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Lane Condition Q&A [1-20] [21-40] [61-80] [81-100] [101-120] Blase January 26, 2004 Altoona PA First off congrats on the abc masters win. secondly i currently bowl at several different houses and the house i bowl at mainly uses a long pattern with oil concentrated inside of ten. i throw the ball around 18mph and i have a medium rev rate with high flare. i seem to have trouble leaving the nine pin while im playing a line middle to about the 7 board with a storm fear factor drilled for early roll but it even seems when i switch to a less agressive ball i get the same result. but in a later squad i seem to carry the nine with no problem oh yeah im right handed. what should i do? Hi Blasé, Leaving a lot of 9 pins usually means that you have a very sharp angle into the pocket. You are probably more likely to be leaving these on fresher lane conditions when the back ends are strong. Also a reactive ball will add to that. Getting tapped is a part of bowling. Nobody that gets tapped likes it. You might figure out a way to get rid of some of your 9 pins, but then you might be leaving more 10 pins. You might want to keep track of how often you hit the pocket and how often you strike when you do hit the pocket. I don't know what a good strike % when hitting the pocket is, but mine seems to be a bit lower than 70%. I think that the biggest part is to hit the pocket as often as possible and when you don't, leave something you can pick up. Good luck. Troy January 3, 2004 Dewittville NY Hi, I was just wondering what type of lane conditions you practice on? I mean when you go to any bowling ally, do you practice on the conditions that everybody else is bowling on or do you have the bowling ally set up a PBA tour pattern? Thanks! Troy Hi Troy, I prefer to bowl on tougher lane conditions than those that are at your typical bowling center. Where I practice at in Florida, they don't have the best oil machines that can completely strip the oil off of the lane and put out PBA patterns. They usually try to put out a tougher shot than they normally have, but the lanes are still quite a bit easier than the tour shots. I will also practice inside around the 5th arrow so that if I miss right the ball goes right and if I miss left the ball goes left. But I actually do most of my bowling at PBA tournaments. Anthony November 26, 2003 Kent WA Hey Walter Ray, I emailed you a lot earlier this year on the same topic, but now some good news, I have got my 2 cashes at the regional level, and I am able to bowl the Tacoma stop. It will be pattern A, which I leading qualifier at 1 of my 2 cashes. Should I look for a significant difference besides wood to synthetic lanes. Can I expect A to be A at the national level, or will there be a big difference. I will introduce myself at Tacoma, as my wife has had some contact with Paige. See you in Tacoma. Anthony Hi Anthony, Wood lanes do play a bit different than synthetic lanes, but you will probably notice a bigger difference on how the tour players play and break down the oil pattern than the regional players due to the fact that they have much higher rev rates. It seems as though the patterns this year have been modified to elevate the scoring pace except on the 'E' pattern which has been made more difficult. Good luck in Tacoma. Ken November 25, 2003 Philadelphia PA Dear Walter Ray, I saw you bowling in Phila. recently and it was an experience. Your ball goes so straight it's almost unbelievable to me. It looks quite different in person than it does on TV. I bowled on a Condition at Nationals this year that seemed to be straight from hell. It was 30 feet short oil and a flat condition. Five and out seemed to be a wet block. Most people could start bowling a certain line but after a few frames the lanes seemed schitzophrenic. After a while, when the heads started to go, some people started pitching the ball straight down the middle of the lane. Seemed like to me nobody was gettting the ball to drive into the pocket cause of the carrydown they were creating. After a while the only strikes people were getting were defection strikes. Seemed like the people using plastic or urethane balls and not trying to hook the ball were doing the best. You ever experienced a condition like this? thanks for all your help, Ken. Hi Ken, You must have watched me bowl the 2nd block in Philadelphia. Every time I tried to hook the ball I got in trouble so I threw the ball really straight for most of the block. What you bowled on at the Nationals is kind of like what we bowl on out here on tour. It can be very frustrating at times, especially when things aren't going well. Sometimes throwing the ball straight is a good option, but most of the younger players like to hook the ball and will play the