From Tamerbowling:
Alright, what does a house shot look like?
A house shot, know as a THS, is commonly referred to as a christmas tree pattern. Imagine a big christmas tree laid down and outlined on the lanes. Where the green tree is, there’s oil. Where it is not, there’s no oil. The whole idea of this pattern is to help funnel the ball into the 1-3 or 1-2 pocket if you are righty or lefty, respectively. How does that work? Well, the further outside you throw it, the more it hooks, because the ball encounters friction earlier. The further inside you throw it, the more oil it encounters and thus, the ball must slide longer. So if you throw it outside, the earlier friction, is drawn in such a way that almost ensures the ball will hook back close to the 1-3. If you miss to the inside, you will also be safe because the oil is longer, helping to ensure that the ball will hook later and stay close to the 1-3. Basically, the ratio of oil from inside to outside is something like 7:1. Meaning a ton of oil inside compared to the outside. Sometimes you’ll find 5:1. Sometimes you’ll find 10:1.
By virtue of this pattern, accuracy on a house shot is at less of a premium. This helps the average bowler tremendously. In general, you will be playing in the track, which will be plus or minus a few boards from around the 2nd arrow. This is where the play will predominantly be. The reality is this is where most are comfortable playing. It’s far enough from the channel that bowlers don’t worry about “dumping one” and not so far inside that you think you have to “hook the lane” to get it to hit the pocket.
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