I'm not comfortable playing fourth arrow or left of it, and I'm not really even that comfortable playing third or left of it, but tonight I wish I'd been.
I didn't shoot badly, but I ran into trouble when I couldn't work the track area and the pattern was too inconsistent for me to move right of the track and play straight up.
My house's lanes 3 and 4 are by far the toughest in the center (24 lanes), and no one ever seems to score as well on that pair as they do elsewhere in the house. The problem on Lane 3 is no hold area whatsoever. Anything pinched left has the unique ability to find the middle of the head pin but not cross over. Giving the ball more room to the right just makes it hook sooner and head for the head pin quicker.
Lane 4 seems to develop carrydown, especially if (like tonight) two of the people on my pair were using plastic. Pull a shot inside on 4, and it goes forever.
Literally everyone on our pair tonight aside from one of the plastic folks was playing the same part of the lane, i.e., on or right of second arrow in the front part of the lane.
I briefly considered if I could make something for myself by going left of everyone and playing a much tighter line. But that's not my A-game, or even my B-, C- or D-game. And the equipment I had with me wasn't really set up for it.
My specs are tweener revs, good speed/rev match, righthander, can adjust tilt and rotation but I'm usually somewhere around 75-90 degrees of rotation. I don't know my exact tilt specs. PAP is 4 over 3/8 up. So here are my questions:
1) What equipment surfaces/drillings/strengths (please don't recommend specific balls) is best for opening up a lane?
2) If this had been you, what would you have targeted downlane, and at the arrows?
3) What adjustments would you recommend I make to my speed (I can adjust down to 13-14 mph or up to 17-18), hand positions, amount of hit, etc.?
4) What are the warning signs I should look for before moving, and where should I move once those signs pop up (i.e., flat 10s, etc.)?
Thanks.
Jess