Hey all.
I'm not one to usually complain about oil because, of course, you should be able to adjust to whatever is shot is there.
The house I bowl in Ohio has lately been driving most of us
league bowlers insane. I understand that weather conditions and
other factor can change the lanes....but our house has not laid
out a consistent shot night to night since the start of the year.
Example..last tuesday the lanes were so dry i was standing on 36 and throwing the ball out to 3 or 4 and it was breaking back hard. Then on thursday night, they decided to get the Exxon Valdez and lay so much oil on the outside that i was standing 18 and trying to throw down and in but the ball would slide no matter what board I hit. I threw 4 gutter balls and had a 454 series. Mind you..I averaged 226 in one league last year and 216 in my other league. My thursday league doesn't even have one bowler that was in the league last year that has improved on his average. The average drop in average is 16 pins.
Thanx for letting me vent and let me know if anyone else has
this problem with their house. Xndapit

A lot of things go into this.

Lane mechanics can be on power trips and see it as their duty to "keep their bowlers on their toes". That's what one center's mechanic told me flat to my face. He purposely tweaks the machine every couple weeks. But he himself does not bowl. And that house has had to have Kegal come in and reset their machine numerous times and for the last 5 years of 6 years I've bowled there, they could not floor a scratch league. This past couple years, they have gotten more consistent. I don't know if the mechanic had this discussed with the proprietor or not. But its more consistent now and we have a scratch league.

It can also be due to machine maintenance. If the machine needs parts and they have to be ordered that can take some time, so they run it anyway, doing the best they can. Or they just don't maintain it on a regular basis.

Then of course there's the centers where the lane mechanic bowls and sets up the shot for themselves. Or against rivals. That happens too.

Eventually if this continues the higher skilled bowlers will go elsewhere. Not that they don't mind a more difficult shot, but the inconsistency is what drives higher bowlers crazy. Now if you KNEW the shot was going to be different every couple weeks, wouldn't you feel better? Just assume it will be, that's the trend apparently in your house. Good luck

Erin

This is not really a problem X...this is how you train your game to become proficient on different shots. Whenever you walk into a house, regardless of how often you bowl there you should never take for granted that the shot is going to be the same as the week before or the day before.

Different oil patterns give you the opportunity to throw different balls, work on hand positions, consistent targeting, etc. I used to bowl in a house that changed the shot up every week or so...house shot, reverse block, heavy oil in the heads, no oil in the heads, light oil all the way down...it really kept everyone on their toes. Of course, I struggled on the heavy patterns back then, because I didn't know about adjusting ball speed, hand positions and stuff back then, but I like the fact that it made me learn.

Then I would practice the stuff even when I wasn't bowling on those certain conditions just to ingrain it into my bowling mind so I could pull it out when I needed. I finished that league with a 188 average...didn't seem like much at the time, but the next season when I went to a house that laid a house shot every week, I averaged a 209.

I was just talking to a good bowler in my area the other day and he said something that I will never forget..."The truest test of how good a bowler is is knowing when not to use something in your game." Sounds crazy, but it's true...what he was referring to for me is that when I can roll that ball at 100%, I'm money...it's when I have to slow the ball down, create more angle, etc, that I struggle. And he was saying that when I learn to shelve my 100% game and can start learning when to tame it down, I'd have all the tools necessary to become a great bowler as opposed to just being good.

You're not always going to have your 'shot' or be able to play your 'A' game...if you can't still be relatively successful outside of your 'comfort zone', you'll struggle to become a winning bowler.

Just something to think about...

Erin pretty much covered all the bases. I would just like to add my opinion.

The reason I bowl where I bowl is because they change the shot every 3 or 4 weeks and it could be anything. People ask me why I keep a Total Shock and Awe in my locker as well as the other 4 balls I am able to stuff in there ranging down to a blue ice with a 5 1/2" pin to pap distance.

There are a couple of things I don't like about this situation:

1. When they lie when you ask if they changed anything and they treat you like you are a "whiny bowler" and say they didn't change anything and you must just be having an off night, when I know better and find myself in front of the ball return by the beginning of the second game.

2. People who change the shot they themselves are going to bowl on are just plain cheaters.

It is for this reason I learned to bowl, and now I respect the dump I bowl in for holding down the scores a little. It is also the reason I am afraid to get rid of too many bowling balls because you never now when you might need them.