left/middle part of the lane, so that is where a 'shot' develops. Jim November 17, 2003 Coldwater OH Mr. Williams, I was wondering what is the best way to attack the PBA Pattern B lane condition? I bowl in a league which applies the Pattern B, just like the one you guys bowl on and I was wondering how to attack the 43 foot monster pattern. Hi Jim, I would assume that the lanes are cleaned and oiled right before your league. It depends on how much you hook the ball, but you want to get your break point so that it is around 9-12. So if you throw the ball pretty straight, you would play around the 2nd arrow, but if you hook the ball a lot, you might start inside of the 4th arrow. The left side tends to play this pattern a couple of boards inside the right on the fresh, but the right side normally breaks down faster and the right handers will be playing deeper and deeper inside. Good luck. Watch the good bowlers in your league and see where they are playing. That is always a good indication of how to play the lanes. Joseph November 9, 2003 Yuba City CA Hello Walter Ray Jr. I have been bowling at alot of different bowling alleys lately, prepairing myself to enter some upcoming tournaments. I wen't down to Concord Yesterday and bowled at Diablo Lanes. I find myself to bowl best when my bowling ball is hooking alot. I recently bought a new ball. A Columbia Icon 300. My ball is suppose to hook alot in the oily lanes. I found my ball not hooking at all. Do you have any tips for me to get my ball to hook more in oily conditions. Or do I need multiple bowling balls for different lane conditions. Thank You, Joseph D'Agostino Hi Joseph, Some lanes have an extra amount of oil and your normal bowling balls aren't going to hook as much on them. That is the main reason I suggest that aspiring young bowlers learn how to bowl on as many different lane conditions as possible. This is also a reason that many top bowlers have many bowling balls, to combat the different lane conditions that are out there. You can learn to get more revs on the ball, throw the ball slower, or sand the ball a bit to get it to hook. Greg November 5, 2003 Temple TX Hey Walter Ray, I have a couple questions for you. One of the league bowlers here said something about how the sport pattern that you guys bowl on is not laid out on TV lanes, and his reason for sayin this is "because no one wants to see a pro bowler shoot 170". Is he right? Do they lay out a modified house shot on TV or was he fed some wrong information? My other question is, I want to get the patterns that the PBA lays out, including the units of oil. I would like to have some programmed in the machine so it can be laid out on the lanes as close as possible to what it is supposed to be. If I emailed the regional tournament directors, would they be able to send them to me? Thanks! Greg Hi Greg, The patterns that the PBA uses during the tournaments are used throughout the entire tournament including the TV finals. If we bowled on modified house shots the pros would hardly ever shoot below 210 on TV. The patterns used by the PBA s are illustrated on the PBA's website. The specific pattern intended for use at each of our 20 tournaments is also listed on the PBA website under the schedule. If your local bowling center has the right type of lane machine, you should be able to bowl on the same patterns that we bowl on tour. However, bowling on these patterns on tour is a lot different than just practicing on them. The reason is because the players on tour have such high rev rates and usually play an arrow or two left of where I think they should be playing. And then we move pairs which makes every lane quite a bit different. But I would recommend practicing on these patterns as opposed to the house shots most bowlers see. Here is the PBA's schedule http://www.pba.com/schedule.asp . Click on details and then click on PBA Pattern A-E depending on what tournament it is. Michiel August 24, 2003 Haarlem Netherlands Hi Walter Ray, I'm bowling in the Netherlands (Holland) and I'm a medium bowler. I've been watching a lot of this years tournements on RealPlayer.. On the leaguenights I heard that lane-conditions are quite easy to bowl on (we call it blocked lanes). I've seen on the ESPN-programmes that the KEGEL-patterns you guys were bowling on are a lot more difficult. But on how much oil do you guys compete? In the Netherlands the patterns are sometimes fairly easy, but can be quite difficult as well..but we always have little oil on the lanes (which will be gone after a few games) The pro's are bowling with quite a lot of rev's and I can imagine that you would have great difficulty adjusting to our amounts of oil... Could you enlighten me on the amounts of oil to be expected on the tour-conditions? and how you guys would adjust to the