i was thinking about this today, and do you all think that one of the reasons there are such inflated scores nowadays is that most lane surfaces are synthetic? whenever i bowl on wood, it always seems that the lanes break down much faster, require a lot more moving, and conditions get spotty quick. synthetics you can sit there for most of the day without moving very much. I have been struggling on wood lanes that have snapping backends lately, and was thinking that if all lanes were like this, scores would not be as high. what is your opinion?

Also, any information on how to play on these wood lanes would be appreciated. They have shorter oil and are a drier pattern. I find that i move too much using dull equipment since the oil is gone so quick, but polished equipment snaps too much. i have been trying to stay behind polished equipment lately, and have had success with that, but any other suggestions would be appreciated.
--------------------
stanski

ya coming up the back and harder is what i've been trying to do. i come around the side too much sometimes out of habit, and that just makes the o/u even worse. thanks for the tips.
--------------------
stanski

I've bowled on short oil patterns on all wood houses all of my bowling life. You have to be ready for the transitions quickly on these shots and trust your game. Sometimes you have to make big moves (moreso than 1/1 or 2/1 moves) because the oil disappears and the backs may get a little tighter when the carrydown hits.

I try to come up the back of the ball through game one on this type of shot, and then move my feet more to the right (since I'm a wrongsider) while keeping my speed the same and playing the same shot. Sometimes I will switch to a more arcing ball during game two as well to overcome the carrydown, but then can usually move to my first game ball for game three once the transitioning is done.

With the snapping back ends, you may want to consider more of a drag shot into the lane as described by John Jowdy in Bowling Execution. The way it's described in the book is almost like throwing a knuckleball into the lane, so that the ball saves more energy through the heads but doesn't overreact on the snappy back ends.

Matt

We have a mix amount of centers with synthetic, and wood. Obviously, most people do better at the synthetic houses.

Heres what I noticed in our area regarding scores within synthetic houses compared to wood.

In all the synthetic houses(except for one, thats the non amf one), there has been more 300's and 800's shot at the synthetics, barley any 800's at the wood houses, and a few 300's at wood.

By these obervations, synthetics seems to give an advantage.

I grew up bowling on all wood until I was about 12-13 years old, and thats when the first synthetics in the area were installed. As the years past, more bowling alleys got it, and do to the mixture of syn & wood in the area, I think its safe for me to say I can play on both, but I like synthetics better.
--------------------
www.csbowling.vze.com

www.bowlersdream.com - save an additional $3 off any $100 order by simply typing in CSB into the coupon code area at checkout.

synthetics are CONSISTENT!!!  thats the difference.  wood lanes are different from lane to lane, not just pair to pair, which is even a stretch on synthetics.  wood lanes chip, warp, spearate at the boards, dent, and wear out.  if you put the exact oil pattern out on wood and synthetic, of course the synthetic is easier...but it has nothing to do with the pattern.  if wood lanes all wore out EXACTLY the same according to the damages i just listed, and every lane was exact as far as the "terrain", then even a tougher pattern would be easier because they would all be the same.  when you throw two exact shots, and one crosses whil the other pushes right, and then you find out that there is a dent 30 feet down the lane that angles the ball back, like there was in my old house, you will know what i mean.  lane 1 had a warped board that made balls go airborne if it hit it...i dont think thats ever happened on synthetics.

PS...wood DESTROYS EQUIPMENT!!!
--------------------
RED STRIPE

ITS BEER
HOORAY BEER!

Wow, maybe I'm stupid here, but I disagree with all of you.  Synthetic lanes are not what caused scores to go through the roof.  The flood of 230 averages started on wood lanes right around the same time long oil came out.  Those 230 averages were also found on synthetics (in my area anyway).  Today, we have a few wood houses where there are still a ton of 230 and a few 240 averages.  Most of our high averages come from wood houses, 2 in particular.  These 2 centers yield their highest scores immediately after the lanes are cut in most cases.

I think my area may be the acception today, simply because the bowling balls that are made are generally fit for synthetic surfaces which hold the oil better than wood.  The synthetic lanes do not break down like wood not entirely because of lane texture, but more because of the porosity of wooden surfaces.  The higher friction on wood will allow the ball to pick up more oil, but I find a wooden lane that is well maintained will not break down nearly as badly as a wooden lane that hasn't been cut in several years.  The porosity of a poorly maintained wooden lane is the #1 cause for lanes drying out, as far as I can tell.

I don't know, maybe I'm just tired
--------------------
Brian
MichiganBowling.com
http://www.MichiganBowling.com

Famous Last Words of a Pot Bowler--"Ok, but this is my last game!"

The highest average house in our entire area this year is wood.
Last year, the highest scoring house is a synthetic house.
I predict next year the highest scoring house will be the house that JUST installed synthetics - but they're still using the same oil pattern they were using on the old wood (and those lanes were pretty easy).

And FYI - synthetics can get beat up too. You don't see the separation between the boards that you see on wood - but heights of the panels can change - your lane surface can literally change 1/4" or more from panel to panel.
--------------------
All things are difficult
before they are easy.
---- Thomas Fuller

OK, we all know that wood lanes had harder heads, softer wood in the midlanes and hard wood at the pins.
Are synthetics the same hardless all down the lane or do they have differing degrees of hardness like wood lanes? Are all synthetics the same in this regard or do some synthetics have harder heads spliced into softer midlanes?
My first experiences on synthetics were on Pathfinders and they looked like just one sheet all the way down. I assume it was the same hardness all the way down. I don't know what kind of synthetics I bowl on now but they have a definite "splice" look to them and almost featureless visual patterns past the splice (i.e. nothing to target down the lane - it all looks the same). Are these Brunswicks? I'm sure that most of you know the look I'm talking about.
Anyway, I'm just asking out of curiosity, because it seems that this would have a big effect on ball reaction.
--------------------
You weren't unlucky when you left that corner pin, so shut up about it already!!