I bowl in a center similar to what Jim describes. The shot can be totally different from week to week or even every few weeks but they will say its the same pattern. Even some of the employees that bowl the leagues will say it. Some of the patterns you can't adapt to other than throwing it straight and hard at the headpin. I started this season going straight up the 10 board with my more aggressive dull equipment, to playing the outside with a Groove, to playing the middle with polished pearl to using the same pearls going up 7 or even pointing towards the pocket. That this season since a new manager took over and a new district manager. Last season wasn't quite as bad but it would change from week to week or even day to day with different leagues. I take pride that I rolled my only 300 at that house and almost an 800 series there. It does help you to learn to get away from your A game, especially when the other house I bowl in has a more consistent shot and is known for high scores.

That being said, the reason for my bad bowling there is more on me not making quality shots and missing too many easy spares.

Well, y'all knew I was going to throw my perspective into this melting pot, so here it is. There are varying reasons for this situation. First, as Erin mentioned, the lane person could be on an "ego trip" or the lane machine could be a piece of junk (or sometimes a combination of both which is like mixing fire and gasoline). Second, Erin briefly mentioned and Show went more in depth with, perhaps the house "likes to throw change-ups". And as Erin said, you might as well "expect the unexpected" by now.

My take on this; I agree with both major points thrown around, but would more lean towards Erin's response. I used some pretty antiquated equipment myself; a walk-behind AMF VLS (vacuum lane stripper) and a 6-wick Century PC, and to say it was tough to maintain some sort of consistency with those two relics and in a place not very well stable in terms of air temperature and humidity, that's being kind. But, even to that end, I did the best I could to battle the inconsistencies and make the shot playable for everyone every night. On hotter or drier nights, I backed off the stripper a bit and added a little length to my reverse passes. One colder or more humid nights, I bumped up the stripper a bit and shortened my reverse passes. But, there too, I am a bowler, which, for those of you who know the "power-tripping, non-bowling lane guy", you appreciate the "non-egomaniac, bowls in the same center" lane guy. I hated inconsistent shots as much as anyone, but tough and fair, I loved those (and still do).

Anyone who complained about how tough the shot was found it tougher the next week. I bowled on those shots, too, and proved that you could score if you just kept your head out of your rear end and focused on your game. I never tricked anyone - all I did was flatten out the shot and created more of a "cliff" backend than "ramp" backend and lessened the ratio gutter to gutter - essentially flattened out the shot. Heck, I laid out a tougher shot for the juniors than I did for the adults just so when they went out of town and found an easy shot, it was like heaven to them.

If I were you, I'd cherish the opportunity to have a different look every night. I know I would. Yes, it's tougher, and some nights you don't feel like working at it, but in the long run, it makes you a sharper bowler who, when faced with a rapidly changing shot sometime later, can draw back on the experience of having many different looks. As Erin said, if you prepare yourself for the unexpected, mentally, that'll put you in a better spot to bowl better.


Haha, yeah, sounds like the guy we first had working in the bowling center I worked in. He never prepped the machine properly, and wasn't a bowler, either, so he wouldn't have known a good shot if it bit him between the legs. He would, um, "tinker", as he put it, just to see if we'd notice. Yeah, Jim, I'm like you - I tend to notice when I'm 10-15 boards different from the night prior. Kind of difficult to hide that.

Depends on how they change it, really. Now, if they set it up for their game, yes, I'm with you there (which, unfortunately, is what 99% of lane people will do). Me, well, as I said, I'd change it for tougher. Did I know what was coming? Yes. But I still had to execute the shot, so in essence, I had no more of an advantage than anyone else.

I was accused of "setting the shot for myself" by one person. This happened to be in a league where I had quit 2/3 of the way through the season due to the same person because, well, he was an a-hole, for lack of any stronger word, and I was fearful of physical violence from myself towards this person. Anyhow, I came back to bowl the last night because one of my bowlers was going to be too late to make the first two games, so he asked me to bowl in his place because the team was bowling for 1st place that night. Reluctantly, I did. I started with a 254 and finished with a 660-something series and we ended up winning first place.