few drops of oil we have on our lanes? For another question. What is your target on the lane..Do you aim for the breakpoint of your ball, or the dots, or arrows or your not aiming at all? (can't imagine that) Thanks and keep up the good work... P.S. excuse me if my english is difficult to understand... Hi Michiel, The amount of oil on the tour is quite a bit. The amounts of oil vary on each oil pattern, but they do have quite a bit of oil on the front part of the lane. The lengths of oil vary from 35 feet to 43 feet on the normal patterns. If you would like to check out the oil pattern graphs from the Southern regionals, go to http://www.walterray.com/simard/southern.shtml . Norm Simard does a great job taking care of the lanes for the Southern Region. He is very professional about oiling the lanes, recording information on the lanes, and supplying that information to the bowlers who are interested at tournament sites and on our website. The regions use the same patterns as the National tour. I like to bowl on lanes which have less oil, more than most of the pros. Most of the other pros have rev rates which are much higher than mine and they tend to like more oil. But if the lanes hooked too much, the pros (including myself) would use bowling balls which don't hook that much. I target around the arrows or sometimes a few feet in front of them. I don't really watch my break point. Mark July 14, 2003 Watsonville CA Hi Walter Ray, I just finished bowling at the California State Tournament. Doubles, Singles and Team. Although I had some success in the first games of the sets I had problems adjusting when the lanes began to break down. The oil pattern was 30-35 units from boards 1 - 13, then dryer from 14 - 14. I'm right handed. As you can tell this was a reverse block with heavy oile outside of 13 board. How do you play this type of condition? Do you stay to the right of 13 board and play in the oil, move inside and play the dry (middle) area or do you try to play down 13 board? The most sucess I had was playing 15 board to 13. However outside just a little left washouts and inside a little went nose or broklyn. What would you suggest. Thanks Hi Mark, I would doubt that the lanes didn't have at least as much oil in the middle of the lane as there was on the outside right after the lanes were oiled. But compared to a typical house shot, an even oil pattern seems to play like the reverse block which you describe. Also, after a few games are bowled, the bowling balls pick up oil where they were thrown which is normally between the 2nd and 4th arrows on the right side and will create the reverse block which you describe. Normally the best place to play a reverse block is in the middle or left side of the lane (4th to 6th arrow). The obvious thing is that wherever you play you need to make really good shots. I would watch the other players who are scoring well and see where they are playing. Sometimes it is possible to play an outside shot, but normally you will need to be left of the 3rd or 4th arrow on this type of lane condition. Dustin June 27, 2003 Carson City NV Hey Walter Ray, My name is Dustin Smith and I have been bowling for about 4 years and carry around a 190 to 195 average. I have been having trouble with the lane condition at the center i have been bowling at. I bowl great on the fisrt 2 games but its always the last game that gets me in trouble. Like take last week for example, my first 2 games were 246 and a 234 then on my last game the lanes turned from wet to dry in a matter of 2 frames. What do i do in such a hard condition. Ive tried polishing and everything. I just cant seem to get that last game down. Good luck for the 2003-2004 season i hope to see you on T.V. more. Dustin Hi Dustin, It is very unusual for lanes to turn from wet to dry in a matter of 2 frames. What is possible is that the lanes have been breaking down during the entire games played and you need to make a bigger adjustment. Sometimes when the lane conditions break down it is necessary to move an arrow or 2 to find the proper line. Getting lined up is kind of an art. Keep an eye on how other players are playing the lanes and moves they might be making on the lanes as the lanes start to hook more. You also need to pay attention to how well you are throwing the ball and where your ball is going at the pins. Start learning to trust yourself and don't be afraid to make a drastic move rather than a minor one. You can do it! Good luck! Mr. Lynn June 25, 2003 Russiaville IN My question for you is this. The lanes where I bowl are changing to synthetic surfaces, how does ball reaction compare with the wooden lanes I have been bowling on? thanks Lynn Hi Lynn, I don't feel that synthetic lanes aren't that much different from wood lanes. The major difference that I find