Are there any rules regarding oiling lanes for league?

[dgz924s]

Title kind of says it all. I ask because one night prior to my league a group were bowling on our lanes that evening. The group bowling were not playing my team. I always thought league play started on fresh oil but evidently not so the reason for asking the question. If not there should be because they played 3 games and left the lanes all used up.

[10-in-the-pit]

I'm not aware of any rules about fresh oil for league play. If there were, my lanes would be breaking them.

[J Anderson]

I think that my local center dresses the lanes late in the afternoon so the first shift of evening leagues gets fresh oil. They do try to keep open bowlers off the lanes that will be used by the leagues, but if its a night that the leagues fill the house, or a school vacation, some of them are going to be bowled on before league. The only exception is for sport leagues.
It doesn't bother me because the team you're bowing against is rolling on the same conditions. Another reason to not like pre or post bowling.
I almost said it doesn't bother me because I'm bowling lefty this season...nah nah nyah nah!

[dgz924s]

Lefties....one good reason to only oil the right half of the lanes!;)

[swingset]

Although it happens, it most certainly is a poor situation when some of the leagues lanes are dressed and haven't been rolled on, while others are. All the teams should be on similar conditions, IMHO, always.

[JerseyJim]

The rule in my league states that you can bowl on any of the lanes reserved for league prior to the start of practice, as long as they aren't the lanes you are scheduled to bowl on. For the most part, the bowlers in our league practice on the lanes reserved for open play prior to league. It's just common courtesy among the league members.

[bowl1820]

Are there any rules regarding oiling lanes for league?
Title kind of says it all.
Yes there are rules regarding "Oiling" the lanes, there's minimum's the patterns are supposed to have etc.

I think what you wanted to ask was "Are there rules regarding open bowling on lanes dressed for league, before the start of league bowling?"


I ask because one night prior to my league a group were bowling on our lanes that evening. The group bowling were not playing my team. I always thought league play started on fresh oil but evidently not so the reason for asking the question. If not there should be because they played 3 games and left the lanes all used up.

As far as the house is concerned no. Unless a league has a contract with the house, stating no one can bowl on the lanes once they are dressed for league bowling. The house can put open bowler's where ever they want.

I've bowled on leagues in the past that have had contract's like that. You don't really see those in house leagues (Leagues started by the house, but they can).

I've seen contract's where no one could bowl on the lanes once dressed and ones where only members of that league could.

Now leagues can have their own rules regarding bowling on the lanes that league members must follow. The most common is you can't bowl on the lanes your going to bowl on that night a hour before start of league.

But these don't apply to ordinary open bowler's. Now most house's are good for the most part about not putting people on dressed lanes as a courtesy to the league.

I understand how bowlers feel about bowling on used lanes. But as long as the two teams are bowling on the same pair, it doesn't matter if they are used or not or what the conditions on the other lanes are.

You adjust to what your playing on.

[jaydee]

For what you're talking about, no. I was in a league this year where the lanes were oiled in the afternoon, then an early league with fewer teams bowled, then my larger league bowled. The result was, some weeks the lanes I was on were completely fresh, some weeks they had some play on them already. You've to be prepared to deal with them both.

[swingset]

I understand how bowlers feel about bowling on used lanes. But as long as the two teams are bowling on the same pair, it doesn't matter if they are used or not or what the conditions on the other lanes are.

You adjust to what your playing on.

That's true, in as much as you're competing against a team on those used lanes - but you're also competing against every other team on the other lanes too. If some teams are getting fresh dressing that plays to their game, while your team is rolling on scattered and inconsistent oil, that will affect your performance in the standings of the league and affect individual averages, etc.

It would be like a collegiate swimming league, where one college's venue has the pool filled with syrup. Sure, the performance against the team you're swimming against is on equal footing, but the times of the swimmers and how they rank in the conference is skewed for the worse.

That's not a level playing field, in the truest sense of the word. It shouldn't happen in sanctioned bowling, ideally, but it does.

[striker12]

my bowling allie dont care they will only oil the lanes if they want to or not and msot of the time they dont want too but you get really sick and tired of it when 1 week good condtion and the same the same condtion but the folowing week dead dry and then for 3 weeks all dead dry u get mad abit