BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: tommyboy74 on May 26, 2014, 07:32:19 PM
-
One of the last wood places in the area has now converted to brand new AMF SPL II synthetics very recently (the approaches are still wood). This is a 66 lane AMF owned house, which is the largest in the area. The interesting thing that I noticed along with several others is that there were a lot of double dribbles as the ball hit the lane. Even more interesting is that it wasn't just me and my bowling partner. The 2 people bowling next to us, and 4 others on the opposite side were running into this as well.
So, here is a question to everyone. What's the worst that anyone has run into with new synthetic lanes before?
-
I bowl on one of the last wood lanes in our area. When I go to the other alleys with the synthetics I have to get it in my head loft is not your friend and lower surface balls seem to work better for me. If I am at 3000 grit I need to go to 2000 or 1500 most of the time.
-
Is there a seam where the approaches meet the foul line? The new lanes could appear different to the eyes that have been trained for wood and could be messing with depth perception or muscle memory . . but wood approaches with synthetic lanes is a really good combination. Wood is a more consistent slide.
-
Funny, we have two sets of synthetic lanes in our area.
Both older Brunswick synthetics. One is very slick and calls for loft used by all the best bowlers on both sides!
The other with a different prodigy oil has much more friction and hook and often bowlers get double dribbles.
REgards,
Luckylefty
-
I saw the same double dribble thing on several lanes in a brand new center about 15 years ago. It is an installation issue, but not sure what exactly happens. This center had anvil lane, so I don't think it is a brand issue.
-
My guess is there is inadequate support for the lane bed in the heads. This could cause a trampoline effect when the ball encounters the lane. The original wood lanes had the "piece" of the lane that contained the approach also continue up to the first splice just past the arrows. This wood is very hard (ash I believe) to ensure longevity of many bowling balls landing on the lane. The rest of the lane is maple (softer wood) to allow a better friction surface for ball reaction.
If you cut the first part of the lane to apply synthetics after the foul line, you may have a different resistance to flex in the lane. Not sure if I explained it well, but hopefully you get the idea. Really depends on how the synthetics were laid.