Had a thought today. I'm wondering if houses that have computerized lane oilers play around with the house shot. Say a foot longer one week, foot shorter the next week, oil to the eighth board one week and to the 12 board the next. How hard is it to program the oiler? Could the lane guy be doing this without the owners knowledge? Subtle changes would be hard to detect but could have a big effect on lane play. Just wondering.
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Moon
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So many questions, so little time but I''m having fun.

Not many proprietors actually know how to manipulate a shot.

In fact not many people truly know how to manipulate a lane machine.  What we see as day to day and week to week differences are usually weather related and lineage related.

Changes in temps from hot to cold, cold to hot, humid to dry and back again all affect the machine in different ways depending on lane play at the house.

Depending on open play at night the league play for the next day could see improved backend because there was no carry down to clean off the backends from houseballs.  On most Mondays backends are tighter because most houses only oil once in the morning.  So throughout the week as the house oils in the morning and before leagues the backends will increase in strength with the same cleaning procedure as Monday.

So many bowlers want to blame a singular person or machine for the differences in lane conditions.  Lanes will be different day to day, it's a fact of bowling.  Extreme changes (not a just few boards here or there) need to be reported, but not complained about.  

Creating lane patterns is an art form very few have mastered. It's way more trouble than it's worth to try and mess with the lanes each and every day, adjusting them for every complaint.

A good laneman will create a pattern and do his best to make it the same week in and out regardless of complaints, consistency is the most important attribute of any pattern


*backswing
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*...Got the 5 out clean!

To prove I'm real 270-2931 http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?mp=270&ms=2931&s=2005-2006

The house I bowl league in the is similar to n00dlejester's as they actually change the pattern every 3-4 weeks, we shot on patterns ranging from 36-42 ft in length this past year.  Every time they change the shot there is a little grumbling but I also agree that the shot can change from week to week given the difference in house conditions, temp, humidity etc.