"I bowl in a center where the lanes are normally very easy. One week, the lane machine was messed up and the lanes were terrible. It seemed that everybody in the league bowled badly. Is there anything that a bowler can do when" the lanes are terrible?

The first thing that you have to determine is whether you're dealing with a poor lane condition or throwing the ball poorly. Assuming it is the lanes, spares become much more important. Switch to the bowling ball that you can throw the straightest, and try to keep it on as straight a path as possible. Do not concern yourself with trying to carry strikes; just keep the ball "in play" -- in and around the pocket -- so that the spare shots involve no more than two pins. Keep your concentration sharp and make those spares. A 190 is a good game, and probably a winning score, on this type of condition.

PROJECTING PERFECTLY
"What makes Tom Baker so dominant on the Senior Tour?"

For any good bowler, the most important skill is the ability to project the ball through the head area and down the lane to the intended hook point. Tommy Baker employs a spinnertype release with good ball speed, in comparison to many of the other Senior bowlers. This enables him to easily project the ball down the lane. In addition, Tommy knows how to play lanes well and understands his strengths and weaknesses. He has always had a very positive attitude, and combined with his longstanding professional experience, that makes him tough to beat on the Senior Tour.

SETTING THE STANDARD
"There has been a lot of conversation regarding having a "regulation" ball for all professional competition. If a standard ball were to be used, who would be the bowler to beat?"

First of all, nobody has said with certainty of what material a regulation ball would be made. For example, if the ball were urethane, you might see some of the bowlers who throw the ball a little softer -- like Del Ballard, Pete Weber, Norm Duke or Brian Voss -- gaining an advantage. On the other hand, if the ball were reactive, it might benefit some of the harder throwers like Walter Ray Williams Jr., Tommy Jones or Patrick Allen. If the ball were particle, it might help other bowlers. So, until the makeup of the ball is determined, it is impossible to predict who would benefit. Frankly, in the current bowling environment, I would not bet the farm that a regulation bowling ball ever would be adopted.

KEEP ON ROCKIN' & ROLLIN'
"I bowl in a center that has a lot of "Rock and Bowl" activities, and was wondering if these types of events do anything detrimental to the playing surface for the league bowlers."

Assuming that the bowling center has synthetic lanes, and the management has a cleaning and conditioning procedure in place prior to league play, it's doubtful that anything bad is done to the lane surface by the "rock-and-bowlers." There could be some problems if the center has wood lanes, since some of those customers think they are shot-putting instead of bowling, and launch the ball way past the maple head portion of the lane and into the soft pine portion. This can create dents in the pine, which means you wouldn't be playing on an entirely "flat" surface. That said, today's high-tech lane machines have made it possible for "rock-and-bowlers" to coexist with league bowlers in most centers, because the machines can completely clean and recondition the lane surface in a small amount of time.

RELIEVING THE PAIN
"My index finger has been hurting me when I bowl, and I can't seem to control the ball. Do you have any suggestions to improve my control?"

Your control problems may be related to your injured index finger. Many bowlers don't realize that, even though your index finger is not inside the ball, it does effect the release of the ball. To relieve the pain, concentrate on increasing the pressure on the ring finger during the release. This also will give your ball a bit more side turn, creating some additional skid in the head portion of the lane and conserving the ball's energy for better hitting power at the pins.