The aforementioned a-hole came up to me after we finished bowling and said, "you only bowled good because you set the shot up for yourself" to which my reply was, "No, I bowled good because I know how to bowl, and don't just chuck the ball down the lane. And I'll have you know that had I set the shot up for myself, I would've been 700+ while you guys would've been scratching your heads and other parts of your bodies you don't talk about at the dinner table and praying to shoot over 500 because, if you never bowled on a reverse block before, you would've tonight."

That wasn't the only time I was accused, mind you, but that was most memorable. I was also accused by the same idiot last year when I shot my 803, and I didn't even run the machine (I chalk it up to jealousy). I did, however, help develop the shot, which was much more conducive to scoring than the shot that was previously in place, which said idiot benefited from, by the way. The other times I've been accused of "setting the shot for myself" I've flattened the shot out to where it would've been considered a sport shot. So, really, I never made it advantageous to myself, rather much more difficult than it already was for people less accurate than myself to score.

"Tough" is completely subjective and relative.

This bugs the heck out of me too. Because I KNOW when they've messed with the machine or there's something off kilter. You don't have to lie to me. Just say, yeah, we had to change oils because we ran out and had to borrow some from the next closest house. Or the part we were expecting didn't come in so we had to hand strip instead of using the machine and none of our secondary mechanics knows how to hand strip and/or cannot find the tools to do so. Or we had two buses of elementary school kids and the mechanic was sick so we didn't re run the lanes for league.

But there seems to be an unspoken pact between the house with the lane guy, to NEVER reveil any problems with the lane condition to the bowlers no matter what. I just hate being lied to, especially when its not really a good lie.

This past weekend was a good example. We had a tournament on Saturday. We arrived one hour early only to find the lane machine on the approach (hood up), two kids (under 25) hovering over it, tool box open. The head lane mechanic not there at all, despite there being a tournament. And the machine was there when we got there, and remained until about 10 min before the squad had to bowl. Then they closed it up and ran the machine. Just because they ran the machine, doesn't mean it actually did anything. Which became clear once you started bowling. So on Sat. morning, in a city tournament, second week of the tournament we had left over cosmic bowling conditions from Friday night. Anyone fess up to it? No. But you cannot tell me that the shot that morning as they ran the machine up and down the lanes we were using (only, the Jr league down the way was just s crewed), was the house shot. Of course some people bowled well, but it was all average and handicapped based. The shot was very squirrely. Then on Sunday we arrived for our second day of competition and it was totally different....go figure. Amazing what a night of tinkering can do to a lane machine.

"don't p iss on my leg and tell me its raining".

Erin

This is why I don't bowl the Hoinke any more. You look up at the leader board and you see all these 800 sets and I say to myself, "there is no way they bowled those scores on this trashed shot", and this was on fresh oil. Huge house some of the best bowlers from my area were there and you had mid 600's for high for the block and low 200s winning pots.

Granted the Hoinke is not supposed to be an easy shot, but I hear they leave the house shot and run squads during the week at this time of year after the mens league, that is why most of the 800s are by local bowlers.

When you roll your first practice ball, you can tell what kind of night it is going to be. Last night was one of those nights. And, you can see the change over in bowlers with the high scores. All of a sudden, the middle of the pack lead the night, while the top of the league struggled.

One fellow jokingly, was passing a plate to take up a collection to purchase oil for the house.

And, the house just laughed.

One note from the other side of the fence, a good friend and teammate on my USBC National team bowled his first 300 a month ago and doesn't want the ring because the house is so easy. I have tried to talk him into getting it because of the award changes, he may never get one if USBC has their way.

I found out about it because another teammate went to the house to practice because it is close to where he lives and saw our teammates name on the board. So he emailed me to try to talk some sense into him and have him get his ring.

One of my other teammates responded to this by congratulating him for shooting 300 on the local skeeball Track and asked if he got enough tickets to get the giant panda.

I have heard that during the Hoinke, if big scores are being shot, people at the alley call their friends to come in and bowl. There is a guy on my old league who goes every year. He said that they started going during the week because they would get killed on the weekend conditions.

My House has the same problem form week to week. One night it be so dry you have players playing in front of the ball return and other nights it be flooded with oil.

I do see in my house a lot of people like it when its dry. I'm the reverse i struggle on dry lanes and bowl good on oily lanes. Last week we had a high concentration of oil on our lanes and i ended up being in the top three in series. 665, 635, and 614(me).

