On wood lanes you won't notice much of a change in recent years. There's only so much you can do with them.  Just know that all your old equipment will probably still work well, especially with polish.

I bowled a league this year at a house with the first 20 feet synthetic and the remainder wood. I had to use the weakest equipment I own nearly all the time, and even had several good games hooking my spare ball. Wood lanes are "soft" and today's reactive covers respond pretty fast. Best of luck as you return to the sport.

The solids and stronger covers will tame the backend down, but in exchange for earlier roll. Sometimes this makes them hit a little dead. Don't be afraid to use a polished pearl like the Anarchy but keep following the shot inward. As long as you get adequate skid you can really open up the lane and your angles.

Do have something weak in your bag. The so-called "weak" balls can perform great and carry well when there is lots of friction.

The weakest ball I have is either my Triple X-Factor or my 2Fast. Depends on what you consider weak I guess. The Triple X-Factor is drilled pin up so length isn't an issue as that ball was pretty smooth rolling for me. Regarding the solid coverstocks, I just got rid of my X-Factor Deuce. The ball got to be just too much on the backend on the shot I was seeing. Come to find out that the oil machine they were using wasn't putting out the oil the right way, thus leaving a very inconsistent shot. The Deuce more times than not after one game or so was just jumping off the dry and even though it was hitting hard it wasn't driving through the back of the deck like I needed it too. It wasn't so much the ball as it was the shot but had I known this at the time I'd kept the Deuce. No worries. I still have a Triple Xtreme at my disposal, undrilled. Thanks again guys for all the help.

Good point. I have both types of cores. I generally throw low rg stuff, though. You would think that if the playing surface hasn't changed much there wouldn't be a need for the balls to change that much. But, then they wouldn't have anything to sell and we wouldn't be hit with all the eye candy they produce. This furthers my point about leaving balls in production a bit longer. No need for a new ball every 6 months. That's crazy. Starting to sound like I may be throwing my Virtual Energy a bit more on the shot I'm looking at.