The Pin Deck

Allen Forkner

You watched the PBA Tour on Sunday. Now let’s unpack what you saw and heard. The Pin Deck is a companion to the PBA telecast that helps you understand the strategy behind professional bowling — lane conditions, oil patterns, ball motion, equipment, scoring and the decisions pros make under pressure. Host Allen Forkner puts the moments and concepts from each tournament into context, because the more you understand what’s happening between the foul line and the pins, the more fun bowling is to watch. Every shot has a story.

  1. 2d ago

    What's Inside a Modern Bowling Ball? Understanding Cores, Coverstocks, RG and Differential

    Two bowling balls. Same weight, same lane, same bowler. So why does one travel almost straight while the other hooks across the lane? In this offseason episode of The Pin Deck, host Allen Forkner explores the fascinating science behind the modern bowling ball, from the chemistry of coverstocks to the physics of cores and weight blocks. Discover how manufacturers engineer friction, manipulate mass distribution and use materials science to create dramatically different ball reactions. In this episode: • The Chemistry of Coverstocks: How bowling balls evolved from hard rubber and polyester to urethane and reactive resin, and why the material touching the lane makes such a difference. • Urethane vs. Reactive Resin: Why traditional urethane tends to transport oil downlane while reactive resin absorbs oil, and how both affect lane transition. • The Science of Surface: How sanding, polishing and microscopic surface texture influence friction, including why some professional bowlers are finding success throwing sanded polyester balls. • The Physics of the Core: What radius of gyration (RG), differential, symmetrical and asymmetrical cores actually mean, and how they influence ball motion. • Putting It All Together: How coverstock chemistry, core dynamics, drilling layouts and the bowler's release combine to create skid, hook and roll. • More Hook Doesn't Mean More Strikes: Why the strongest bowling ball isn't necessarily the best choice and how understanding ball motion can help you score better. Whether you're a competitive bowler, a league regular or simply curious about what makes a bowling ball hook, this episode takes you inside one of the most sophisticated pieces of equipment in sports. 🎳 Take your game to the next level with LaneTalk Pro! Track your scores, analyze your performance and discover insights that can help you become a better bowler. As a Pin Deck listener, you can get two FREE months of LaneTalk Pro with promo code LTAMBPRO7B9W2. 🎧 Like what you're hearing? Follow The Pin Deck on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio and everywhere you get your podcasts. Be sure to like, rate, review and share the show with your bowling friends. Your support helps us bring more bowling science, strategy and stories to the lanes! The Pin Deck — Where every shot has a story.

  2. Oct 28 ·  Bonus

    More Bowling Terms Explained: Turkeys, Hambones, Lane Oil and Ball Motion

    What's a turkey? Why do bowlers chase the oil? And how does a hambone have anything to do with throwing strikes? Bowling has a language all its own, and some of its most interesting expressions describe what's happening long before the ball reaches the pins. In Part Two of this bonus series, The Pin Deck host Allen Forkner continues decoding the terminology heard on PBA broadcasts and around bowling centers everywhere. From lane transition and ball motion to scoring traditions and tournament strategy, we're exploring the science, history and sometimes hilarious origins behind the words bowlers use. In this episode, we explore: • The Anatomy of a Bowling Lane: What bowlers mean by the heads, midlane, backend, arrows and breakpoint, and why those areas matter. • Lane Oil and Transition: How oil patterns change during competition, what carrydown and burn mean, and why bowlers sometimes struggle with over/under reactions. • Skid, Hook and Roll: The three phases of bowling ball motion and what commentators mean when a ball reads early, rolls out or stays continuous. • Chasing the Oil: Why professional bowlers move left or right, open up their angles, loft the ball or switch equipment as lane conditions change. • Turkeys, Hambones and Six-Packs: The history and traditions behind bowling's strangest scoring expressions, including how ESPN announcer Rob Stone helped popularize the hambone. • Foundation Frames and Dutch 200s: Understanding bowling's scoring language, from fill balls and clean games to going off the sheet. • Stepladders and Must-Strike Situations: How professional tournament formats and scoring scenarios create some of bowling's most dramatic moments. • Putting It All Together: Following the adjustments, ball reaction and scoring strategy of a professional bowler through a championship match. Whether you're learning the game or have spent decades on the lanes, understanding bowling's terminology gives you a new appreciation for the decisions, physics and strategy behind every shot. Missed Part One? Check out Bowling Terms Explained: What Are Brooklyn Strikes, Stone 8s and Ringing 10s? for a breakdown of strikes, splits, spares and pin action. Get Two Free Months of LaneTalk Pro! Want to learn more about your own bowling game? LaneTalk helps you track your scores, analyze your performance, compete in challenges and connect with bowlers around the world. Visit LaneTalk.com and use promo code LTAMBPRO7B9W2 to get two free months of LaneTalk Pro! Like, Share and Subscribe! Enjoyed the episode? Give us a like, share it with another bowling fan and subscribe to The Pin Deck on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Your support helps more bowlers discover the science, strategy and stories behind the sport. The Pin Deck. Every shot has a story.