I definitely feel the pain of inconsistent lane conditions. I usually either get too much hook or not enough... Like many have said, it is a nice challenge, but I haven't shot a 600 in weeks lol. I have been bowling a lot more consistent, as I've improved my spare game quite a bit. Though it gets frustrating when I'm not able to carry more than a couple of strikes a game... if any at all.

Well, I understand your frustration there. It does get old when you're doing all you can to carry only to end up leaving 9 counts. It wasn't too long ago I was there as well. But the thing you've realized is something that's invaluable - learning to become consistent and picking up what you leave. If you can learn to be a much better spare bowler, your consistency will show up on the scoresheet. Eventually, you'll learn to take the pressure off of yourself and then you'll start striking. Couple that with a good spare game and your average will be sure to rise.

I'll second Brian on the importance of spares and what making them can do to your game. Making the spares you are suppose to make can make a big difference in your score and average. Thats the biggest reason I'm been bowling as bad as I have been, terrible spare shooting when it comes to the "give me" spares. Granted I'm not making the best of strike shots on even the easiest of conditions but I've been leaving makable spares, many single pin spares or clusters of pins that are makable. The problem is missing probably half of them on any particular night. Making all but the large splits I could be in the 540s or better every night, instead of around 480 and sometimes lower. Missing those spares repeatedly makes it harder to be relaxed on a strike shot and you try to force it and it just spirals downhill.

Yeah even with my lowly 173 average for the night last weekend, I only missed one or two of my "gimme" spares. The largest problem for a lot of us bowling on the pair last weekend, were splits. I even picked up a couple of the smaller ones. Though seeing two or three pocket 7-10 splits makes you wonder. I wasn't the recipient of them, but they looked like nice shots only to end up with jaws hitting the floor lol. I must say the second game really baffled me as I bowled it clean, but only shot a 188. Though I'm glad you understand some of my frustration, now I've just got to make sure I can repeat the shots even if I don't get all 10 in the pit. Hitting the pocket is certainly my goal every time it's my turn to bowl :-)!

I've been actually begging for pocket 7-10 splits recently, it means I hit the pocket, lol. If I throw a solid pocket shot right now and leave something I'm a little upset but just shrug it off. I need to get in the pocket more than I am and then make those gimmes.

i go in cycles, i'll nail every single pin i leave for a few weeks, while chopping 1 out of 2, or 2 of 3 in clusters, then a few weeks later, i nail all the garbage, and whiff the singles.

I think a lot of what happens around here is that enough people complain to the desk about there being "no oil" or "too much oil" that a center manager tries to keep his/her bowlers happy (or at least away from the desk), so after a dry week, the next week ends up being flooded. I bowl on a condition on Thursday nights that is the most violent wet/dry I've ever seen. I need to start the ball in the oil, swing it outside of 4-5, and keep it slow enough that it will come back. When I hit it, I'm fine. Tug it 1-2 boards at the break point, though, and I'm lucky to hit the headpin. The pattern is about 40-42 ft long.
This condition hasn't been there all year. It only turned into the wet/dry condition a couple of months ago, and I'm sure it's because enough people complained that they didn't have enough of a condition left by the end of the night that they kept building up the oil in the middle of the lane. People wanted it easy, but didn't ask for "easy" the right way. Now there's too much oil in the middle to get even the strongest equipment to move.

You need to take a strong dull aggressively drilled (leverage, or Rico) and play the oil line, the strength of the ball will get it back to the pocket without over hooking if missed to the outside and the oil will help hold the ball in the pocket if you tug it.

I see what you're saying, and I would normally play exactly like that. But the problem with playing the oil line on this condition is that missing in by a board results in zero hook. Not a little hold, but zero hook. I have aggressively drilled dull equipment, and even that doesn't move. I have to hit a spot outside 5 at 30-32 ft down the lane to have any chance of scoring. I can do it more often than not, but it's frustrating when you miss in by a board or two a couple of shots in a row and ruin a decent game.

A buddy of mine was drilling Rico layouts as early as about 1991 or so (maybe earlier) with pin-out Hammers and got great reactions from them. He used to say that it seemed to amplify the effect of the top weight in the ball, giving him easier length and a heavy roll on the back.

