How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

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krava
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How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by krava »

Went to practice today. I found out that the lanes haven't been oiled since Thursday. The bowling alley around here is doing the 2 free games the entire summer each day for kids. Friday and Saturday is glow bowling and usually features a packed house each day. Saturday/sunday's have birthday parties.

1st shot took my storm joyride threw it up 8 went a little past brooklyn. Took my new storm match threw the same shot and had horrible ball roll and went all the way left to the 2 pin. Took a guru supreme and stood on 30 aiming for 10 at the breakpoint and never made it past 15 and hit the 2 or past the 2. Moved to 38 aimed at 10 still missed left. Took a highly polished c300 swerve FX and stood at 30-35 threw it to 10 and never made it back to the pocket. I bowled 3 games and never had 1 oil ring on any ball even playing past 3rd arrow. For me to hit the pocket, I had to use a highly polished track Spare + ball. I had to throw it with no hand up 8 and I had to hit the mark to hit the pocket. once i hit the pocket I left alot of 8 10 splits. If I hit the 9 board it would go brooklyn. If I hit 6 it wouldn't make it back to the pocket. The last 2 games I was bowling on 2 lanes and put #1 Hook #2 plastic. I tried everything. I took the storm joyride threw it inside of 5 out to 1 or 2 board with no hand and still came back and hit high. I could have thrown it harder and forced it but my shoulder is hurting bad and I don't want to force or sling shots right now. The only good point was toward the end. 9th frame I took the c300 stood on 28 threw at 12-13 out to 9-10 and I got 3 in a row and the last ball didn't quite make it back but was very close to the same shot. I didn't miss the target. Either I didn't use enough hand or I hit some kind of carry down. I ended up with 148. Plastic ball I ended up with 136 or something. Too many splits and also missed the 10 pin. The only thing I got out of the whole experience is I learned that if the lanes are fried, try a stonger pearl ball out and in. a stonger pearl ball won't go way back and in but I can get it to go out more then normal and come back.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by EricHartwell »

Rather than fight a completely messed up condition concede to rolling straight.

Sounds like it would have been excellent spare shooting practice and working on rolling the ball straight for me.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by kajmk »

EricHartwell wrote:Rather than fight a completely messed up condition concede to rolling straight.

Sounds like it would have been excellent spare shooting practice and working on rolling the ball straight for me.
Good advice. Look at it as a learning opportunity. The object in competition is to score more than your opponent. You never know what you might face.

Ameleto Monacelli in route to his second PBA national title Ameleto Monacelli rolled a 163 with 2 strikes to win game 2 in the stepladder finals.

[youtube][/youtube]

A few years ago we saw perhaps the worst nightmare of a condition in the Outdoors match in Reno, the 2012 US Women's open.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6168&hilit=outdoor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[youtube][/youtube]

Try to find opportunities to learn and grow.

Not that this is a big deal, but I shot a low 700 with a Purple Urethane Hammer with an up and at 'em straight ball because when I tried hooking I got too much or too little, so I opted for trying to just get to the pocket and stay clean. This was back in the 80's somewhere and before reactive resin I believe. Like I said, no big woo-hoo.

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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by DarkHorse »

Here's the thing:

You said you went to "practice."
What did you practice?
Did you "practice" trying to throw strikes?
Or were you trying to fix a "hole in your swing" (to quote one of my favorite movies)?

If you were trying to throw strikes and score well, you may have been "practicing," but you weren't training. Very different concepts.

I've worked with many people that start to brag about how well they bowled in "practice" on a given night, but then they score like crap in league.
They say "the ball didn't do that when I was practicing!" Or "I rolled a 680 last night practicing!"

If you're trying to work on your footwork, you should not be concerned with whether your ball hooked or slid, you should be worried about your footwork.
If you're trying to work on a new hand position, you should be concerned about that hand position and how that changes your roll, not which ball got to the pocket and carried.

Training and "practicing" are not the same thing. The former will make you a better all-around bowler, the latter will teach you how to score on a given condition.

Personally, I would have done a drill or two that would help improve my bowling technique. I try not to worry about my score unless there's money involved. Or bragging rights.

But if I'm keeping score, I'm neither "practicing" nor training, I'm bowling.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by guruU2 »

DarkHorse wrote: if I'm keeping score, I'm neither "practicing" nor training, I'm bowling
Nice!
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by krava »

I wanted to practice reading the lane and adjusting to a messed up condition. The condition was so messed up you can't do anything though. last week when it was broken down to all hell, i could go way inside and find some oil. if no oil anywhere then can't really practice. No use practicing spares because even my straight ball went 4 boards left of where I throw. I mean you can practice picking up spares on burnt up lanes. I did that last week. I did pick up the only 4 I left.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by Viper »

DarkHorse wrote:Here's the thing:

You said you went to "practice."
What did you practice?
Did you "practice" trying to throw strikes?
Or were you trying to fix a "hole in your swing" (to quote one of my favorite movies)?