  3. Oct 27 ·  Bonus

    PBA Announces Major 2027 Tour Changes: New Playoffs, TV Schedule and Our First Reaction

    The PBA is making some of the biggest changes in professional bowling history. A new playoff system, 12 consecutive Championship Sundays, redesigned tournament formats and a season-ending World Championship on CBS are all part of the newly announced 2027 PBA Tour schedule. In this special bonus episode of The Pin Deck, we break down what's changing, why it matters and whether the PBA's new approach can bring professional bowling to a bigger audience. A Season With a Story: How the PBA is restructuring its schedule around a regular season, postseason and championship finale. Championship Sundays: Why 12 consecutive weeks of live bowling on The CW could help build a more consistent television audience. Five Major Championships: Where the US Open, USBC Masters, Players Championship, Tournament of Champions and PBA World Championship fit into the new schedule. The Playoff Gamble: What we know about the new 33-player, win-and-advance bracket and the important questions still unanswered. New Tournament Formats: What the four Signature Series events and new All-Star competition could mean for players and fans. USA vs. The World: The return of international team competition to network television. More Ways to Watch: How The CW, ESPN app, CBS, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network and BowlTV fit into the broadcast strategy. Innovation or Gimmick? Can the PBA create more entertaining television without sacrificing competitive integrity? The Big Question: Will a season-long championship race attract new fans while keeping traditional bowling audiences engaged? Is the PBA's new playoff format the future of professional bowling, or should each tournament continue to stand on its own? Which changes are you most excited about? Like, share and subscribe to The Pin Deck for professional bowling analysis, tournament previews, behind-the-scenes stories and a deeper look at the science and strategy of the sport. Track your scores, analyze your performance and take your bowling to the next level with LaneTalk Pro. Get two free months of LaneTalk Pro with promo code: LTAMBPRO7B9W2 Official PBA website: https://www.pba.com Follow The Pin Deck on Facebook and your favorite podcast platform for more professional bowling coverage, bonus episodes and Bowling IQ. #PBATour #PBA2027 #ProfessionalBowling #BowlingPodcast #ThePinDeck #PBAPlayoffs #PBAWorldChampionship #USOpen #USBCMasters #BowlingNews

  4. Oct 22 ·  Bonus

    Bowling Terms Explained: What Are Brooklyn Strikes, Stone 8s and Ringing 10s?

    Ever watched a PBA bowling broadcast and wondered what the announcers were talking about? Brooklyn strikes. Ringing 10s. Messengers. Stone 8s. Greek Churches. Bowling has a language all its own, and behind many of those strange expressions is some fascinating science, history and strategy. In Part One of this two-part bonus series, The Pin Deck host Allen Forkner breaks down the terminology of strikes, spares, splits and pin action. Discover what these expressions actually mean, where some of them came from, and what they reveal about the physics of bowling. In this episode, we explore: • Not All Strikes Are Created Equal: What it means to throw a flush strike, light mixer, half-pocket hit or Brooklyn, and why even an ugly strike counts. • Messengers, Trips and Flying Pins: How messengers, trip 4s and wall shots turn seemingly ordinary deliveries into spectacular strikes. • Flat 10s vs. Ringing 10s: Why these frustrating corner-pin leaves aren't the same and what they can tell us about bowling ball motion. • Stone 8s and Solid 9s: How a bowling ball can drive through the pins almost too well, leaving a bowler feeling robbed. • Buckets, Washouts and Sleepers: The unusual names for common spare combinations and why understanding them matters. • Baby Splits, Big Fours and Greek Churches: The colorful terminology behind some of bowling's most difficult spare conversions. • High, Light and Through the Face: How professional commentators describe pocket hits and what those descriptions reveal about ball reaction. Whether you're new to bowling, a longtime league bowler or a dedicated PBA fan, understanding the language of the game will change the way you watch it. Coming in Part Two: Turkeys, hambones, lane conditions, ball motion and the secret language of professional bowling strategy. Get Two Free Months of LaneTalk Pro! Want to learn more about your own bowling game? LaneTalk helps you track your scores, analyze your performance, compete in challenges and connect with bowlers around the world. Visit LaneTalk.com and use promo code LTAMBPRO7B9W2 to get two free months of LaneTalk Pro! Like, Share and Subscribe! Enjoyed the episode? Give us a like, share it with another bowling fan and subscribe to The Pin Deck on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Your support helps more bowlers discover the science, strategy and stories behind the sport. The Pin Deck. Every shot has a story.

