Ball Selection and Layout for Carrydown

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I would like to apologize for my English because I'm from a country in South East Asia.

I'm currently playing in a bowling alley that doesn't emphasize much about lane maintenance. They will only strip and clean the lanes once a week and they only got a really old oiling machine that can only put oil on the lanes. The lanes are AMF synthetic. I usually bowl in the evening when the lanes become dry and the oil are carried to the backend. When they oil the lanes, the machine do not strip the lanes but instead put more oil on the front. They usually oil until around 30 feet. I would like to what kind of ball and layout to use? Should I opt for stronger backend ball and layout? Or use the ball and layout that rolls earlier?

Thank you for the answer.

ANSWER: Noer,
Your center's lane maintenance is about what we used to do in the early "80's (without the machine). A 30 foot pattern should not have much carrydown, unless most of the play is from "Houseballs" (the free three piece plastic or urethane balls available for players without their own ball).

The condition you bowl on is very short, if the oil volume is low, the lanes are more likely too dry rather than too oily (unfortunately, when a stronger ball encounters friction very early on the lane, the loss of energy and hook, and straighter path looks a lot like the skid of too much oil). Depending on the level of the centers customers, the likelihood is that what little oil is applied is pulled/pushed towards the pocket. More oil in the middle, less outside. Do you roll close to the gutter? That would be the best way to attack what you describe.

Choosing any ball starts with the bowler. Please advise me of your speed, rev rate, and any details of what you roll (your current ball) and how you roll it (axis tilt and axis rotation, if you know it, or tell me where the oil track is on the ball). Ball selection and layout must match the bowler, and the environment (lane, temp, humidity, and lane condition). Without knowing more about your game, it is almost impossible to guess what might work. Please provide more info and we can come up with some options for you. If you can, please send a picture of your current ball(s).

Thanks for the questions. Please send follow up details and I will have the info I need to make an informed suggestion.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


Storm X-Factor Reloade   QUESTION: Thank you again for answer.

I think you accurately describe the condition and I usually attack the lanes quite close to the gutter. Have you ever heard of the helicopter style of bowling that is really popular in Asia? Well, there are many of the helicopter bowlers here and they usually play in the middle part of the lane. When I am bowling usually, I usually feel that the middle part of the lane is quite dry but more oil on the outside. The ball will usually hooks more than playing outside. But if the outside starts to dry, it is getting tough to repeat shot.

I'm a speed dominant player with ball speed around 18-19 mph. My rev rate I think is about 290 - 310 rpm. I don't know about my axis tilt and axis rotation. My PAP is 5 1/2 and 1/2 up. My current bowling balls are: Storm X-Factor Reloaded, Storm Trauma Recovery, Storm X-Factor Trifecta and Ebonite Wave.

Answer
Noer,
I'm familiar with helicopter style players. But they're tighter tracks usually don't strip oil off the lanes to badly. They actually play dry lanes well.

Your arsenal is of some strong cover bowling balls. Being speed dominant is about matching your rev rate and speed to ball surface and lane surface. Newer AMF synthetic has an oil securing texture, that may be the crux of the problem. Are the surfaces of your bowling balls kept dull or rough? Can you tell me what kind of layouts you have in the equipment you mentioned? Does much oil come back on your bowling balls? Have you had them long? Can you estimate the number of games on each?

Your PAP doesn't reflect a low track, so while a stronger rev rate would help you match up better, it may be more about the balls and are they managing the front part of the lane too well, and losing to much energy to be effective at the pins. Or, possibly older equipment may have absorbed a fair amount of oil over the games and oil soaked covers don't hook much. Stronger pin positions with low deep weightholes could help. Knowing more about your layouts will help narrow our options.

Thanks for the follow up. We're getting closer.