Chameleon pattern question

[boatman37]

So watching the PBA from yesterday and it's a 39' Chameleon pattern. In describing it they show the center dark blue and fading as you get down lane and the sides are very faded blue but he said they are very dry in the center and very oily outside? I'm confused? I thought when they showed it the darker blue meant more oil? I know there is more to it than just 'more oil' but in general I thought when they illustrated it the darker the shade of blue the heavier the oil?

[bowl1820]

I don't quite follow that either

Heres the show and pattern for reference:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2sfOfEPyeg

Pattern chart
https://www.pba.com/Content/images/oilpatterns/2020%20Chameleon%2039.png

[boatman37]

Just started watching the Scorpion pattern that was on tonight and they said the same thing about it. Not about being very dry in the center but they said if you get it outside the first arrow it will go straight. I bowled a tournament on a 47' Scorpion a couple of years ago and if I got too far out it did go straight but that was my first time ever on a sport pattern so I didn't know what to expect anyway

[Ryster]

Monday night's show was not all that fun to watch. Couldn't put my finger on why, but it was very hard to get in to and enjoy. Sunday's two shows were much more exciting, although the preceding NHRA event that ran 90 minutes over was unfortunate. A lot of people that DVR'ed the Sunday shows probably missed most of the 2nd show.

I agree that the show announcers could do a much better job describing the oil patterns, how they are applied, and what the preferred strategy would be to play such a pattern (especially in direct comparison to a typical house shot...to give viewers a frame of reference.) Instead, we get a canned comment about the shot, how some players may choose to play in and others outside, and that is about it. It is almost like it is some kind of state secret about the best course of attack or something.

[J Anderson]

So watching the PBA from yesterday and it's a 39' Chameleon pattern. In describing it they show the center dark blue and fading as you get down lane and the sides are very faded blue but he said they are very dry in the center and very oily outside? I'm confused? I thought when they showed it the darker blue meant more oil? I know there is more to it than just 'more oil' but in general I thought when they illustrated it the darker the shade of blue the heavier the oil?

Looking at the pattern that Bowl1820 posted, the last 6’ of the pattern is dead flat with a bare minimum of conditioner. The previous 11’ shows just slightly more oil in the middle than the outside. So to my mind the pattern should play more like 33’, or maybe less, than a 39’ pattern. Even at the heads where the center is significantly darker the ratio is still less than 3:1. To a bowler with a rev rate higher than 375 rpms those light blue sections of lane act as if there isn’t any oil at all.

[J Anderson]

Monday night's show was not all that fun to watch. Couldn't put my finger on why, but it was very hard to get in to and enjoy. Sunday's two shows were much more exciting, although the preceding NHRA event that ran 90 minutes over was unfortunate. A lot of people that DVR'ed the Sunday shows probably missed most of the 2nd show.

I agree that the show announcers could do a much better job describing the oil patterns, how they are applied, and what the preferred strategy would be to play such a pattern (especially in direct comparison to a typical house shot...to give viewers a frame of reference.) Instead, we get a canned comment about the shot, how some players may choose to play in and others outside, and that is about it. It is almost like it is some kind of state secret about the best course of attack or something.

It's weird, I started to watch the first of the Sunday shows while it was still recording. All I saw was drag racing and figured that I was going to miss a lot of bowling. When I went to look at it yesterday, there was no racing at the start, it went right into the Cheetah finals. It's like someone at the cable company realized what was going on and erased the car racing and extended the bowling. Really not used to that level of service from cable.

[boatman37]

It's weird, I started to watch the first of the Sunday shows while it was still recording. All I saw was drag racing and figured that I was going to miss a lot of bowling. When I went to look at it yesterday, there was no racing at the start, it went right into the Cheetah finals. It's like someone at the cable company realized what was going on and erased the car racing and extended the bowling. Really not used to that level of service from cable.

I missed the last 1/2 of the finals match because of the race running over but watched the end on youtube

[J Anderson]

I missed the last 1/2 of the finals match because of the race running over but watched the end on youtube

Turned out I was wrong about what happened. There is evidently no rhyme or reason to the order puts things. While I thought I was choosing to watch the Cheetah finals, it was really the second show, the first one was still on the dvr, lots of drag racing and a little bowling.