The last function in my PBAX League is a position round on the TOC. I've never bowled on it before, and I was wondering how should this pattern be played since there are no instructional videos. I'm assuming since it's 39 feet that my breakpoint would be somewhere around the 8 board. I'm ranked 38 in this league so far, and I want to get as far as possible against the more experienced bowlers. There are 3 more weeks left until showtime. Any tips on surface preparation and targeting are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Here is the format and payout for the night.

PBA EXPERIENCE LEAGUE PRIZE FUND
SUMMER LEAGUE 2010

RD 1 11th-42nd BOWL 2 GAMES TOTAL DETERMINES THE WINNER
16 LOSERS RECEIVE $100.00 TOTAL $1,600.00

RD 2 16 WINNERS FROM RD 1 + PLACES 5th-10th
11 LOSERS RECEIVE $120.00 $1,320.00

RD 3 11 WINNERS FROM RD 2 + PLACES 2nd-4th
7 LOSERS RECEIVE $150.00 $1,050.00

RD 4 7 WINNERS FROM RD 3 + 1st Place
4 LOSERS RECEIVE $200.00 $800.00

RD 5 4 WINNERS FROM RD 4
2 LOSERS RECEIVE $300.00 $600.00

RD 6 2 WINNERS FROM RD 5
LOSER RECEIVE $500.00 $500.00

CHAMPION RECEIVES $700.00 $700.00
$6,570.00

TOTAL ESTIMATED PRIZE FUND $ 6711.60
$141.60 TROPHY

BOWLERS WEEKLY P.F. # WEEKS TOTAL P.F.
42 X $9.40 X 17 = $6,711.60 $6,711.60

THE HIGHEST SEED REMAINING WILL BOWL THE LOWEST SEED REMAINING IN EVERY ROUND

From what people have told me and what I have observed watching the pros bowl, the TOC will play similar to the Chameleon, with a few little changes. The Chameleon is a 3 to 1 and the toc is a 2 to 1. The outside part of the lane will not get as dry as the Chameleon, the heads will not dry out as fast as the chameleon, there will not be as much hold in the middle as the chameleon. The starting ball may need more surface than the chameleon, the break point and starting target line should be very close to the same.

As the lanes dry out you will have a higher volume of oil on the TOC, so you may not have to make as large of a move as you would on the chameleon, but you will need to make subtle adjustments with ball speed and axis rotation to get the ball to carry all 10 pins. Don't give away the pocket trying to make the ball carry, a shot in the pocket will at least leave you a make-able spare.

Well Coach I found out that it is the 50 foot T.O.C. from the past. I was practicing on it about an hour ago and I had a better look just throwing my hook ball straight down the middle. I didn't leave any splits that way.

What works on the old 50' pattern is a slower than normal ball speed, and a heavy end over end roll with a dull aggressive ball to start off with usually playing deep inside to a break point on 15-17 at 50ft (just in front of the 3 pin right handed 2pin left handed).

I got to play a pattern similar to this at the Bowling This Month tournament when it was at Corpus Christi. As the shot breaks down you go to a weaker ball and play the same line as opposed to moving in deeper with the stronger ball. I think the TOC is heavier than the BTM, the BTM would break down in 1/2 a game where I remember the TOC bowlers using strong equipment the entire show, even with the hot lights, so keep your speed down and practice the underhanded football release.

We bowled on the 50' TOC pattern in the 1st round of our summer league, Coach is correct-slower speed works better on this pattern but in this house playing 12-15 seems to gives you a better angle of entry and better carry.
Now were on the plastic ball round, lots of fun.

pwpbaexp.com

I just sanded my Evil Siege by hand down to 180 grit. I think the reason I didnt get much turn on it yesterday is because they had people bowling with house balls before me.

180 is pretty dull, I would have tried 320 or 400 grit first, then go from there. But it just may work for you, we'll see.

Well for the two games I bowled a 314, which is over my PBAX average. That's not bad considering it was my first time really bowling on a fresh pattern. My opponent only beat me by about 24 pins and his average was already 40 more pins than mine so I put up a hell of a fight. The end over end technique does work, but only when there is already a line burned to the pocket.

In the future take the ball to the Pro Shop and have them put the surface on the ball for you, doing it by hand is never as good and doesn't give the reaction you are looking for.

Well coach it looks like I'm going to have to take your advice on that for my Friday Night League with my Evil Siege because it is the heaviest oil I've ever encountered. I threw my plastic ball out there last night during practice just to see where the friction would set in. It was dang near 50 something feet before I started to see the ball spinning. I think the proprietor threw a more challenging pattern down this season because that house had the highest amount of honor scores last season. I purchased a 3.5 on bowlingball.com today so it should be at my door by next Monday since it's coming from the California warehouse. I spent four games trying to find a decent line to strike, and I still haven't figured it out. I want to say that the pattern is the USBC Blue Pattern, but I have no clue. Last week in my 5-man league I was playing a straight line to the pocket from beginning to end. I'm going to get the ball baked and then sanded to see if that helps. I question if I'm really even bowling on a house shot because I didn't even have that much trouble bowling the TOC. I'm also going to check out the Kegel site for oil patterns because I know that's where they get their pattern downloads.