onefrombills
09-04-2008, 04:50 AM
By Derek Eoff
USBC Sport Bowling Coordinator and Team USA member
There is a pattern to how PBA Experience lane oil patterns play. The pattern is that there is no exact pattern.
With the large number of USBC Sport Bowling summer leagues on the floor, bowlers wonder just how the five Denny's PBA Tour patterns used in PBA Experience leagues are supposed to play.
Here are some examples of questions being asked: Why doesn't my ball hook off the gutter like it does for Tommy Jones on the Cheetah pattern? Promotional materials suggest that bowlers attack the Shark pattern from inside angles, so why does my ball react better from the track area?
The first rule of playing the PBA Experience patterns is that there are no rules. There's not one specific way to play any of the five patterns. The suggestions in USBC Sport Bowling handouts, fliers and videos on bowl.com are based on previous experience and success from professional bowlers.
With that being said, however, there are several reasons why the patterns may play differently from what you see on television.
The first reason is that almost no one throws a bowling ball like Tommy Jones. As a whole, the rev rates of Denny's PBA Tour players are much higher than the general bowling population. Combine that with the long tournament format the pros use, nearly unlimited access to bowling balls and surface changes they make to those balls and the patterns will break down differently for them than in PBA Experience leagues.
There are many other reasons why the patterns may play differently. Chief among them are the type of oil machine used and the lane surface type and age.
Oil machines
Different types of oil machines apply oil in various ways. There are two basic types of oil machines, fluid and pad. The three different fluid machines include transfer brush, transfer roller and spray technology. As the names indicate, the brush and rollers transfer oil onto the lane while the sprayer sprays oil directly on the lane. Fluid machines apply oil in a very consistent manner because the fluid metering pump rotates at a constant RPM cycle, resulting in the oil being pumped at an exact flow rate to the oil pattern control valve. The oil pattern control valve turns on or off at different parts of the lane depending on the oil pattern.
Pad machines use different technology than fluid machines to apply oil. Oil flows through wick material, then onto a roller, then to a brush and then onto the lane surface.
In most cases, lane patterns that are applied with a pad machine tend to hook a bit more because pad machines tend not to put down the same oil volume as fluid machines. With pad machines, volume is dependent on the condition of the wicks.
Volumes could be written about how each machine applies oil to the lanes, but a brief summary of how each type of machine works will suffice. Since those machines apply oil differently, it's important to focus on how that affects the way PBA Experience patterns play.
For example, pad machines do not adjust the oil on every board like the more modern fluid metered machines can, but it is still pretty close. Add to the equation that each center is using its own machine (maintained differently by each center's mechanic) and whatever oil that centers uses and the patterns may play differently than on the Denny's PBA Tour.
Will the characteristics be similar? Absolutely! The only place to score on the Cheetah is near the channel. The best place to play the Shark is deep inside. To score from outside of 10 board on the Shark, bowlers better be able to split boards like Norm Duke. The other three patterns will play somewhere in the middle based on lane surface.
Lane surface
Besides oil machines, lane surfaces also affect the way the patterns play. There are two types of lane surfaces in most centers, synthetic and wood. More than 40 synthetic lane surfaces have been approved over the years and just as many finishes for wood lanes. There is a wide variety of surfaces that will affect ball reaction.
Most Denny's PBA Tour stops are in centers with synthetic lane surfaces. With an increasing amount of centers using synthetic surfaces around the country, it makes it easier to duplicate the PBA Experience patterns. Lane surface type and wear will impact the conditions from one center to the next. However, the touring pros know that the Cheetah pattern, for example, does not play the same in every center, even when the same lane machine with the same kind of oil is used every week.
Some lane surfaces will allow bowlers to play multiple angles on some patterns. In Denny's PBA Tour stops last season, Mike Machuga was hooking the lane on the Cheetah pattern and Norm Duke was playing straight up the lane on the Shark. Can they play the patterns that way in every center? No. Otherwise they would make the TV show every time on those patterns because they would match up in a way no one else could because of the lane surface.
Each pattern has characteristics that dictate how it should be played. Oil machine, lane surface type and age are what differentiate the patterns from center to center across the country. Bowlers can have more success on PBA Experience patterns by finding out what type of lane surface the center has and what oil machine it uses. Understanding the difference between the types of lane surfaces and oil machines will allow bowlers to formulate their own conclusions about how to attack each PBA Experience pattern.
