Greetings all, after a 12 year hiatus from competitive bowling, and an 11 year break from bowling altogether, I just signed up for my first sport shot league.

I do not yet know the pattern I will be bowling on, but I am trying to get ready for next Monday night.

I am wanting to turn my existing arsenal into a versatile lineup depending on whatever length of pattern I will find, and was looking for surface prep advice.

In my bag I have -

1. Hammer Black Widow Dark Legend (drilled pin up)
2. Brunswick Smokin' Inferno (pin up)
3. Track Heat (pin down)
4. Spare Ball (only used for 6, 9 and 10 pins)

All are at Out of Box surface. I am a stroker (250-300 revs), throwing at speeds from 12-15mph who likes to play straight up the 6-10 board and I've been averaging about 205 in practice on house shots.

My primary goal is just to find a reliable path to the pocket with a 2 board margin of error, strike when I can, and leave single pins for spares so I can average north of 185 (trying to be realistic).

Without knowing the pattern ahead of time, I'm thinking about just knocking the polish off of my Smokin' Inferno (which would leave it at 400 grit unpolished). It seems to skid too far for me on fresh and even on perfect shots the reaction is a bit too violent for me to control (left two solid 8's and a solid 9 in a row last night on flush pock shots I thought were for-sure strikes)

Anyways, any surface prep advice would be much appreciated, along with any pointers about shooting in a sport league for the first time. Thanks!

Always go to the lanes a bit to shiny, adjust during practice if needed.
On many sport patterns, to much surface just takes the oil off the front part of the lane and makes the shot worse.
I would try to focus on keeping the ball very straight on the front half of the lane, keep the headpin in play and leave make-able spares.
The Track heat with maybe 3000 surface might work to start out depending on what pattern length and volume
Like stated about, the sport game is all about experimentation.
Pattern length will determine "where" you play the lane, shorter pattern = playing further away from the headpin.
Longer pattern = playing farther in or closer to the headpin.

Amount of volume tells you how strong of a piece to use
(In general) a common short pattern (34-36') has a bunch of volume in a shorter part of the lane.
You would normally select a stronger ball and play as far out as possible, 1-3 board to start.

There are so many variables, and it can be frustrating
I've tried to train my eyes to tell where the break-point is and how to adjust to what I'm seeing.
I'm much more satisfied shooting 600 on a tougher pattern than 700 on an easy house shot.
Just my .02 worth. have fun...good luck

As was said before, adjust surface by hand during practice, but have a plan to step down through your equipment as the lanes transition.

I think this is a good point that gets forgotten about. It's great if you get a ball to work during practice and at the start of a set but you have to learn what changes you'll potentially need to make. If you wait too long to make a change you can get in a hole pretty quick.

It's tough if you don't really get to practice much on challenging patterns. I was a donor to tournaments for the first year or so when I was trying to figure out what worked for me with the equipment I had.