I face the Shark pattern for the first time this week, and would appreciate a general description of a good strategy.

I do not know if it's the newest Shark, but I'd presume it's probably last year's Shark pattern.

I am a stroker with medium low revs.  Last week on the Scorpion I had good results using balls with some surface.  Started with the Ogre Particle, and finished with the Epic Quest and Black Widow Bite.

I note that the Shark pattern is longer than the Scorpion, but the volume looks to be a good bit lighter.  

Just guessing, maybe a Break S-75 would be a good piece to start with, and perhaps follow up with a low rg pearl or hybrid...maybe my Wild Ride?

The Shark plays differently in every house obviously, and even different from day-to-day, but in our PBAX league, the pattern started VERY tight but opened up a ton as the night went on.  The higher rev guys had trouble with the backends flying, but us strokers were able to play the midlane read and not worry about the backends jumping.  Basically the only two balls I used on it were a Cell (pin under the middle finger, around 5.5" from my PAP) with the MB in a strong position, and a Gravity Shift with the pin over ring, MB just barely right of the thumb.  Both balls were sanded using Resurrection to around 800 grit CAMI (somewhere halfway between 1000 abralon and 2000 abralon)  The key for me was to start in the track area, playing around the 12 board, going pretty direct up the boards.  Once the shot started to break down, which it did quickly, I had to move left with my feet to keep the ball in fresh head oil, and get the ball to pick up in the midlane on the friction I was creating.  As the night went on, I kept moving left with the Cell, then switched to the Gravity Shift for the last game one week.  The final week on the Shark, it dried even quicker than the previous weeks, and I used a polished Spit Fire by the end of the 4th game and had a good look with it.

So the key is to create friction early on, then use it to your advantage as the night goes on.

Well tonight's the night, first time on the Shark.

Opted to go with some reliable balls...my Break S-75, Break Pearl, and the Creature.  Also bringing along the Mega-Friction, just in case.  Maybe another solid, too.  

Any opinions on what the Maniac a 1000 will do on the Shark?

Damn, and I thought the Scorpion was difficult.  I struggled big time last night on the Shark.

No matter what ball I used, if I went outside 11 the ball skidded and came in light.  

But my more aggressive equipment would jump high if I threw inside of 11.  I ended up starting with the Maniac at 1000, and after the second game I switched to my Creature at 2000.  Of course neither had a really big move, but at least they would hold the line when they encountered friction.  Ended up throwing both straight down 13, moved in a little midway through the third game with the Creature and got a more pronounced hook.  Regardless, the margin for error was razor thin.

I think I made the mistake of starting inside too much because once the Maniac started hitting heavy, I was kind of stuck for a while.  I tried moving in, but the Maniac wouldn't recover from the slight inside out angle.  I was lucky that the Creature hung on as well as it did, but it also started getting a little jumpy and I had the same problem...move in and it wouldn't recover, move out and it skidded.

We only took one out of seven points.  Lost the first game by thirty.  Won the second game by 100 (had a good look with the Maniac for a chunk of that game).  Lost the third game by 30, and lost the 4th game by a little more than 40.  Missed winning the three points for total by just a few pins.

Next week we bowl the same team for the championship on the same pattern, and if I do the same next week as I did this week, we're toast.

Any suggestions as to the best way to break the Shark pattern down?

Edited on 7/31/2009 9:04 AM

I had better success on the Shark last night.  Thanks for the advice everybody!

Summary of final night of PBA Experience League

As it was the final night of the season we had to bowl the second place team.  The wife and I had to take 2 points out of 7 to stay in first place.

I threw my sanded Columbia Reaction Arc during practice...it's an oil magnet and I played straight up 9 hoping to burn a spot in the pattern to bounce off of.

Game 1 - Moved out 2 and 1 and threw my 900 Global Bounty.  Didn't charge hard to the pocket, but was still able to manage a 206 and we took the first game.  1 point down, one to go.  

Game 2 - Continued with the Bounty but was having some carry issues...went high on the first couple of shots but when I moved out it came in light.  Switched to my new Hammer Burn and moved out a bit.  Also had a little trouble keeping it out of the nose, and had the same problem with moving out.  Only managed a 170 and we lost the second game.

Game 3 - Decided to switch to the Hammer Black Onyx Vibe and played 13 to 9...again wasn't a devastating move but the Onyx carried fairly well and left easy spares.  Got in the 190s, but the wife threw a great game for her (154 with an 8 lb. plastic ball) so we won the third game and got our needed 2 points to finish in first!  

Game 4 - Continued with the Onyx and left 4 pin in the first frame after hitting a little high.  I threw my Swarm straight up 5 to pick it up and it jumped to the pocket missing the 4.  I was pretty surprised until I realized that one of my opponents was a high rev lefty who was playing that part of the lane.  So I threw the Swarm straight up 5 from then on and had my best game...but we lost because the wife had a terrible game.  Our opponents finally lit it up and smoked us by 70 pins to take their second point and the 3 points for total pins.

All four balls were at OOB condition.  Overall I had a lot of fun in my first PBA Experience league.  I'm signing up for the Sunday night PBA Experience league for the fall.  Should be another great time.