Have you tried playing farther outside like straight up the first arrow as opposed to between the first and second arrow. You will probably need to be more up the back of the ball with the release to keep it from jumping early on shots missed to the right and use less speed.

Starting it that far out just makes it hook instantly, then flatten out as it hooks into the oil before the end of the pattern. I think I'm playing it the only way I can, though. Thanks for the suggestions.

It sounds like they are using a top hat lane condition, probably either 7 to 7 or 10 to 10. You are going to have to find the oil line and throw a high flaring aggressive cover stock ball like the Levrg or No Mercy or the resugence. Something that is going to bite through the oil if you tug it and burnout before it gets to the nose of the head pin if you miss outside.

What balls are you currently throwing, how do you have them drilled, and what surface are you using? Now that I have a feel for the shot you are playing I might be able to help further.

I have bowled on a top hat condition back when I started back bowling in leagues, so I know how frustrating it can be. Until the oil line gets knocked down the shot can be extremely difficult, in fact depending on the length and severity of the pattern it can be harder than a sport pattern until it opens up.

Some nights I had to stand very deep and play a slow hook out to the gutter, other nights I had to play up the oil line with a urethane ball and still other nights I had to bide my time and play up the oil line with a heavy forward roll and an aggressive ball until the pattern knocked down a bit, then switch to an aggressive pearl. I found that depending on how long the patten was determined what I had to do, and they changed it throughout the season.

I subbed tonight. Walked in and saw 3 of the workers on their hands and knees, spraying the final 20 feet of the lanes, including the pin deck. Found out the oil machine, which was supposed to oil to 39 feet, and buff the back, oiled the entire length of the lanes.

We waited a few minutes for them to finish before we started shadow balls. Now this is normally the House Sport shot league, so I expected some oil. But, what I found was something out of the National shot.

I routinely start my first ball at 25, roll at 12 slowly, and watch the ball reaction. The ball continued to hit the 10 and nick the 6. Woah!!!!! There was no backend at all. Just oil. The workers were spraying a cleaner, but wiping the lanes from gutter to gutter. Seems they spread the oil the width of the lanes rather than clean it up.

Well, started with a 199, and watched the oil start to discipate. Followed with a 223, as the lanes approached normalcy. Then ran into a pretty significant oil transition with over-under for a 190 final. It was truely amazing watching the oil change from game to game.

The good thing was in the first game, there was no wall, and hardly any friction. It forced me to roll straighter, which I was happy that I could. I slowed down successfully and kept my armswing straight, a problem I have been having. I changed balls in the third game with success only to find a targeting problem that I caused. I was sitting XX 9/ X, when I rolled, what I thought was a good ball. Bingo, pocket 7-10. Then a mental lapse for a washout/open, followed by another one. 3 opens in the 5-6-7 frames. Collected myself to finish with that 190. Took some mental straightening and refocus, but I did it.

All in all, it was a challenging and satisfying night on this really screwy shot for 612. I was able to slow and play straight up. I read the lanes correctly in game 2, and I changed to the right ball in game 3. Now, if I only kept thinking straight and keeping focus in mid game 3, all would be OK.

Oops, double post. How'd that happen?

Interesting thread, folks.
I just got home from another miserable night at the alley.. after bowling my average to 180 early in the season on lanes that were tough but had some oil in the heads and the middle of the lane and BIG backend reaction.
Our team prospered on this pattern (36') and was consistent week to week. Other teams which included the centre's big scorers were struggling with it because there was no dry outside to bounce off. The pattern rewarded accuracy and the use of balls that suited medium to dry conditions.
Three weeks ago, the pattern was changed and now we have a desert, no head oil, big backends and dry boards from about 8 outwards on both sides. Now our boys who like to swing the lane are killing everyone while the rest of us are left with 1/2 board margins for error. I have been averaging just 150 the last three weeks and if I find a line, it will only last a couple of shots before it is too dry.
Tonight, I bowled 20 at the arrows to 10 in the first three shots of game one and it was gone after that. I finished the game bowling 6 to 3 with my plastic ball and was still going through the face! Even that line was gone by game two, so spent the night trying everywhere and just picking up whatever I could but too many splits and unmakeables destroyed my scores despite feeling that I bowled well. Very frustrating.
Ok.. rant/off!
It's good to see that I am not alone!!