is in the approaches. Sometimes they will leave the wood approaches. Synthetic approaches tend to be "touchier" than wood. It also depends on the condition of the wood lanes as to how different they will react compared to synthetic lanes. Old lanes that haven't been cut or screened recently will probably 'break down' faster. In other words they wouldn't hold the oil on the lanes very well and start to hook more. Since bowling is about playing the lanes and the oil on them, I would pay attention to how your ball reacts. You should be able to play the lanes very similar to how you did before unless they also change the oil pattern. Good luck! Ron June 19, 2003 Rock Hill SC Walter Ray, how accurate do you need to be on pba lane conditions? Does even the smallest miss left or right of your target causes a bad shot? And I know speed and release also are huge in shot making. Its the feel thing I'm wondering about, that little bit of tweeking that can be put on a shot, that instinct, when you know your shooting a slight bit right of your target,you give a little more fingers. Or is what I am describing here basically a easy league shot? I want to try a regional but not sure. Your awesome to watch, I feel the same excitment when your in t.v. match play as I did when Anthony, Roth, or Holmann would make the finals in those older years. And good luck in taking the lead over Earl Anthony's records. Watching you blaze these last years has been cool. Hi Ron, The PBA lane conditions are normally quite a bit tougher than the average league conditions unless you bowl on a sport shot. However, some of the PBA conditions are easier than most sport patterns that are used for leagues. On a tough condition, if you miss by one board at the arrows left or right that will normally translate into missing by 4 boards at the pins which would be leaving a 2 pin for a right hander when you miss right and a nose shot for those left shots. I guess it is possible that a foul line correction can be made, but I think that more times than not it is the lane conditions that is making the correction. Sometimes though, those tough conditions can be more playable when the lanes break down in the right way and you make great shots. If you can afford to bowl in a PBA regional I would advise doing it. I think it will either give you more appreciation for what the pros bowl on or you might find a weekend job for yourself. And thanks for watching. Good luck! Fred June 9, 2003 Runcorn Cheshire UK Hi, Could you please give me some sort of idea about Lane Dressings: Here in the UK the lanes seem to be verry dry all the time. When we do have the chance to bowl on Heavy oil (not often)i find that it is hard to adjust, and find a shot. I bowl in a league over here called The North-west Fives, We bowl at a difrent centres each month and the lanes are dressed once and not redressed at the halfway point! we play 7 Five man games on this which is hard work! Having said that, i take out my Rota-grip sd73 and i can use it for every shot including the 10 pin, I find it better to just use one ball all day as not to over crowd the ball return, i can adjust my hand position and roll a straight ball. Am i doing the right thing by doing this. Cheers Fred (windy) Miller Hi Fred, Lane dressings were originally to protect the lane. But it was found that oil can increase scores by how they put the oil on the lanes. But on tough lane conditions you need to be much more accurate. If you are having trouble at a certain bowling center, you might want to watch the other bowlers who are doing well and how they are playing the lanes. Then you should try and play the lanes similar to how they are relative to how you throw the ball. I am unfamiliar with the Roto grip sd73. But if the lanes are very dry you might want to use a ball which doesn't hook very much. Conversely, if the lanes have a lot of oil you might want to try a ball which has a much higher coefficient of friction such as a particle ball. The most important part is to try and throw great shots. Good luck. Ryan June 6, 2003 RousesPoint NY i have problem i got a 158 ave. on the school team but i can't do that good at one place is this cause of the lane conditions. if so can you tell me what to do and how to fix it. Hi Ryan, It is possible that the lane conditions may be more difficult at that one particular bowling center. It may be that you have not quite figured out how to play the lanes there. I would suggest you watch those who are doing well at that center and try to figure out where/how they are playing the lanes. The thing to remember is that if everybody's score is lower, then you aren't really losing anything to the field. But you might want to do a little extra practice at the tougher bowling center to figure out what it is you need to do