Regarding Surface (and other) Adjustments for Specific Lane Conditions

[CeKnauss]

Good Morning bowlers!

I have been bowling for about 2 years now and have learned quite a bit in that time, however one thing has thus far eluded me:

When faced with certain lane conditions, I have not learned a quick and easy method for adjusting the surface of my bowling ball(s).

Here is a short back story.
In the alley where I began bowling, conditions were really dry almost all the time. I used 4000 + polish. Problem solved.
In some small tournaments and at another alley I began to bowl at, lane conditions were really slick. I used a mid-ranged ball with 1500. Things are going well.

Now, I am bowling league in a house where I get too much back-end, even with my urethane (Avalanche). As most of my equipment is pearl, I understand this is part of the problem as it goes long and snaps hard. However, I tried one of my solids and had a similar reaction.

So what's the question exactly?

**Given the following information, what surface changes, if any, or speed/style adjustments would you recommend?**
Lane Surface: Medium friction Synthetic
Oil: Slick, and roughly 38-40ft long (The mechanic couldn't tell me the pattern exactly...)
Current Reaction: Free friction to the right, too much snap at the end of the pattern and from the right. (I leave the 3-6-10 too often...)
Desired Reaction: Earlier mid-lane read, less immediate change of direction at the breakpoint.

If, for whatever reason, it makes a big difference what brand of bowling balls I use, it's Brunswick. I have a variety of equipment (all 15lbs) including:
C-(System) AlphaMax, C-(System) 3.5, Twisted Fury Solid, Evil Siege, Wild Ride, Revolver, Python, Sidewinder, Avalanche Urethane, T-zone

I am capable of playing decently straight, but most people classify me as a cranker. I do have a moderately slow ball speed, but have tried simply increasing my speed for this issue (talk about washouts and other nasty results...).

Thank you all, and happy bowling!

[Tampabaybob]

Ce: Thank God......another Brunswick faithful !!!

For only bowling two years, it appears you've come a long way with your knowledge base. With that said, and I see you're averaging about 178, lets figure out what some of the other variables are. First off your arsenal is great and should be useable on any lane condition you can go up against. With that said, how are most of your balls drilled ? Secondly, from your comments it appears that your normal line, you shoot inside, maybe 12 to 20 board. If your ball speed is on the slower side ( ~15 -16 mph)
then you are probably getting a decent reaction from your Alpha and Evil Siege. (both in my bag !) If you are leaving the 3-6-10 too often, it may not be the balls, but rather you missing your spot by a board or two. IF, that were the case then I would say you're lifting your eyes off of the target a split second too soon. IF, you're 100% positive that you are "nailing" your target then a move further inside "should" work.

If you (and you should) follow the path of the ball after you release it, try to notice where your break point is. If you're bowling an synthetic 'Anvil' lanes I believe you'll have the brown hash marks just before the pin deck. For the best entry angle, your ball should be on (or very close to) the hash mark farthest on the right. That will usually give you the best entry angle to the pocket. If there are none that hash mark is on the tenth board. So before you start redrilling or buying new equipment, check yourself and see whats actually going on with the ball, and your targeting accuracy. If you lower the grit on your balls to get more mid lane roll, the balls 'might' just roll out on you and not finish with a strong reaction. Check these out and let me know.

Bob

[Zothen]

Take the polish off the ball with 4000 and try it. I would also suggest getting a ball with a symmetrical core like the C-(system ) Maxxed Out and drill it for max length with controlled backend. Also try moving 2 boards to the left and try to hit your mark and see if that helps.

Zothen

[CeKnauss]

@Tampabaybob:

All of my drilling layouts and pictures of my bowling arsenal are here (Ignore the 14lb equipment. I don't use them much, except for the Tzone):
http://www.corwinknauss.com/index.php?t=Bowling
http://www.corwinknauss.com/bowlingView.php

Here is the line that I can normally play in this house, but lately it has been a bit touchy (you can probably see in the Sidewinder part):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV4Xnnt5FmQ

The Evil Siege is definitely my favorite ball. The lanes are AMF, and I would assume SPL, albeit of an older variety.

