I've been practicing at several different houses in my area getting ready for winter league. Yesterday I shot 9 games at a house that to me is one of the easier houses in the area. I usually average quite high at this alley and there have been times as long as I got it in a somewhat correct area and a medicore release, it would strike or a good 9 count. Usually very, very heavy from 7-7 flat and short. Stand right, bump it out to 5 or slow it down and play out to 10.
Yesterday I got a pair. Left lane was flooded beyond belief. In my first game I kept trying to go right and I could hardly get a decent roll with nothing on it. My weaker ball was even worse. Nothing on the right and tried standing right and moving my target out to 10 and it would either hang or go brooklyn or split. Tried moving in so I stood around 25 getting it out to 15 and that seemed to be the line to play but if I got it any right of that forget about that. Never cared using 15 as a breakpoint and never occured to stand more left out to 17-20 and then finnaly I was getting a great reaction. Too bad it was 4 games later to figure that out. I never played the US Open condition before. This is pretty much what it felt like, and not used to this type of line and condition. Very unexpecting thing to see in a 99 cent all day open play day.

That was just the left lane. Then there is the right. Complete sahara desert. I have a rolling-spinner type of ball that of Pete Weber's but I don't hook it that much so I usually don't have to stand that far left like most do. Like the left lane that was flat and flooded, I tried to do the same but get out out near the gutter. Pretty much near impossible. Switched balls and that lasted 3 frames and the drier lane ball was worthless. I couldn't believe even with a much tamer release that my ball was hooking at the arrows. Turned it at all and it's going left. So kept my wrist back and didn't get under it and spun it and finnaly after 4 games it worked. It's been a long time since I've seen lanes hook this much.

After going through so many checklists and balls I was lost after 2 games. I've never in my life encountered a pair with so opposite reactions. They put this out in league I'd bet 95% wouldn't come 30 pins within thier average unless they got lucky hits. The hard part to work on is trying to figure a pair out in warmups or a first game of practice. I shouldn't take 4 games to figure out.

Edited on 9/5/2006 6:44 PM

In one of the houses I go to, yesterday was really busy with families and such doing open, and cheap bowling all day.

I only got a single lane and boy was it dry.  I'm guessing they didn't even bother to waste time time and money for oiling as no leagues were taking place (holiday) and it's all mainly recreational bowlers.

It was fun but very humbling.  I'm not one to blame the lanes because they are what they are and it's up to the bowler to bowl, I believe.  And if that involves playing a urethane ball up and in, so be it.

As for having an odd pair like that, that must have been fun!  You got to use more and more of your equipment!

My guess is that they had a lot of open bowling and you got an abused lane and one that wasn't used much.

I proposed awhile back if USBC ever took over lane conditons for sanctioned leagues and tournaments (lol, fat chance) and if there was ever a double type of oiling machine that could oil and condition a pair at a time, you could modify either one or the other machine to have a pattern a little bit or completly different from the other. So for example every odd number lane in the house would be a short and thin oiled pattern and every even lane would be a heavy reverse block. Most every bowler in America would take them forever to figure it out because there is no way most would figure it out in practice much less the first game.