there. Good luck. Mark June 1, 2003 Brooklyn NY Dear:Mr.Walter Ray I think u are a great bowler and I enjoy watching u on tv. I have a problem bowling on program 3 lane condition I bowl right handed. I can't seem to get the oil pattern down pact.I bowl in a mens triple league I seem to keep missing the pocket shot.Can u please give me some hints about program 3 oil pattern.On where I should throw my ball. I bowl with a storm x-factor deuce.Thank you for your time on this problem I have. Thank you Mr.Mark DePalma Hi Mark, I am not sure what you mean by "program 3" oil pattern. Unfortunately, even if I did, I also don't know how you throw the ball. Therefore, it would be impossible for me to tell you where to play. I am also unfamiliar with the x-factor deuce bowling ball. It will also make a difference on the center you bowl at as well as how soon before your league as to the best way to bowl on the lanes for you. You might want to watch the better bowlers in you league and seeing where and how they play the lanes. Sorry I wasn't able to be of more help. Good luck. John April 14, 2003 New Hyde Park NY Dear Walter Ray, Would you briefly explain to me the reason the PBA bowlers need a rubber mat hanging in the pin pit. Any fool can see that this addition to a bowling lane increases the carry potential, especially for bowlers with such power anyway. The rubber mat lessens the distance from the end of the pin deck to the back curtain. Does the PBA feel it necessary to impress the fans with higher scores, while numbskulls like Randy Peterson and Nelson Burton Jr. tell us how difficult the shot is? I doubt you will answer this technical question, as I am sure the PBA will not permit you to do so! Thanks anyway, Really not expecting to hear from you, but be aware that not all bowlers are gulible idiots, John Manfra Hi John, First off, the PBA has no control over what questions I choose to answer (at least here on WalterRay.com - this site is not under their control). Though I am mildly "put-off" by the tone of your question, I still think you deserve an answer. I am not familiar with whether (or not) the rubber mats which hang down in the pit area helps pin carry. I don't really see how it makes that much difference since about the only time that pins bounce back to the deck are when spare balls are thrown at well over 20 mph and even then they only do on occasion. But, everyone is entitled to their opinion. The mats you are speaking of are part of the lane design, they are not "requested" to be installed by the PBA! The PBA isn't in the business of building lanes. We either bowl on lanes existing in a bowling center or sometimes on lanes built by an outside company (Via lately) set up in an arena. When the commentators discuss the difficulty of the shot they are speaking of the oil pattern that has been laid down by the lane maintenance staff and how difficult (or easy) it is to GET TO the pocket. Getting to the pocket and striking (carry) are two different things. Since you feel that these mats help the carry then it could conceivably be difficult to get to the pocket, but easy to carry. Similarly, we could be pounding the pocket, but have a low strike percentage. If the commentators are saying it's a difficult shot it probably is. If you truly feel that the lane conditions are easy on tour, I would suggest you bowl in a few regional tournaments in your area. That will give you a taste of the challenging lane conditions that professionals use. Good luck and have fun. Ken April 8, 2003 Philadelphia PA I was in a tournament recently where they had a very dry shot to start with. It was not the typical shot were were you can move inside and pick up some oil, the oil if there was any seemed to be evenly distributed on the lane. The shot was on alternate pairs too where you had two pairs with "normal" units and two dry. I tried a polished plastic ball but it seemed to be very inconsistent. Everything else just rolled out or went toward the seven pin. In a situation like this should I just try to keep from throwing splits and stay clean? Do you ever bowl defensively? Thanks, Ken Hi Ken, When the lanes are really tough I try to pay particular attention to my target and make the best shots that I can. I don't know why a polished plastic ball would be inconsistent, that is strange! It sounds like it should have been the best ball for the condition. Keeping the ball "in play" (staying away from opens) would definitely be the best way to go on this sort of demanding shot. Just try to "grind out" and stay out of trouble! Make the best shots that you can and try to pick up all of the spares that you can. Sometimes I do bowl defensively, but my definition is probably different than most people. My idea of "defense" is just what you were talking about, stay out