I'm heading down there today to check some of the tips from both of you.

[Tampabaybob]

Holy crap !! What an arsenal !! Zothen is correct by taking the polish off. Start with that first and it may give you a better mid lane read. You definitely have a good selection to choose from and sometimes that can be very confusing from the standpoint of having too many to choose from. By the time you give them all a try the season's going to be half over !! Anyway, experiment, experiment, experiment. One thing that I do on our lanes here, is when the back ends or mid area gets fried, I'll change my hand position (bring my thumb from a 3:00 position to a 5 or 6:00 position and come straighter up the back. That helps cut down on the hook and increases the roll. The other tactic I use is to move my spot further down the lane. The good thing about synthetics is, you can always find some sort of a dark spot on the lane 3 to 6 feet past the arrows to look at. Moving it down further will increase your skid tim on the ball. You do have to be a little careful so you get enough roll on the ball to have it roll through the 5 pin.

Just a couple of suggestions to try.

Bob

[CeKnauss]

I found part of the problem after watching the video I recorded from the practice sessions. I have some late timing and therefore putting more rotation on the ball than necessary and pulling my arm. This I can fix.

I would still be interested in some general guidelines on surface preparations. I understand lower numbered grit means more midlane and earlier roll, while higher numbered grits mean longer and snappier, but what recommendations would be made for some other lane conditions? For example, what ball/surface would you recommend for the USBC Blue pattern? There are a lot of other factors (axis tilt, rotation, speed, etc), but I'm flexible. I can adjust to a desired reaction on patterns with a little practice. (My PAP has measured different at various houses because I adjust my form for my equipment to best match up given what I currently know.)

[bowl1820]

Might take a look at this:
Bowling Ball Surface Adjustment Table
635

[CeKnauss]

I ended up taking my 15lb Evil Siege down to 500 Abralon (hand sanded) and then thoroughly cleaning it with PowerHouse Clean n' Dull. I finally have an excellent reaction on the lanes with which I was having trouble. I also cleaned my alpha-max and hit it lightly with a 1500 Sia-Air micropad. It too is now giving me a relatively stronger but similar motion when compared to the Evil Siege. I also have the weak-drilled Revolver and can somewhat play up board 10, provided I keep my hand from over-rotating.

Given the surface prep when compared to the chart, I suppose this would be classified as a fairly heavy pattern, but it doesn't feel like a heavy pattern. I believe the tech told me it was something like a 16 unit pattern with 50mL a board. Perhaps this is more of a technical question for another thread, and perhaps I can be directed to a thread that answers this. What do those exact numbers mean in relation to the pattern and lane?

[bowl1820]

Take a look at this thread, might get you started
Click for Oil whats the unit? (http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads/2126-Oil-what-s-the-unit?)

and
click for Oil Pattern Graphs: KOSI Composite Graphs (http://www.kegel.net/V3/ArticleDetails.aspx?ID=94)

[Tampabaybob]

Bowl1820....The house I shoot at now runs a 40' pattern, and let night by the 2nd or 3rd frame of the second game we couldn't keep the ball off of the nose or brooklyn. With my go-to ball, by the end of the third game the mid lane area was completely fried and I was "trying" to shoot 2-3 boards right of the last hash mark on the right ! Throwing much harder than my 15.5-15.8 normal speed I was probably closer to 17mph and finished with a beautiful 4-7 -10 split.

Sure it was a little hot and humid but the oil (that we had a great shot on the first game) had all but disappeared. Sooooooo, next week I'm bringing a ball I haven't used in 2 years. It's a brunswick DRY-R ball for......you guessed it ....dry lanes ! Will polish it up this week and get the feel of it once again and get it ready for the second game next week.

Bob