I think it all depends on you and the center. I have bowled in one for the past 3 years, same center. What I have seen is 3 years of different patterns, which all were taped and approved by USBC.
1st year was exciting but after a while, I felt that it was more of an equipment league than anything else. Regardless of your hand position or speed, you will not be competitive unless you have the right equipment. Now, I am not saying you will bowl terrible although you could, but you will lose to the guys who have matched up better than you. I bowled in a scratch match play league. I needed different balls for each of the patterns.
Back to the oil patterns. My center did not clean the oil machine on a regular basis. What we got was inconsistent backends. Some weeks the ball made a move and for most of the weeks the backend did not exist, regardless of the pattern. (thats why the tape was always within USBC specs, the tape was done, I think, at the 20 and 40 ft areas). 2 of the guys on my team bowled in the PBA qualifying rounds with the Shark on one side and the Chettah on the other. They both said the backends were really strong, much stronger than what we were bowling on in the PBAx league.
Regardless of your equipment, it is a challenge and you should at least try it for one year.