USBC Sport Bowling Coordinator and Team USA member
There is a pattern to how PBA Experience lane oil patterns play. The pattern is that there is no exact pattern.
With the large number of USBC Sport Bowling summer leagues on the floor, bowlers wonder just how the five Denny's PBA Tour patterns used in PBA Experience leagues are supposed to play.
Here are some examples of questions being asked: Why doesn't my ball hook off the gutter like it does for Tommy Jones on the Cheetah pattern? Promotional materials suggest that bowlers attack the Shark pattern from inside angles, so why does my ball react better from the track area?
The first rule of playing the PBA Experience patterns is that there are no rules. There's not one specific way to play any of the five patterns. The suggestions in USBC Sport Bowling handouts, fliers and videos on bowl.com are based on previous experience and success from professional bowlers.
With that being said, however, there are several reasons why the patterns may play differently from what you see on television.
The first reason is that almost no one throws a bowling ball like Tommy Jones. As a whole, the rev rates of Denny's PBA Tour players are much higher than the general bowling population. Combine that with the long tournament format the pros use, nearly unlimited access to bowling balls and surface changes they make to those balls and the patterns will break down differently for them than in PBA Experience leagues.
There are many other reasons why the patterns may play differently. Chief among them are the type of oil machine used and the lane surface type and age.
Oil machines
Different types of oil machines apply oil in various ways. There are two basic types of oil machines, fluid and pad. The three different fluid machines include transfer brush, transfer roller and spray technology. As the names indicate, the brush and rollers transfer oil onto the lane while the sprayer sprays oil directly on the lane. Fluid machines apply oil in a very consistent manner because the fluid metering pump rotates at a constant RPM cycle, resulting in the oil being pumped at an exact flow rate to the oil pattern control valve. The oil pattern control valve turns on or off at different parts of the lane depending on the oil pattern.
Pad machines use different technology than fluid machines to apply oil. Oil flows through wick material, then onto a roller, then to a brush and then onto the lane surface.
In most cases, lane patterns that are applied with a pad machine tend to hook a bit more because pad machines tend not to put down the same oil volume as fluid machines. With pad machines, volume is dependent on the condition of the wicks.
Volumes could be written about how each machine applies oil to the lanes, but a brief summary of how each type of machine works will suffice. Since those machines apply oil differently, it's important to focus on how that affects the way PBA Experience patterns play.
For example, pad machines do not adjust the oil on every board like the more modern fluid metered machines can, but it is still pretty close. Add to the equation that each center is using its own machine (maintained differently by each center's mechanic) and whatever oil that centers uses and the patterns may play differently than on the Denny's PBA Tour.
Will the characteristics be similar? Absolutely! The only place to score on the Cheetah is near the channel. The best place to play the Shark is deep inside. To score from outside of 10 board on the Shark, bowlers better be able to split boards like Norm Duke. The other three patterns will play somewhere in the middle based on lane surface.
Lane surface
Besides oil machines, lane surfaces also affect the way the patterns play. There are two types of lane surfaces in most centers, synthetic and wood. More than 40 synthetic lane surfaces have been approved over the years and just as many finishes for wood lanes. There is a wide variety of surfaces that will affect ball reaction.
Most Denny's PBA Tour stops are in centers with synthetic lane surfaces. With an increasing amount of centers using synthetic surfaces around the country, it makes it easier to duplicate the PBA Experience patterns. Lane surface type and wear will impact the conditions from one center to the next. However, the touring pros know that the Cheetah pattern, for example, does not play the same in every center, even when the same lane machine with the same kind of oil is used every week.
Some lane surfaces will allow bowlers to play multiple angles on some patterns. In Denny's PBA Tour stops last season, Mike Machuga was hooking the lane on the Cheetah pattern and Norm Duke was playing straight up the lane on the Shark. Can they play the patterns that way in every center? No. Otherwise they would make the TV show every time on those patterns because they would match up in a way no one else could because of the lane surface.
Each pattern has characteristics that dictate how it should be played. Oil machine, lane surface type and age are what differentiate the patterns from center to center across the country. Bowlers can have more success on PBA Experience patterns by finding out what type of lane surface the center has and what oil machine it uses. Understanding the difference between the types of lane surfaces and oil machines will allow bowlers to formulate their own conclusions about how to attack each PBA Experience pattern.