How often does your house oil the lanes ?

[Tony]

I've heard various comments about lane preparation and am curious how often do most houses oil the lanes ?

The place where I bowl puts oil down just before each league starts play.

They also run the machine nearly every morning

[1VegasBowler]

Every center that I have bowled at here in Vegas, the lanes are oiled just before leagues start and first thing in the morning.

[2handedsniper]

what some visual cues that the lane has been oiled after the last customer or do you just have to throw your ball and feel it after it comes back from ball return?

[J Anderson]

what some visual cues that the lane has been oiled after the last customer or do you just have to throw your ball and feel it after it comes back from ball return?

If the lighting is right you may be able to see ball tracks through the oil. Sometimes pro bowlers will squat down or even lie down on the approach, like a golfer trying to read a green, in an attempt to see how the pattern is breaking down.

[1VegasBowler]

If the lighting is right you may be able to see ball tracks through the oil. Sometimes pro bowlers will squat down or even lie down on the approach, like a golfer trying to read a green, in an attempt to see how the pattern is breaking down.

In every round except for the stepladder finals this is quite true.

When they have to bowl a ton of games in a day and they have multiple squads, they are always looking. Whether it's on fresh, burn or double burn.

They also have a habit of watching the squads before theirs to see what's going on. So in truth, they really don't have a lot of down time because they're always studying what's happening out there, and I'm pretty sure that most of us there do the same thing when we're in a tournament.

When I play on the 9 Tap Tour, I normally like bowling on the 2nd or 3rd squad because there's no re-oil and I would watch the previous squad just to see who is going to be in my target area(s). But I now watch both squads before mine because I'm a floor director as well and I take advantage of seeing what's happening from beginning to end. (Can't do that today. Year End Championships are today and those of us that are eligible to participate start at noon)

[ChuckR]

Every center that I have bowled at here in Vegas, the lanes are oiled just before leagues start and first thing in the morning.
What lanes do you bowl at? Red Rock and Gold Coast DON'T have a machine running over an hour before Noon leagues.

[1VegasBowler]

What lanes do you bowl at? Red Rock and Gold Coast DON'T have a machine running over an hour before Noon leagues.

This winter I'm at the Orleans and Texas Station.

Last winter I was at Gold Coast Monday's and Wednesday's, and the lanes were oiled not long before we started.

In your case of a noon start time, I'm guessing they oil the lanes first thing in the morning and keep people off the league lanes.

[JasonNJ]

Mine always oil before the early evening leagues. Any late leagues bowl on the burn. I never bowled early morning so I don't know if they oil in the morning.

[ep1977]

All the houses around here oil only before leagues or tournaments. They won't even oil the house only the lanes the league uses.

[JaxBowlingGuy]

My main center oils in the morning and before leagues each day.

[foreverincamo]

Where I practice it's two to three times a day. Where I bowl league it's four times a week

[RobLV1]

What lanes do you bowl at? Red Rock and Gold Coast DON'T have a machine running over an hour before Noon leagues.

At Red Rock, the lanes are all completely oiled before the center opens at 8 a.m., and lanes that are to be used for league play are held back from open play until the morning and noon leagues are finished. Recently on Thursdays they changed that policy for a short time, giving out league lanes for practice in the morning, but the backlash was such that I think they're back to holding them back. For evening leagues at Red Rock (and all of the Station Casinos from what I've been told) the lanes are given a 25' head run of oil about an hour before the leagues are to start. This means that fresh oil is put down on the first 25' of lane, and the rest of the lane is left with whatever is left from league and open play during the day. Considering that the open play from the afternoon may very well include a lot of kids throwing plastic balls with bumpers and the resulting criss-cross patterns of carry down, it is possible to run into some pretty scary lane conditions in night leagues.

At Gold Coast, since they now open at 9:00 a.m., the lanes are oiled before they open and may, or may not, be held back for open play before noon leagues... it all depends on who you talk to, and who you choose to believe. I'm really not sure what they do before evening leagues.

[SAbowler]

The houses around here usually oil before each league.

[got_a_300]

Our center oils anywhere from 30mins to an hour before
leagues start then from Friday until early Tuesday morning
right before the senior league starts they see no oil at all.

The only way the lanes see any oil on the weekend is if you
let them know an hour or so ahead of time before you come
to practice then they might oil a pair or two of lanes for you.

[drlawsoniii]

The house i bowl at is terrible. They have a league 3 man league thursday afternoon before our 5 man thursday night league, and all they do between is flatten out the oil. they don't reapply the shot at all just smooth it out.

[LOUVIT]

I bowl in an afternoon senior league, I see the oil machine....can't really say if there's oil in it....lol....When I worked in a house 40+ years ago I had manual oil rollers and had to walk up each lane. Worked out well when you knew what lanes you were bowling on....Shhhhhhh!!!!! With wood and plastic and being a cranker the less oil the better in the ol day's.

[Blomer]

At both places I have League at they oil right before we start.

[taxexpert2]

Seems like where I bowl they oil the lanes maybe twice a day. I know for one league I bowl on at 12:30 we do not have fresh oil on all the lanes. But presumably on the other league which is in the evening we are supposed to have fresh oil. They say they don't always get around to it. I walk in there early sometimes and see kids playing a bowling and tearing up what ever oil might have been there. Makes me a bit unhappy but what can you do?:mad: This is a bowling house that generally treats the bowlers very well and the place is super maintained. It is hard to stay angry for long at them.