  5. Oct 20 ·  Bonus

    Meet EARL: The Bowling Robot That Couldn't Throw a Perfect Game

    What happens when you take the human element out of bowling? No missed targets, no bad releases, no nerves or fatigue. Just a machine capable of delivering a bowling ball with extraordinary precision, shot after shot. You'd expect a lot of strikes, right? In part two of our bonus series, The Science of a Strike, we're meeting EARL, the United States Bowling Congress's robotic bowling machine, and exploring what decades of scientific research have taught us about bowling ball motion, equipment and the surprisingly complicated business of knocking down ten pins. In this episode, we explore: Meet EARL: How the USBC's Enhanced Automated Robotic Launcher got its name, what makes it tick, and how it can deliver bowling balls at speeds up to 24 mph and rev rates approaching 900 RPM. What the Robot Taught Us: How robotic testing helped researchers better understand the relationship between coverstock, surface, core design and ball motion, challenging some long-held assumptions about bowling equipment. The Robot That Changed Its Own Lane: Why EARL's remarkable consistency actually became a disadvantage when repeated shots altered the oil pattern and changed how its ball reacted. EARL's Journey to 900: What happened when USBC researchers challenged their robot to throw 36 consecutive strikes, and why a machine designed for precision struggled to break 700. Man vs. Machine: The surprising experiment in which a human researcher shot 621 while EARL managed just 611, and what that comparison tells us about consistency versus effectiveness. Can Science Solve Bowling? Why eliminating human error doesn't eliminate every variable, and what bowlers can learn from EARL about reading ball motion, making adjustments and improving their margin for error. Thanks for listening to The Pin Deck! As a thank-you for being part of The Pin Deck community, our friends at LaneTalk are offering listeners two free months of LaneTalk Pro. Track your scores, dig into your bowling statistics and get a better understanding of your game. Visit LaneTalk.com and use promo code LTAMBPRO7B9W2 to claim your two free months. Enjoyed the episode? Give us a like, share it with another bowling fan and subscribe to The Pin Deck for more episodes exploring the science, strategy and stories behind the sport we love. The Pin Deck. Every shot has a story.

  6. Oct 20 ·  Bonus

    Bowling Pin Carry Explained: Why Your Ball Only Hits Four Pins

    You throw what feels like a perfect shot, hit the pocket exactly where you wanted, and leave a flat 10. Two frames later, you miss your target, get a lucky break, and strike. Why does bowling work that way? In part one of our two-part bonus series, The Science of a Strike, we're digging into the physics, geometry and probability behind knocking down ten pins. In this episode, we explore: You Only Hit Four Pins: Why a textbook pocket strike involves direct contact with just four pins, and how a complex chain reaction takes care of the other six. The Variables Behind Pin Carry: How differences in pin weight, placement, collisions and even the pin deck itself can influence whether all ten pins fall. Controlling the Physics: How ball speed, weight, rev rate and entry angle influence pin action, and why more power doesn't always mean more strikes. Finding Your Margin for Error: Why professional bowlers focus on creating reliable ball motion rather than simply throwing the perfect shot. Twelve Strikes and a Little Luck: Why even a bowler with a 90% strike probability has only about a 28% chance of throwing twelve consecutive strikes. Can We Eliminate Luck? What happens when we remove human inconsistency from the equation? We introduce EARL, the USBC's robotic bowling machine, and set up part two of our exploration. Thanks for listening to The Pin Deck! As a thank-you for being part of The Pin Deck community, our friends at LaneTalk are offering listeners two free months of LaneTalk Pro. Track your scores, dig into your bowling statistics and get a better understanding of your game. Visit LaneTalk.com and use promo code LTAMBPRO7B9W2 to claim your two free months. Enjoyed the episode? Give us a like, share it with another bowling fan and subscribe to The Pin Deck so you don't miss part two, when we meet EARL and find out whether a robot can take luck out of bowling. The Pin Deck. Every shot has a story.

