I bowl in a league where the oil pattern is laid down 15 minutes before the lanes are turned on for practice. When they turn the lanes on for practice, it seems like the ball walks into the pocket fine, when I establish my starting point and line of attack. After the ten minutes of practice, typically after 3 -5 frames are bowled (5 man teams), I've noticed, by other bowlers on the pair, and myself, light hits and washouts start cropping up. My question to all of the vast league bowlers population, when the oil does not have a chance to setup, and transition, how do you guys handle this situation. They typically open up early in the third game, but 1st and 2nd games have been driving me crazy. Should I start a little outside my normal target and play straighter in practice so the transition is less violent, or just pay attention to other bowlers on the pair. This particular league is driving me crazy, for the oil is put down so close to league. Any thoughts ? I have a ton of equipment, so I have many options,

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Thirtyclean (Well maybe 29, or 28, most of
the times !)

Positive thing is that the oil is oiled at all, and very timely for play.
Anyway, I found that a fresh lane can play VERY different from the same oil setup that has been laying dormant for some time (e. g. over night for league, and when the lane gets refreshed after lunch break you think you play in a different house...), and that fresh lanes tend to build up carrydown quicker than "settled" lanes.

That said, there is IMHO not much you can do. But if you know that things change dramatically, I'd anticipate this development early in line and ball choice. I have good success on changing lanes when I can start with a very conservative line and a small hook, with a rather weak but controllable ball.
This keeps me out of trouble in the early games, and I can wait until the lane opens up or changes - but I have a feeling for ball and lane, so that I am not forced to make guesses when switching balls and lines.

Scoring will not be soaring, but I remain competitive all the time and stay out of transition trouble, and that makes me score pretty consistently and just as competitive as the big hook guys who can exploit the fresh and clean lane, but end up in no man's land after 2 or 3 games when the lanes have changed and simply need major adjustments. if you are a good player, you get ahead of this and keep scoring, but I found that this type of players is rare
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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany

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The longer the oil has to sit on the surface (within reason) the longer the pattern will hold up. It's my understanding that as it sits, it can "bond" better with the surface.

I used to bowl at a center that used an older machine that heated the oil to about 93 degrees before it is applied to the lanes (to compensate for today's thicker oils) and the longer it had to cool down and thicken again, the longer the pattern would hold up and scores were better as a result.


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Lane Carter, Strike Zone Pro Shops - Salt Lake City, Utah
Brunswick Amateur Staff
www.brunswickbowling.com