If you were trying to throw strikes and score well, you may have been "practicing," but you weren't training. Very different concepts.

I've worked with many people that start to brag about how well they bowled in "practice" on a given night, but then they score like crap in league.
They say "the ball didn't do that when I was practicing!" Or "I rolled a 680 last night practicing!"

If you're trying to work on your footwork, you should not be concerned with whether your ball hooked or slid, you should be worried about your footwork.
If you're trying to work on a new hand position, you should be concerned about that hand position and how that changes your roll, not which ball got to the pocket and carried.

Training and "practicing" are not the same thing. The former will make you a better all-around bowler, the latter will teach you how to score on a given condition.

Personally, I would have done a drill or two that would help improve my bowling technique. I try not to worry about my score unless there's money involved. Or bragging rights.

But if I'm keeping score, I'm neither "practicing" nor training, I'm bowling.

Excellent, especially the bit about keeping score. I nearly always write out on a piece of note paper what I am going to, that is, focus on, when I go for practice. Usually it is whatever my takeaways were from my last lesson. I usually spend a game shooting corner pins (game called "Low Ball"). Sometimes I do bowl for score if I am trying out a new ball or a different surfaced ball. Regardless, I have a plan and I stick to it. And it can be hard to do so because your ego can get in the way. Think about what you want to work on before you even leave home, write it down, and then shoe-up and execute your plan.

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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by river800 »

Here's a question,

What do a burnt up lane and a really heavy long oil pattern have in common? What type of ball motion should a person being concerned about?
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by bowl1820 »

krava wrote:I wanted to practice reading the lane and adjusting to a messed up condition. The condition was so messed up you can't do anything though.
Well practice was a success then, you had messed up lanes and you attempted to adjust to them.
last week when it was broken down to all hell, i could go way inside and find some oil. if no oil anywhere then can't really practice.
A thing to remember is just because the lanes were one way last week, doesn't mean they'll be the same this week.
No use practicing spares because even my straight ball went 4 boards left of where I throw.
That shows you need practice rolling the ball straight and/or accuracy then, if the ball was missing 4 boards left you either hadn't took the hook off the ball and/or you were missing your target.

The lanes were perfect for that, if you had any hook on your ball the lanes would show it. Get your ball rolling straight there and it would be straight on any condition.
I mean you can practice picking up spares on burnt up lanes.
Yes

You said earlier:
"I could have thrown it harder and forced it but my shoulder is hurting bad and I don't want to force or sling shots right now."

You shouldn't be trying to force the ball to do anything, regardless if your shoulder hurts or not.
Forcing a ball trying to make it do something it doesn't want to do, usually just makes things worse.

A lot of bowlers when the lanes are hooking too much, say "Hey I'm going to throw it harder/faster" trying to over come that hook. But what they wind up doing is making it hook just that much more, because in trying to throw faster they wind up hitting up on the ball making it hook more.

When the lanes are tough, you want to cover as few boards as possible and keep the ball in play.

That usually means playing straight and picking up your spares and grind it out.

Keep the ball in play and let the other guys do the fishing.
"REMEMBER, it isn't how much the ball hooks, it's where."
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by spmcgivern »

A lot of great replies, especially what Darkhorse posted, great information.

Practice is practice. You should go into practice with a goal of what you want to work on. If the conditions are not conducive to you working on whatever it was you wanted to do, then you should fall back on spare shooting. Good spare shooting should be accomplished regardless of the conditions. Throwing plastic should eliminate the bad lanes and be productive.

Also, as another posted, working on form and/or timing can be done at any time. That type of practice can be done on any condition assuming it is the type of work that does not depend on roll characteristics of the ball.

There are a few things I would not do on those type of conditions. I would not try to figure out my arsenal. That would require some level of understanding how a ball reacts on shots that I think I might encounter (transitions from oil to dry). The chances of you encountering the conditions from the Women's US Open in 2012 are almost zero. I say almost only because I actually saw the fiasco with my own two eyes. And I also wouldn't work too much on hand releases since there needs to be some evidence of correctness. Having no oil on the lane will not give you the proper visual evidence of what you are trying to accomplish.

Last thing, I would also try to limit your on-lane practice sessions from 1 to 1½ hours max. The main reason is really working on your game can be a mentally stressful situation. The longer you try to maintain that level of concentration the greater the chance of deviating from what you are trying to work on. There needs to be a mental break to make sure bad habits do not creep in. This time requirement will also limit you (on purpose) the number of things you try to do during one practice session. Trying to accomplish too much at a time can be difficult.

Good luck!!
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by krava »

I am still a little lost here. I wasn't missing 4 boards. I had to move my feet 4 boards left to pick up the spares. Like i said before, Even with a plastic ball with no hand in it, the ball traveled from the 8 board to the pocket. I might be wrong but isn't the pocket around the 17 board? so the ball moved 9 boards by itself. I guess you can say I threw it with a week hand (ball in handshake position). I throw the ball completely flat for a spare. Normally to pick up the 10, I stand on 30 and throw it at the arrows. I stood on 34 hit the right mark and missed it left. I should have moved 5 or 6 left.