  7. Oct 9

    PBA Match Play Explained: Why Losing by 100 Pins Can Be Just Like Losing by One

    What happens when losing by one pin and losing by 100 pins mean exactly the same thing? At the 2026 PBA New York Classic, the best-of-seven match-play format changed everything. Unlike total-pinfall competition, where every pin follows you, elimination match play resets the scoreboard after every game. And that creates opportunities for bowlers to experiment, gather information, and prepare for the next game, even when the current one is already lost. In this episode of The Pin Deck, we break down Austin Grammar's remarkable 299 championship game, Chris Prather's run through the stepladder finals, and how understanding tournament format reveals the strategy behind decisions that might otherwise seem surprising. WHAT YOU HEARD — The Road to a 299 Championship We revisit the 2026 PBA New York Classic at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester, where competitors faced the 38-foot Bear oil pattern. We follow Austin Grammar's journey through best-of-seven elimination match play, including a four-game sweep and a seven-game battle, before his near-perfect 299–234 championship victory over Chris Prather. WHAT THE PROS SAW — When Losing a Game Becomes an Opportunity In best-of-seven match play, a one-pin loss and a 100-pin loss count exactly the same. We explore how that changes equipment decisions, lane adjustments, and the value of the remaining frames when a game gets out of reach. We also examine how Grammar watched Prather successfully use urethane on one lane and reactive resin on the other, then adopted that strategy for the championship match. BOWLING IQ — Understanding What the Format Rewards Why does every pin matter at the USBC Masters, scoring pace matter at the Ohio Classic, and individual game victories matter at the New York Classic? We compare three different tournament formats and explain how the rules change competitive strategy. Learn why a bowler might switch balls in the eighth frame of a game they've already lost, and how gathering information can be more valuable than adding pins to a score that no longer matters. The New York Classic reminds us that the scoreboard only tells part of the story. Sometimes the most important shot isn't the one that wins the current game. It's the one that teaches a bowler how to win the next. The PBA telecast shows you what happened. The Pin Deck helps you understand why. If you enjoy the show, like, share, and subscribe to The Pin Deck wherever you listen. Share this episode with a league teammate, tournament partner, or anyone who wants to understand the decisions behind professional bowling. Every shot has a story. Get two free months of LaneTalk Pro:⁠ Use this code to unlock two free months of LaneTalk Pro. ⁠Download LaneTalk to track your scores and performance over time so you can understand the scoring pace of your own game—not just the number at the end of it. If you enjoyed this episode, like, share and subscribe to The Pin Deck wherever you listen. And if you know a bowler—or someone who watches the PBA and wants to better understand what they're seeing—send them the show. It’s the easiest way to help more people find The Pin Deck.

  8. Oct 9

    Why a 230 Can Win—or Lose: PBA Ohio Classic Scoring Explained

    Is 230 a great game—or are you already falling behind? In this episode of The Pin Deck, Allen Forkner goes back to the 2026 PBA Ohio Classic to explore one of the most important pieces of context when watching professional bowling: scoring pace. A number on the scoreboard doesn't mean much by itself. A 220 can be enough to win one match and leave you buried in another. To understand what you're watching, you have to understand what the lanes are giving up—and what everyone else is doing with them. What You Heard: What broadcasters mean when they talk about scoring pace, and why there isn't a universal definition of a “good score” in professional bowling. What the Pros See: How players recognize whether they're in a high-scoring environment where strikes have to come in bunches or a tougher environment where simply staying clean can keep them in the match. Bowling IQ: How to put a score in context. Instead of asking whether 220, 240 or 260 is objectively good, start asking a better question: good compared to what? The field, the pair and the conditions tell you far more than the number alone. The Ohio Classic gives us a chance to see why watching professional bowling becomes much more interesting once you stop judging every score against the same standard. Sometimes 230 puts you in control. Sometimes it means you're losing ground. Understanding the scoring environment tells you what the scoreboard alone can't. The Pin Deck is your companion to watching professional bowling—explaining the terminology, strategy and little details that are easy to miss so you can understand more of what you're seeing on the lanes. Every shot has a story. Get two free months of LaneTalk Pro: Use this code to unlock two free months of LaneTalk Pro. Download LaneTalk to track your scores and performance over time so you can understand the scoring pace of your own game—not just the number at the end of it. If you enjoyed this episode, like, share and subscribe to The Pin Deck wherever you listen. And if you know a bowler—or someone who watches the PBA and wants to better understand what they're seeing—send them the show. It’s the easiest way to help more people find The Pin Deck.

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About

You watched the PBA Tour on Sunday. Now let’s unpack what you saw and heard. The Pin Deck is a companion to the PBA telecast that helps you understand the strategy behind professional bowling — lane conditions, oil patterns, ball motion, equipment, scoring and the decisions pros make under pressure. Host Allen Forkner puts the moments and concepts from each tournament into context, because the more you understand what’s happening between the foul line and the pins, the more fun bowling is to watch. Every shot has a story.

Information

  • Creator
    Allen Forkner
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Allen Forkner
  • Show Website
    The Pin Deck