of trouble. Trying to keep the ball in play is sometimes all you can do. I still try to hit the pocket, because that is my best chance to strike AND avoid open frames. I might try a straighter line or sometimes hook the ball depending on what I 'see' on the lanes. But making good shots is the best thing that you can do. Ilean April 7, 2003 Penrose NC Hello Mr. Williams! I will get right to the question. In my home town we still have wood lanes at our bowling facility. Recently, I bowled by very first 600 game and have had at least one over 200 game for 3 weeks in a row. Now I am going to the 600 doubles tournament which are on synthetic lanes. I recently went and practiced on these lanes, and for the life of me, I just could not figure them out. One time I would hit my mark and got a strike but that was the ONLY time. I was wondering if you could give me some direction on what approaches and changes to try. I roll a fingertip ball (Hammer). My husband has told me I needed to practice on synthetic lanes, and I guess he was right (not many wives will admit that their husbands are right--LOL). I am also bowling in the National Tournament in Reno this year, and I just dont want to make big ole fool out of myself. Thanks a bunch. Ilean Stewart Hi Ilean, I think your husband is right, practice is a great tool for figuring out what you need to do. Synthetic lanes aren't normally that much different than wood lanes. Synthetic lanes tend to be a 'smoother' surface which makes for approaches which can either be slippery or sticky depending on how clean or dusty they are. Also oil seems to behave slightly different on synthetic lanes, but that also depends on the wood lanes. The oil patterns are usually the biggest part of figuring out how to play the lanes unless the surface is really bad. You might ask some of the better local bowlers how they bowl on those lanes. It might be that you need to move your line a few boards one way or the other. At the National Bowling stadium, I can't tell you what they will be like. The WIBC oils the lanes and usually will put out a demanding shot. If they are using the plastic pins, your pin carry might be better or worse depending on how you throw the ball. The newer pins seemed to help me in that house, but I know that a lot of pros don't care for them. Remember to try and have fun. Good luck. Dustin April 6, 2003 Carson City NV Hi my name is Dustin and i am a consistant 194 average bowler. I recently bowled in the Pepsi-Cola tournament in Yerington Nevada and made it ti the state finals. I will be bowling in Gardnerville just a little south of Carson and they use a reverse block pattern for their house shot. How do I bowl on such a tough pattern? I have four bowling balls I used on it for the city tournament but cant seem to get anything out of them. The balls are a Brunswick Monster Green Reactive Pearl, Hammer Nova, Brunswick Rhino PRO T2, and a Storm Shock Trauma. What bowling ball do you think I should use for this tournament? If you dont think that these balls will do anything on the lane, what ball that is on the market would best suit my problem? By the way Congrats on the big year that you had, its been fun watching you on T.V. P.S. I throw about 17mph with medium revs Thank you for your time Dustin Hi Dustin, I can't tell you which ball will work for you on those lanes. That is something that a bowler will have to determine for each circumstance. There are way too many variables to just say, "Use ball X". In general, on the lane condition that you describe playing an extreme inside shot or going very straight from the 1st or 2nd arrow would be a couple of options. You would most likely choose equipment that you felt comfortable with, based on how you decided to play the lanes. On tough lane conditions you need to make really good shots and pay attention on those spares. Good luck. Thanks for the nice comments about my past season. Of course I really enjoyed it too! James March 28, 2003 Las Vegas NV Hi Mr Willams I just recived my PBA card and, I just wanted to know if you have any advice for a new PBA member on lane conditions and what to expect in PBA competition. Hi James, Normally the lane conditions are much tougher in PBA tournaments than you will find in league. I would ask some of the local pros where would be a good place to practice for PBA conditions. Some of the local centers might have a sport condition league which would be good practice. The PBA has a website which has pages devoted to lane conditions at http://www.pba.com/laneconditions/laneconditions.asp You can check this website out. You might consider bowling in some regional tournaments. That will give you a really good idea what the PBA conditions are like. Good luck. Lane Condition Q&A [1-20] [21-40] [61-80] [81-100] [101-120] | ||