Going into an unknown house shot, how do you decide what ball to use, what breakpoint, what area to play the lane, etc? I bowl on a shot where I never know what to expect from night to night. You have probably seen me post about it before, but it is old wood lanes that are oiled with a squirt bottle and a mop because it is easier than picking a machine up onto the approach because of the above ground ball returns. Lanes are stripped completely on Tuesdays and the back 15 or so are stripped on Thursdays. Some nights I wonder how people can throw resin when I am going through the nose throwing highly polished urethane with speed. Other nights, though not yet this year, I couldn't get a 500 grit mastermind to wrinkle. But anyway, what works one night never works the next. How do you decided what to throw? For possible examples, I have a highly polished pitch black, sinister drilled for angle when I have to get inside, forza for a control ball, and a misfit pearl which i had drilled for a dryer lane ball. I know there is the rule of 31, but that doesn't apply here

I'm wondering why you even pay to bowl at that house?  The way they take care of the lanes has been gone for 40 years.

I'd take a polyester ball and it will hook if they are bone dry, and if they are ugly with a week's worth of carry-down you can find a straight line, off the point so to speak, to the pocket without worrying about hook (or not).   Polyester and rubber balls were used when the lanes were "done" that way.

I wouldn't even be tempted to take a ball that cost upwards of $150 to have it ruined on old wood lanes with zero oil, except on the last 20 feet due to carry-down...  I'd seriously take one polyester ball and save the effort of lugging in and out of the car my normal 3 ball bag. 

Sorry to say that there will never be a reactive ball that will work consistently in a place like that because every day will be different, and every lane will be different.  Take "reaction" out of the equation...  A lucky rabbit's foot in your pocket is likely to help more than anything.  Good luck.

 

Sorry if my first post sounded negative.  Behind the tone, I was trying to say "throw everything you do elsewhere out the window" and go with what used to work on that type of environment.  Since reactive stuff responds so quickly to friction and the soft wood surface it's going to be a real crapshoot from lane to lane. 

You're better off playing what the shot allows (not much) with something like polyester that isn't so sensitive to the soft surface and spotty friction. 

avabob has offered some great insight. 

If you have some backend reaction playing out play them there.  If the backends seem tight, or you get early hook, move in and play it like a track shot.  It sounds to me like the stripping regimen is causing you more problem than being on old wood lanes.  On a fresh strip you can play out.  As you get carry down play the track. 

Define "track" please. I have seen that term a lot, and have an idea what it means, but I would appreciate some clarification

Back in the 60s and 70s, when I bowled on wood lanes, you could walk into a center and see a well-defined dark brown area like a wide line running down the lanes somewhere on the right side.  Not on just re-finished lanes, but on lanes that had a lot of bowling done already.  This brown area was, I believe, the result of the bowling balls breaking/cracking the lacquer/varnish of the lane and allowing lane oil to seep into the wood, staining it.  This 'track' area was where the majority of the bowlers were playing the lane and would usually result in a worn depression on the lane giving you a better chance of getting to the pocket.  Some houses you would see the track area more on the outside and in other houses it might be more inside.  If you were going to an unknown house, you could see the track area and try starting in that area.

Huh. That is interesting. I have never seen that, but I will definitely try to look for that!

Typically the "TracK" on a wood lane is considered the area around 2nd arrow, That was because that was the area most bowlers played and it received the most wear creating a depression that helped guide the ball to the pocket.

That's why they had to be resurfaced "Sanded" every few years. Take a look at this article:

A Look at the Dying Craft of Sanding & Finishing Bowling Alleys
http://www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/sanding-finishing/a-look-at-the-dying-craft-of-sanding-amp-finishing-bowling-alleys.html


Unless the house has some very old wood lanes, looking to see if you can see a "track" is a waste of time.

While Modern synthetic lanes do get wear, they don't get tracked up in that fashion anymore.

Simply put, the track is the area of the lane where the majority of the bowlers play.  --  JohnP

I ended up bowling 3 games on one wood lane with two other people tonight, one of them being on the left. Fresh shot, but I am guessing it was a light oil shot. I started out with the forza for a couple frames, but put it away quickly. I pulled out my sinister to try it out because I wanted to create some angle because I knew I would be forced left quickly. I started out half way between second and third arrow and about 8 board at the breakpoint. By the 7th frame of the second game, I was playing fourth arrow to the same breakpoint, but then I got into where the other righty had already played. Ended up throwing urethane 12 board out to 8 with more end over end roll. Anyway, that is one of the rare times I made the right call on ball choices quickly. And that was a house I don't bowl at often.