Bowling on lanes like this is terrible. I guess it is cool for a date night, but not for serious bowlers looking to improve their average.

So for the bowling alley to save money (maintence etc) you ruin the true bowling experience. I would maybe accept it if the price of the game was cut in half at least... But I would know this is not real bowling.

It’s not real bowling. I know you guys, the proprietors, will save money on maintenance. However, myself as the consumer and a 220 average league and tournament bowler. I will be abandoning the game for good, once this abomination of the sport becomes the norm

How can you think this is bowling.

Are they trying to chase league and tournament players out of the sport with this? I would never throw at these puppet pins. This of the devil.

No thanks won't bowl in ally with this system. Great for the ally though.

So if I wanted to hold an event where bowlers can win money at my bowling alley, all I have to do to make more money myself is program one of these string pin systems to pick which pin to not let fall? Great! I'm opening my own string pin bowling alley now! Rules of my bowling alley will be: Recording with your phone will get you banned! Drinking too much at my in-bowling-alley bar will get you banned! Complaining about pins not falling is evidence that you were drinking at my in-bowling-alley bar!

Lol

no no no no no no no!!

Back in my day we bowled with no strings attached. This generation is so weak (I’m 25 to be clear I have bowled maybe once since I was about 12)

taking peoples jobs

This system sucks no pin action

No thx. Something feels unnatural. Dont care about your money.

Never thought I'd see so many grown people upset about stings on a pin.

These are a horrible invention. They ruin the bowling experience. I'll never go back to any alley that uses them. Sorry guys, but this is crap.

no go poor. this will kill the sport

Nope... this sucks and has obvious downfalls

Ewwwww those new string pin setters 🤮 Call me a boomer but I need my pins swept up by a big arm and reset mechanically, these things don't even sound right.

🤢

Hate them!!

Everyone, calm down. This is not intended to be a replacement to the free fall pinsetters. For people who go bowling for fun but don't want to be professionals, this is just fine.

Ew!

They suck