Cheers,
Allan

Those are some pretty good scores for having oil all the way to the pin deck. That happened to me one night, lane 19 the machine went nuts and oiled all the way to the pin deck on one lane, and oiled normal after they fixed it on lane 20.

It was fun watching your ball skid 60 feet on one lane and normal on the other, and some of the people on the other team couldn't believe that the oil made that much of a difference.

Allen what might help you is if the lanes are hooking, throwing the ball harder will just make the ball hook more. To pick up speed, hold the ball higher in the stance and let it swing from a higher point instead of forcing your arm through the release zone faster which makes your hand go through the ball faster which puts more revs on the ball which makes the ball hook more which is the opposite of what you want on a condition like that.

When the lanes get dry try letting the ball go without putting any finger prints on the inside of the holes. Even if the ball still hooks too much, it will be more controllable and easier to adjust to.

CoachJim, you could see what type of lane conditions there were on the very first balls of the night. My first ball was a good hit, but a solid 7 pin. The spare attempt should have missed to the left, but held for a spare because the ball never finished. The second ball, I made a 1 board adjustment to get rid of the 7 pin. Well, it was a pocket hit and the 4 tripped the 7. But, instead of falling, it slid standing up to a spot between the 8 and 9, causing an out of range.

There were out of ranges all night. I even saw a 4 pin slide standing up to become a 10, or close to the 10 with another out of range. At one point, we had a 6-10 with a pin standing behind the 6. There were 2 pins in the 2 spot, and many other strange leaves. Pins were moving all night, making splits out of normal 2 pin spares.

Actually, I had 2 incentives last night. 1. I do bowl better on oil. I seem to focus more, and my delivery is much better. and, 2. We were bowling against a team that had the House Pro on it. He and I have had previous confrontations. He usually beats me. But, it gave me the incentive to bowl my best, given the conditions. He beat me again, bowling 634, under his 222 average in this league.

I almost had a situation like that last year Dennis, but with a normal house shot. I walk in the center and was talking to a guy that worked there that bowled on my Tuesday team. He told me the machine oiled all the way to the back of the pin deck, and wasn't noticed at first. There was even a small puddle in the pit I heard. They had it straightened out before we got there though. I guess they had enough time to strip the lane and get the pools of oil absorbed.

Jim, here's what I've been using, and how I've been using them.

Storm Attitude Shift, 2000 finish, 4x4 layout, pin even with finger holes. Playing about 13-15 at the arrows out to about 3-5. 16-16.5 mph, decent revs (350-400 rpm), 3/4 Track, about 15-30 degree axis rotation. When this carries, I'm ok. I'll tug a few shots that never make it to the dry, and when I do, I'm lucky to leave just the bucket.

I also have a Special Agent that I've shined up that I go to when the Attitude stops carrying. I did this last week and carried much better with the SA. The SA is drilled with a 5" pin just below the ring finger with the CG at about 2-3" from PAP, and reacts a little harder off the dry than the Attitude. It still doesn't move if I miss in a little, but nothing really will.

I'm also carrying a Shift, Passion, Vertigo, and a couple of other Storm balls that normally stay in the truck. The Shift is factory finished, the Passion has a 2000 finish, the Vertigo a 1000. I've gotten a little use out of the Passion and the Shift on this.

Question, is the 16 - 16.5 speed what it says on the overhead display, or have you had your speed checked?

If that is what it says on the over head, then your actual speed is probably close to 20mph if so, then that is your problem, you need to take some of the ball speed down a couple notches by holding the ball lower in your stance, and or going to 500 abralon with the Attitude shift to break the pattern down faster so you can switch to the SA quicker.

If that is your speed, you just need more surface as at 350-400rpm you have a rev dominant release, so go to 1000 grit first, or 500 grit and try to open the shot up faster. You might also get some benefit from an aggressive ball drilled pin axis, this will allow you to play straighter up the outside until the lane opens up.

CoachJim, thanks for the advice I will try it out next week and see how I go. For sure, I have been putting some extra pace on the ball to try to get it further down the lane before it hauls it's sorry A$$ across the lane heading who knows where!

