Right ball for wacky condition??

[nycawr]

I live in NYC and our bowling centers aren’t much for leagues. I found out that my usual league center only oils to 15 feet!!! Needless to say, I’ve found that my Track 300T is far too much ball. When I was a serious teen bowler in the 90s, a Black Enforcer was my strike ball of choice and I’d stand around 15 and throw 8-10, depending. What should I get to throw on this bone-dry condition?? I’m trying to convince the center that they should, at the very least, go with a standard recreational pattern, but I don’t think I’ll get terribly far.

[chip82901]

I think I'd be bowling at a different center lol. That is just asking to tear up not only the lanes, but also your own equipment.

[Amyers]

I know people who loft the ball farther than that lol. Plastic would be your only choice under those conditions. I agree with Chip find somewhere else

[Phonetek]

15 ft? Why even bother oiling at all? Are they trying to oil the whole house without using more than a shot glass of oil? That's not wacky, it's just flat out stupid. It's not shocking they have no league interest. With that little oil you'd be hard pressed to slap a hockey puck down the lane without it stopping before the pins.

[LowDown]

I remember watching a women's professional stepladder that was being held outdoors in Vegas or Reno. The wind was blowing and there was so much sand and dust on the lanes even the slightest amount of rotation would cause the ball to over hook to the gutter. I think every bowler missed at least one single pin spare. That's kind of what I imagine bowling on a lane oiled to 15 ft would be like.

[bowl1820]

15 ft? Why even bother oiling at all?.

Just oiling 15' for league. most likely what they are doing is whats called a "headshot" which is a common practice at a lot of houses.

A headshot is where the lane has oil on it from a used pattern put down earlier, but instead of stripping and laying a fresh pattern for league. They just replenish the depleted head oil and leave whatever is there in the mids and backends as is.

So it wont be like a lane that only has 15' of head oil and the rest stripped dry. So depending on how many etc bowled on it earlier, it could be dry mids with carrydown, spotty etc.

[Phonetek]

Since I've only oiled lanes for 9 months that's a new one on me. I always learn something new here. We condition and oil every day and lay down 42' every time. It sounds like they are depending on carry down to provide the shot. I would think it wouldn't take all that long before the pin decks would get pretty saturated if they are just always adding oil. They probably chase down a lot of out of ranges. I hope they at least line and dust daily and change the ball wipes often or your hands and towel would be black. Our head mechanic would never let that fly, he'd tell the GM to go pound sand.

[Blacksox1]

Just oiling 15' for league. most likely what they are doing is whats called a "headshot" which is a common practice at a lot of houses.

A headshot is where the lane has oil on it from a used pattern put down earlier, but instead of stripping and laying a fresh pattern for league. They just replenish the depleted head oil and leave whatever is there in the mids and backends as is.

So it wont be like a lane that only has 15' of head oil and the rest stripped dry. So depending on how many etc bowled on it earlier, it could be dry mids with carrydown, spotty etc.

We call it a "short fill" at Ormond Lanes. ;)

[JasonNJ]

Sounds like you bowl in Manhattan. Most of the centers in Manhattan hardly oil and they are really just bars that have lanes.

[nycawr]

You’re right. But in addition to being a bowler, I’m a Broadway performer - and the Broadway Show League is at Frames, in Port Authority. For those who don’t know NYC, Port Authority is probably the biggest bus station in the world.

Regardless, it seems like a plastic ball drilled to my hand is probably the best option. Next question is surface. Polished? Got me a set of Abralon pads so I can do whatever I want.

[JasonNJ]

You’re right. But in addition to being a bowler, I’m a Broadway performer - and the Broadway Show League is at Frames, in Port Authority.

There's a bowling league for the Broadway shows?!?! That's awesome.

I think all plastic balls are polished since they are meant to be spare balls. RobM has been using plastic as his main bowling ball recently, he can probably tell you what surface to put on it.

[nycawr]

An area pro shop guy who drilled my 300T suggested the Hammer Black Widow. Thoughts?

[got_a_300]

An area pro shop guy who drilled my 300T suggested the Hammer Black Widow. Thoughts?

These bowling balls might just be what you're looking for or maybe not.


Hammer Widow Spare Orange/Black (https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/hammer/12640/widow-spare-orangeblack.html) probably your best bet

Hammer Blue Hammer (https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/hammer/9485/blue-hammer.html) with a heavy coat of polish on it

Hammer Cherry Vibe (https://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/hammer/13393/cherry-vibe.html) not all that sure on this one though

[ALazySavage]

An area pro shop guy who drilled my 300T suggested the Hammer Black Widow. Thoughts?

If he is recommending a Hammer black widow urethane I would run as fast as I could, I currently throw one and on medium conditioned sport shots (42' being my most recent experience) the ball picks up early and continuous - I can only imagine how bad that would roll on the condition you are discussing. First off, I would make sure that the pro shop operator understands the condition you are bowling on (again, I just can't fathom how that would be the recommendation for the conditions you see). As others here are saying, your best bet is going to be plastic (maybe a Hammer Widow Spare since it will still have some mid lane read) or a very polished weak ball (such as a Storm Mix). Without seeing you bowl or experiencing for myself the condition I can't give the most informed opinion, but I think this board will get you in the right direction.