How do you know what arrow/target to pick?

[Ball99999]

Moving left of right I get but how do i know to roll over center arrow, 3rd, 2nd or 1st? Then how to move?

What lane conditions affect target?

My current guess is long oil use center targets and short oil patterns use right arrows.

[bowl1820]

Start here and read this and it should give you the basic idea.

USBC Lane Play Chapter 8
http://www.athletics2000.com/andrew/Documents/USBC%20Chapter%2008%20Lane%20Play.pdf

[DanielMareina]

The key is to not have a preconceived notion of where to play before you get to the lanes. There are long oil patterns where you need to play outside the first arrow, and there are long patterns you play over the 5th arrow. What you want to do is throw your shots in practice multiple different ways. Feel the lane out, and see what seems to work. I wish I still had the article, but I read once that it takes a pro 8 shots to know the perfect place to play the lanes. They did that by throwing a shot up the 5 board and then keeping their feet the same and throwing more inside. Then throw up ten and then feet the same but out to 5. Then up 15 and then feet the same out to 10. Something like that. What they were looking for was when did the ball start to hook under each situation, and what angle did it create. If playing up five didn't make it to the pocket, but up ten was a bit high, then they knew to play inbetween the two and adjust their feet to match the angle.
All in all, depending on your equipment, the lanes, who you are bowling with, and the temperature, you can figure out a way to play the pattern. It is a skill that is very hard to learn, and even pros won't make the right moves all the time. The one piece of advice I give to my students is, if you think you should make a move, DO IT! You have to stay ahead of the transition on sport oil, or you will be left behind. It is better to move and be wrong than stay still and know you should have moved earlier.

[billf]

Dan, I remember reading that article. I thought it was in US Bowler but can't find it. Chris Barnes put it great in an interview about when to move. "I would rather move too soon and leave a makeable spare than too late and leave a very difficult split." Since then I have been moving at the first thought of it and it has been paying huge dividends. Turns out I was waiting an average of 5 frames too long.
As for what line to play, I play wherever I'm comfortable that day and choose my equipment accordingly. I shot the Athens (34') pattern last week using nothing but my Storm Natural Pearl. Tomorrow is Montreal (41') and will probably use the same ball. I will pick my line and then during practice throw my Hell Raiser Revenge straight as possible to the break point to help dry it up some. Tomorrow I will attempt playing 10 to 8 with speed. Last week I played straight up 3 with as much speed as I could control with a lot of revs. By the 4th game I was playing 15 to 3 and still around 20mph