Someone said something about what does a burnt up lane and a long oil pattern have in common? first of all I haven't ever bowled on a long oil pattern. From what I hear the ball skids almost all the way down. At the end of a long oil pattern there is atleast a little part of dry lane. On the burnt up lane, the ball definetely doesn't go straight like on the long oil pattern. Also at the end of the pattern is a god awful amount of carry down at the pins so the ball slides into the pins. I don't see any kind of simularlty between the 2 lane conditions? I guess the only simulairty would be poor ball motion but atleast at the end of the oil lane it will turn it just a little. the lanes I bowled on probably had atleast 400 or so plastic balls thrown down it.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by bowl1820 »

krava wrote:I am still a little lost here. I wasn't missing 4 boards. I had to move my feet 4 boards left to pick up the spares.


You said
" No use practicing spares because even my straight ball went 4 boards left of where I throw."
That is not that same thing as saying "I had to move my feet 4 boards left ......."
I throw the ball completely flat for a spare. Normally to pick up the 10, I stand on 30 and throw it at the arrows. I stood on 34 hit the right mark and missed it left. I should have moved 5 or 6 left.
.
If you missed left shooting at a 10 pin, then you either pulled the ball and missed your mark or your not actually completely flattening out the shot like you think you are.

Either way you could practice rolling the ball straight and/or accuracy.

Rolling a true straight ball, it takes the lane conditions out of play.

Note:
I see your using a Track Spare + ball, that's not a ordinary plastic ball like a white dot.

It has a Asymmetrical core with about .050 diff. on a dry lane if you get a even little turn on it it's going to move. That's why you have to learn to flatten it out.
Last edited by bowl1820 on June 20th, 2016, 7:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by stevespo »

bowl1820 wrote: Either way you could practice rolling the ball straight and/or accuracy.
Rolling a true straight ball, it takes the lane conditions out of play.
Yes, I agree completely. Regardless of the condition, you should always be able to find a way to hit the pocket. Whether you can carry or not is a completely different question. On some conditions, it might be impossible. You can still grind out 190 games and focus on making spares and mental toughness.

At the very least, these super nasty conditions are great for practicing flatter hand positions - both for strike and spare balls. As somebody mentioned, they will show you immediately if your technique is correct or not. Turn the hour into release drills, or a game of low ball. Someday, in a long format tournament you might turn that practice into cash!

[youtube][/youtube]

I really like this video. If you can manage to do several (or all) of these tips, you WILL be throwing straight at your target! You might even consider learning how to throw a slight fade (ie. backup). Your 4 board move with the feet, keeping the same target at the arrows means your ball is probably hooking 8-12+ boards more than it should be. Something else is going on with your targeting, speed, release, etc.

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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by krava »

I have to watch that video but I don't have a "true" straight ball. I have the spare plus drilled so that it will have some hook in it. The coverstock is very weak but the core is a bit stronger.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by bowl1820 »

krava wrote:I have to watch that video but I don't have a "true" straight ball. I have the spare plus drilled so that it will have some hook in it. The coverstock is very weak but the core is a bit stronger.
When I said "true" straight ball, I'm was not referring to the ball itself but to how you roll it. You have to work on flattening it out better.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by spmcgivern »

I always hear about how regardless of the condition you should be able to hit the pocket and learn something from that exercise. And usually I agree. However, there are conditions which I personally consider beyond anything you will ever see in a competitive environment. Bowling after hundreds of plastic house balls have been thrown down the lane is not what you will see in any competitive situation.

And if you do happen to see that condition, then use what you have learned practicing or competing on actual competitively developed dry lanes to try and score. Just like the Women's US Open example, you don't have to actually put dirt on the lanes to have a plan and try to score.

And if the center had that condition out, I guarantee it will have that shot out often. I simply refuse to give my business to a center that does not provide something for competitive bowlers. Once in a blue moon I can understand, but if this is the type of shot you see then they will not get my business.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by cheech »

in that situation i wouldve probably just done drills and make sure i hit targets in the front part of the lane. in competition i usually target at the breakpoint and draw the line to the arrows. in that situation i would just do the opposite.
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Re: How do you handle this lane condition? just leave?

Post by RobMautner »

When I got to the bowling center about an hour and a half early before league yesterday, I decided to practice a little bit as a warm up. I joined two friends who informed me that the center had gotten a new oil machine, and that the lanes where we were practicing had not been oiled since the day before. Several of the bowlers quit practicing because the lanes were so dry. We could see that the lanes where our league bowls were being oiled. It turns out that the new machine had malfunctioned, and though it ran down each lane, no oil was being put down! While scores were lower, it was the same for everyone, and my partner and I won 9/11 points. I used a plastic spare ball to bowl games of 186-203-188-212. I'm sure glad I continued practicing!
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