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But something did change, at least where I went.
When I was a kid, I remember the ball effortlessly glided off the launch ramp into the air for the holes. Sometimes I would roll as hard as I could just to see how high it would go (into the top net and ricochet down into the scoring holes).
I recently went back and the launch ramp is like a speed bump now. The balls no longer smoothly roll and launch into the air. Instead they smack hard into the bump and lose most of their momentum and barely make it to the holes.
I can't for the life of me figure out how to actually get the ball in the highest value holes any more. The harder I roll it, the harder is smacks into the bump and it goes nowhere near the holes. Don't roll that hard, and it barely makes it over the bump.
I really hate the change and I stopped playing. It is no fun anymore.
I thought it was just me. I guess this is to make it difficult to rack up points, making it more a game of chance than skill?
I was a carny in 1968, handing out prize tickets to Skee-ball players. The owners disallowed "banking" (bouncing the ball off a side) because it improved player accuracy too much.
I could not believe how much people were willing to spend to win a prize of lesser value.
No matter what the subject, there's always someone in the Hacker News comments who can speak authoritatively from personal experience. Thank you.
I've played skee-ball quite frequently and done well using this banking method (as taught to me by my grandfather!). But I'm not sure why it's better. Do you know what makes it easier when banking as compared to rolling the ball straight?
I assume it's the same reason that basket-ball players bounce shots off the back-board more often than they go for the swish...
https://www.wired.com/2011/07/st_cheatsci_basketball/
https://hiphopandhoops.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/bank-it-stud...
A quick look shows some interesting starting points that goes with my "gut" about basketball and banking off the backboard.
I don't see any similar articles relating the two (banking Basketballs and banking Skeet Balls), but I bet there's some sweet spot that you aim for and get better with practice.
Shooting basketballs off the glass is something of a lost art, at least outside of point-blank layup range. Not too many people bother to invest the effort to learn the geometry to bank shots from each particular spot on the floor, compared to shooting for the rim, where your aim point and mechanics are pretty much always the same.
It's rare enough nowadays that it was something of a signature move for players like Tim Duncan.
My guess would be that it has to do with the speed of the ball at impact with the target. The faster the ball is moving, the greater the chance of it ricocheting off the rim as opposed to being slowed by the impact with the rim and falling in. Maybe the ball would have only a 50/50 chance of falling in rather than out, but that's still better than if the ball hits the same spot at high speed and ricochets.
In other words, by slowing the impact speed with the target you make the target more forgiving.
Btw I'm not an expert in ballistics, so this explanation is probably complete bs but it's interesting to think about.
Its like you said. A bank shot has a greater range for success variable on momentum compared to a swish. With many eccentric bank shots the ball can be super forceful or barely forceful at all, and itll go in either way. For bank shots that have no evcentricity, they are very similar in chance of going in, to a swoosh. Definitely depends on the angle of the shot.
This article is wrong about skee ball being "pure" unlike other carnival games that are skewed against the customer. It is just as easily and often manipulated by proprietors just like any other carnival game. The collars around the holes can be taller and/or narrower, the angle of the ramp can be manipulated, the weight of the balls, the amount of points for each hole, the return and price, etc.
It is fun to play once in a while, I'll usually do a few rounds every time I go to Cedar Point. But it is subject to the same machinations as all the other carnival games.
I haven't seen evidence that manipulating skee-ball machines is a common practice by owners, and I've played at a lot of places. Several of the modifications you mention aren't easy to make. (At least, I can say that's true when it comes to the official machines made by Skee-Ball Inc -- I usually avoid the knock-offs so I don't have much experience with those.)
I was saddened to learn that the company was acquired by a rival earlier this year and relocated production from the Philly suburbs (where it had been over 100 years) to Wisconsin. Strangely, no mention of any of this in the article.
It doesn't seem like there should be much incentive to manipulate the skee-ball game itself since the owner can just adjust the ticket payout to meet a pay-out %. Since skee-ball has "high entertainment" value, i.e. the player has fun playing, the payout can be lower:
I'd also disagree that skee-ball is a game of chance, because at the least, it's a game where how well you do is determined almost entirely by how well you roll the balls. And it's not a game, like a ring toss game, where you have to get lucky to do well.
I've played skee ball at a couple places where it really is a "pure", fair, game and it's a bunch of fun. I can imagine less ethical places doing the things you've suggested, though I've never seen it myself.
It didn't used to have the 100 point holes on the sides. The 50 in the middle was the highest.