One of our local houses put out the shot today and we were able to practice on it.
Lane surface: AMF HPL
Oil particulars: Two passes, underlying shot prior to laying down the USBC shot was a double-run USBC White 3
On my pair: Three tweeners, one power player. All threw right-handed. (Other pairs had different lineups)
Me: PAP 4 over 3/8 up, 250 rev rate, ~16.5 mph, can manipulate tilt and rotation
Balls (most aggressive to least aggressive):
1. Lane #1 Pink Panther at 500, pin under bridge, CG under ring, 4 x 3.25
2. Lane #1 Gold Nugget at 2000, pin next to ring, CG under ring, 3.5 x 3.5
3. Lane #1 Time Bomb at 1000, pin over bridge, CG grip center, 4.5 x 4
4. Lane #1 Agent Orange at 1000 plus Reaction Plus, pin over ring, CG under ring, 4 x 3.5
5. Lane #1 Supernova XP at 1000 plus Storm ReactaShine, pin over and right of ring, CG grip center, MB in track (label drill per Lane #1 drill sheet), 3.75 x 4 x 5.5
6. Lane #1 Tsunami H20 at 500 plus Brunswick Ruff Buff, pin over and right of ring, CG grip center, MB in track (label drill), 3.75 x 4 x 5.5
7. Lane #1 Chainsaw Massacre at 2000 plus Storm XtraShine, pin high over bridge, CG on midline kicked out, 5 x 3
8. Lane #1 XXXL Starburst at 2000 plus Storm XtraShine, pin under bridge, CG grip center, 4 x 4
Observations:
First thing, obviously, is that we were on HPL, so we had more friction today than we'll see in Baton Rouge.
The best piece of advice I can give anyone is play to your strengths. If you are a straighter player, be that guy. If you swing the lane, be that guy. Don't be an up-the-boards player and get down to Baton Rouge and suddenly decide you're Jason Belmonte.
I thought the pattern was playable from multiple angles, but you have to execute those angles on every shot. One board is literally the difference between flush and disaster. I had the greatest success going straight up the boards. When I tried to move in, that's when the mistakes I make on league and don't pay a penalty for caught up with me.
I believe both Mo Pinel and his detractors are right about where you can play. The power players on our pairs who were wanting to swing it, after getting a spot burned in down lane (around the end of our first game), had decent area. The high-rev guys shouldn't have a problem getting recovery. The problem everyone had was hold -- there is none of it.
But for most of us, I believe Mo is correct that the best course of action is to start somewhere in the 8-10 range and de-shell as you go down. There is also an extreme outside line open for the high-rev guys who can be straight with their angles. We had a guy on our pair whose rate is somewhere in the 450-500 range who started going straight up 3 toward the end of the set with a polished solid (900Global black Eagle) and was just crushing the pocket. We quit before he could wear out the line.
For my rate and stats, the best bet I had was to start with my most aggressive piece, the Pink Panther, and go directly up 10. When I say directly, I mean DIRECTLY. Pulling it a board resulted in a crossover hit, but that was much more palatable than what I got when I pushed the ball out -- I hit more 3 pins in the face today than I have since I was a beginner.
I also got a good look out of the Time Bomb at 1000 and then the XP. The big issue we all ran into with polished equipment is controlling the move off the spot. Whereas in league, as the lanes break down you might go flush, flush, 4-pin, 3-6-10, on this shot you went flush, flush, big 4. Staying with something matte-finished mitigated this problem a great deal.
I think the ultimate technical key will be launch angle. If you have a tendency to launch laterally away from your downlane mark, you're going to be in trouble from the get-go. We did have a couple of people flirt with double-digit scores.
Jess
