Trials and tribulations with wood lanes. Not just wood, but summertime wood....

Last week I had the perfect solution to the wood lanes here in Detroit. Since the house is 10-15% occupied, they don't oil the lanes every day. Even during our fun league, my normal equipment will overhook.

So I got an old Ebonite Lion (which is a low-hooking pearl) at a garage sale and redrilled the thumb hole. It worked great! The hook matched the lanes! I was back in business.

I noticed some lines forming on it and decided to wash it.... Not a hot bath, just a 10-minute cleaning in warm water with simple green followed by Ebonite's ball cleaner.

Sad to say, I ruined it - put too much hook into it. Yep, a 15-year old ball hooks too much, and that's with me taking all of the wrist action out of my shots.
My next step is to apply polish. I have two -
Ebonite Power House Extender
ProGrip Degree shine



FYI, BTW - I throw 3 shots during league ( since my goal is not to win but to have fun, and my teammates allow this ) - aim straight down the 3 board; aim straight down the 10 board; aim out from the 10-12 board to the 5 board. I stand 15 boards apart for the first and last of these three shots, giving some variety. I know I could throw straight down 10 and get higher scores, but what's the point?
Just FYI....


PS - In case you haven't read my prior posts on the subject, I have had to abandon 4 balls I brought with me because they hook too much too early. I've had to abandon several of my releases, because they hook too strong. I am now reduced to using old equipment with the mildest release in my repertoire, and am looking very much forward to getting back on synthetic lanes asap....

The good news is that until I washed my ball, I had a solution that was giving me my old 170 average / 4X per game back again (on the three shots I mentioned).

What about plain old plastic? Doesn't have a core, but you should be able to play those lines with it, just might have to reduce speed some.

I feel your pain about the lack of oil, my center has also be really relaxed about it and have had some challenging dry nights. What's the most frustrating thing for me is that I wanted to use the summer league to prepare for winter both with techniques and mind set, but they are so different from each other that their isn't much learning going on. I'm still bowling with friends and having a good time and do get some free practice that have ironically had better oil conditions then actual league.

I'm strongly tempted to use my plastic, since it will hook nicely on these conditions. If the polish doesn't work, I might do that.

BTW the plastic ball goes 5 boards left now, too, versus on synthetics back home. Mainly because - for whatever reason - I like to put a little spin on it instead of throwing it the right way....

SpareMe,
One thing you can try that might work is to take your tame bowling ball (not the plastic one) and put your thumb in first, then the fingers. This will not allow the fingers to dig into the ball quite as much as they do when they are inserted first, thus killing a lot of the hand you put on the ball.

I use this quite often on fried lanes and I am able to throw bowling equipment as strong as my Cell Pearl without to much worry about the ball over-hooking. Might be something to try in practice a few times just to see how much it allows you to get the ball down lane. Worth a shot.

Thanks for the tip, Sk8. It feels rather odd, but I;m sure it'll come in handy when the time is right.

I polished two balls - my Monster and my Lion. The Monster - having the IT slugs - was too small for my now-irreversibly swollen thumb, but the Lion, which cost me $5 at a garage sale and is essentially a throw-away ball, has a bigger thumbhole.

With the polish, both balls worked well, skidding nicely through the midlane and hooking at a reasonable breakpoint about 40 down the lane. I was able to throw some fairly aggressive shots without going Brooklyn.

The Monster - and every ball I brought with me from Washington - will have to remain in the closet until such time as my thumb resumes a natural size and shape. Meanwhile, I'm pleased as punch with the performance of the Lion.

I didn't make a note of which polish I used on which ball, but it sees that both polishes had the same effect.

My Ebonite Lion is doing so well now, I decided to get the Rhino Pro Teal drilled up (just a thumb slug). I'll get it Tuesday, just in time for the fun league.

Both will be 3/16 " reverse pitch, so I can do my favorite releases. The Lion is consistently getting 4x per game, which is what I used to do on synthetic lanes.

The spare ball, however, is hooking 7 boards, and in fact I threw it down and in (first arrow, big axis rotation with lots of revs) and it hooked nicely into the pocket for a strike. Sheesh!!! I can't throw it any faster, so I just have to control myself and keep the thumb up. I can't throw it without revs, like I used to throw my lighter (14#) spare ball (whose thumb is way too small now, and I'm not about to ruin it for these lame lanes....). My 3 garage sale balls will have to do me until I can find someone in MI who does IT slugs.


Went brooklyn and left the 1-5-6. It looked weird!

The trip:
Drove 50 miles round-trip yesterday to get an IT slug that fits my gigantic summer thumb. It was worth it. Even though I can't use my equipment at the local bowling alley, the center where I got the slug actually oils their lanes, giving me the opportunity to once again enjoy throwing the ball - inside, outside, down the Track. It was wonderful.

Thumb Hole Tape:
Anyway, what I want to post about is the thumb tape I got. It's called Vise Thumb Hole tape, and it comes in about 8 varieties. I'm not talking about the white tape that goes in the front or the black tape that goes in the back, or even the protective tape that goes on the thumb. What I'm talking about can best be described as a strip of sticky rubber. It keeps your thumb from slipping out of the thumb hole. I'm going to put one strip in each of my balls, because I'm pretty sure I won't be needing the white tape any more, or at least not as much.

The version I used is TA-2e, which is the second-most sticky. It cost me $3 for a pack of 4, so I'm hoping each strip will last a long time. I wouldn't advise using it with a super-tight hole. You might get stuck. But in a loose hole, it keeps your hand glued in the hole until the release point.

The Power of a Parallel Move:
One other comment about my field trip - I was playing straight up the 3 board down and in, with the ball hooking at about 45 feet. Then I missed outside, and threw the ball onto the 1 board. It teetered there for a few feet and then dropped into the gutter. In order to avoid embarrassment, I made a parallel move of 2 boards, and what do you know? I picked up all 10 for the spare. So this is a tactic I;ll use from now on when playing the twig (or as close as I dare come to the twig).

The problem is not wood lanes:
I should change the name of this thread to "Bowling on unconditioned Lanes", as that is really what it is about. The lanes I threw on yesterday were wood, and yet they allowed me to throw my aggressive equipment in aggressive ways without hooking at the arrows, as my local lanes do here.

Shameless plug:
One more thing - a shameless plug for Premier Bowlers' Pro Shop in Westland, MI - the place where I got the IT slug and thumb hole tape.

Well, I've spent 45 minutes posting this, so no more posts for today.... Have a nice day, and Good Bowling!

Here's a funny one. I have a bad memory, so just chalk it up to that.

In league last night, I was throwing the Lion on the left lane and the Monster on the right lane(standing 39, throwing at 12). Throwing both balls with the same release. The Lion struck 4 times in a row and the Monster went left of target 5 boards at the arrows 4 times in a row.

On the way home I remembered that the Lion is 3/16" reverse pitch and the Monster is 0 pitch. D'Oh!!!!!

Next time I use two balls with different pitches, I'll use two different releases so I can keep from getting confused or - as in this case - forgetting their respective pitches.

Both balls had my new Vise Thumb Hole tape in them. I love that stuff!

As to why I would do this crazy two-ball scheme, it's just the sort of thing I do to have fun. My teammates don't care, so I go for it.

I don't find this to be too odd. Often, depending on lane conditions, when the 2 of the pair are playing so differently, I will use radically different lines, and sometimes, a different ball.

It used to be routine in my old house. But, it is more cumbersome now that I have the IT interchangeable thumbs, as I have to switch them in another ball every shot.

Who bowls on wood lanes anymore?