over the summer...my home house is a fairly funky shot, with it being summer and also not a sanctioned league, the shot seems to change weekly. Generally though, there is QUITE a difference from lanes 1 and 2 to lanes 31 and 32. If you have the unfortunateness (is that really a word?) of being on 1 and 2, you better hope you have a fairly dull particle ball or Robert Smith-like revs cause your ball won't wrinkle, guaranteed. Seems almost like a 50 ft. flat shot gutter to gutter, though I'm sure it's not really, that's just what it seems like. However, if you're on 31 and 32, the shot is much easier because there is actually a little bit of backend to play around with, though no where in the house will you find stripped boards outside of 10 to bounce off of. It's not close to a wall and in the 16 years I've been bowling at that house, I remember 2 300s being shot. Obviously you're looking for more technical spiel, such as units of oil, length, buff, etc. but I'm not the mechanic, so I don't have the access to that technical information.
My home house when I'm off at college is a total mess. There's almost no hold in the middle of the lane and usually medium to flying backends. You pull the ball left...GOODBYE. But as long as you can play outside or muscle (or maybe fluff?) the ball to the breakpoint, you're all set.
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Andrew Loose
Illinois State University Men's Team