Tips For Bone Dry Lanes?

[BowlingNewbie]

Hello everybody!

I went bowling the other day and the lane I was on had little to no oil on it. I could run my hand on my ball and it would have no excess oil on it. I tried everything I could think of. I tried getting more loft on the ball, tried getting the ball out more, and also tried a more direct approach while flattening out my hand more. The ball I use is a Columbia Freeze Solid. Nothing I tried helped and the ball would either enter its roll way too soon or hook way too much.

Any other things I can try out if I ever have to deal with that again?

Thanks!!

[JDHamm85]

I've been told a couple different things about bowling on dry lanes. When I was still bowling in youth leagues, I was told to not grip the ball during the back swing and instead just let it come off my hand playing more of the lane.

I've also been told to speed up the ball since it does roll out sooner. Now I know too that one should definitely ball down when lanes start to dry out.

I prefer to speed it up myself, since that is easier for me to consciously do moreso than not grip the ball on the way down. It is also, to me anyway, easier to stay right and speed it up than it is to play the whole lane and have to worry about not gripping it too hard/soft in the swing.

[Greenday]

More loft so it starts turning further down the lane.

When I do it, I almost throw a backup ball. It gets the ball further down lane, but once it grabs, it still hooks hard because of how dry it is.

[BowlingNewbie]

Next time I will have to try and speed up my ball, maybe even try a two handed style to make sure the ball gets down lane. Thanks for the tips JD and Greenday!!

[billf]

Play straight up the two board.
The Freeze isn't a big hooking ball by design. If the layout has the pin below the fingers it will read earlier than one with the pin above the fingers (in general but there are exceptions). If the pin is below then play as if the lane was oil soaked, laydown around 25, cross arrows around 20 with very little axis rotation. Pretty much like you're trying to throw it straight at the 3-6.

The trick isn't just getting to the pocket but to get there before the ball loses all it's energy resulting in light hits or solid 8 or 9 pins standing.

[Tampabaybob]

Allen....... Agreeing with Bill (again !) That Columbia Freeze (2000 abrasion grit finish) is designed as a mid-lane ball breaking ball. IF you are normally bowling on dry conditions, now may be the time to add to your arsenal. The Scarlet/Black freeze is a Skid/Flip ball (4000 grit Abralon finish) which will help the ball to go much longer then turn towards the pocket. It's very reasonably priced (89.00 on line) and that could help you. OR go to the pro shop and either buy some ball polish or have them polish up the ball on their ball spinner. By going to a 4000 grit you could get the added length and adding some polish as well. If you bowl in other houses that have more oil and want to keep your existing freeze alone then look for a good skid flip ball and get that arsenal going.

[WolfGirl1980]

Did you try release the ball by with your palm facing strait up or little to no turn of of your your hand on your release? Cause you can control how much your ball hooks by how much you turn in your release. In a normal release it should be like your like your shaking someone's hand but by how much you turn it between that and facing completely straight up will determine how much the ball will hook.

[GeoLes]

If you have a spare ball, play it like your main ball. It it hooks too much play it with a flat release

[Tampabaybob]

Allen, here's a question for you....the condition you describe, very dry, is that the only conditio you bowl on or was that just a time they hadn't oiled yet?

[scottymoney]

I found moving right and adding speed does the trick for me on bone dry lanes.

[BowlingNewbie]

One thing I did not try was playing really straight. I tried playing straighter than I normally would, but not that straight. I'm afraid of throwing gutters. Also, I really need to invest in a spare ball. Just have the Feeze as of now.

Bob,
It is very rare I play on lanes that dry. I would say normally the lanes have a medium amount of oil on them. Just that day I guess they didn't oil it by the time I got there.

[DLP]

Great thread!! I'll have to post the picture of the beauty of a lanes I bowled with over the 4th. I think there was more oil in the french fries than on all 16 lanes combined.

Spare balls are pretty cheap. Even cheaper if you manage to get into a league that offers one up for a few extra dollars a week (my current summer league is doing that - an extra $5 a week and you get a T-Zone at the end). I can't complain about my Pyramid Path either, so if you aren't a brand loyalist there is a direction you can go as well.

[GeoLes]

Either that, or they use the French Fry oil on the lanes. My team often ponders that one.

[Gunz1911]

Is it better to use the left over french frie oil on the lane, or the left over lane oil on the french fries....

[GeoLes]

If the choices are Regular, Cheezy, Sweet Potato, Shark, Scorpion, or Viper fries, don't eat the French Fries.......