I have spent most of this season getting a good consistent release, which has become quite solid, My ball speed is down from what it used to be (now 21km/h from 25/26 km/h) and my rev rate is ok.. perhaps 300 rpm or so. My release gives the ball about a 25º axis of rotation but only a slight tilt. On oil, this causes the ball to "set" rather than hook when it reaches the dry but it does make a very solid move towards the left.

The ball Track is a semi-roller with the Track about 3/4" to the left of the finger and thumb holes, so I am using almost the entire circumference of the ball, where I used to have a lower Track (not quite in the helicopter region) and the ball would move and continue to hook right through the pin deck.

With the lanes now so dry and patchy, watching the path down the lane is interesting as it will make small movements left several times before reaching the pin deck. It is not consistent on any lane as I will cross several other bowlers ball Track on the way. Using the plastic ball (drilled fingertip) is probably the most reliable item I have right now but it is amazing just how much it will move on these lanes! Last night, bowling 6 at the arrows to three at (somewhere near) the break point would get me close to the pocket but carry is an issue and splits were plenty and varied!

There was a shot, using a TRoad Pearl, drilled VERY long, that I could get shooting from 20 (at the arrows) to about 12 but the margin for error was so small it wasn't worth chasing it too long (too many big fours and 7-10s). When it was inch perfect, though, all ten in the pit... very satisfying!!

I'll keep an eye on this thread and see what others are doing to combat adverse conditions.

Cheers,
Allan

Allan, I am not sure if 21kmh is fast or not, what would that be in miles per hour?

It seems like there is oil in the middle and you are not using enough ball if the Troad pearl is over/undering, a more aggressive ball might mellow that out a bit for you, I'm not sure what other equipment you have, but the Troad pearl is for shorter oil and very broke down lane conditions, otherwise it will store way too much energy for the back end.

CoachJim,

21 Kmh equals 13.04 Mph.

et 25 Kmh equals 15.5 Mph.

Thanks Jock.
CoachJim, as you can see, I do not throw it particularly fast but those are the speeds recorded by the cameras on the lanes and I believe that is only recorded over the last 10 feet or so.

Pattern length is 37 feet including the buff out zone, so it is short and is supposed to be 4 : 1 2 to 2 but experience with the pattern suggests the dry area is 10 to 10 (at least) and the ratio might be right but the volume of oil is small and dries up very quickly. There is almost nothing in the heads for about the first three or four feet and that really marks up the ball something fierce!

From what you are saying, the TRoad might be the right ball if there was a bit more oil around and I certainly like the reaction it gives me when I do use it with some oil... really sharp and repeatable.

I have a Triumph and a very old Pro Hook, both of which have been a little difficult to use on this pattern but I'm thinking of giving the Pro Hook another go next week if the lanes are as bad as they have been.

I can't give you the drilling specs for any of the balls as they were never drilled for me, I just fit them and use them

Thanks for your comments and look forward to any and all suggestions.

Cheers,
Allan

If the speed is at the pin deck that has no indication of how fast you throw the ball, because with a 37 foot pattern Robert Smith's ball could slow down to that range by the time it hits the pins and it is at least 20 mph, not sure what that is in kmh.

If the lanes are oiled with a 4 to 1 ratio from 10 to 10 on a 37 foot pattern, the ball should come out of the oil at the 6 board, but since there is no oil out side of the 10 board that is what the problem is, the ball is coming out of the oil either too soon or not getting the proper amount of angle to the pocket. The oil pattern needs to be at least 5 to 5 if you want a 37 foot pattern.

Since you probably have no control of the oil pattern, you will need to use the 10 board as your exit point and try to push the ball 5 feet or so past the end of the pattern so it starts to hook on the optimum break point angle of 6 degrees, you will need more axis tilt and side rotation, loft and speed.

You can get the axis tilt and rotation by spreading your index finger and cocking your wrist, the loft you get by not bending your knees as much and speed by holding the ball higher and or using a weak ball like a scout or tropical Storm or a bash, I like the bash myself.

Thanks Jim- I'm estimating the speed, since I'm going by a display from another center that tells me I'm at about 17.25 or so when I play straight, but about 16.5 when I stand in, slow it down, and hook it. It could actually be as slow as 15.5-16 at this center, but not much less. I do have a ball with the pin about 1.5-2" from the PAP that I can sand down to start the night. I'll let you know how that works out.

Thanks again

Your ball spee