The LANE ISN'T FLAT | Topography in Bowling | What it means by Ryan Ciminelli

[bowl1820]

Okay the little topography book they get for the lanes they play on looked pretty neat! I'd love to see one for my lanes here.

But I agree with Ciminelli though, your ball will tell you what you need to know. I can see some players getting too obsessed with that info though and not paying attention to what their ball is telling them.


This video talks about how the shape of the lanes can impact how they play.

[RobLV1]

Hallelujah, someone is actually talking about the most important change in modern bowling! As Ryan said, synthetic lanes are getting older and are usually not replaced. What's worse, the few centers that do "replace" them, usually just put new panels down over the old ones that make topography issues even worse.

The last article that I wrote for BTM was titled "Black Holes and Other Unseen Obstacles." It was a discussion of topography using black holes as an analogy. Black holes are the most powerful objects in the universe. There are billions of them, yet because they are black against the black backdrop of space, no one has ever seen one. We know they are there because of their effect of the stars around them. In the same way, if there are topography issues on the lanes on which you are bowling and you are not lucky enough to have one of the handy dandy guidebooks the Ryan showed us, then the only way to determine the topography of the lane is to watch the reaction of your bowling ball. In order to do this, you have to get over the dated misconception that everything revolves around the oil on the lane; it doesn't! Two lanes can be oiled exactly the same yet play totally differently because of the topography.

[boatman37]

I watched that video a couple weeks ago and he made a few good points. I never thought about the very edges being at a different angle like he mentioned. He talked about that being where the screws attach the deck so the edges may be pulled down further. Being honest I don't think somebody at my level would notice it though. Heck I still have trouble trying to watch where the ball crosses the arrows, where it breaks, and where it drops off the pin deck. But then again I have trouble walking and chewing gum. But I will admit I have been trying to pay closer attention to that lately.

[bowl1820]

Not sure if I'm wording this right But here it goes...

While I do think it is important that "every" bowler be aware that a lanes topography affects their balls motion. That the lanes at one end of the house won't play the same as the other or a pair of lanes won't necessarily play the same and you have adjust to this.

For the average league bowler, Now that they know that lane wear affects their balls reaction/motion not just the oil pattern and they have to adjust then what?

Or maybe put this way,

For average joe bowler whose probably never going to see a lanemapper printout of his lanes, how does just knowing that lane wear (Topography) is why the left lane is playing different than the right do him any good what's he going to do different than what he would have done not knowing?


What else are they going to do (or supposed to do) different than what they would (or should) have done before they ever heard the word topography other than make a adjustment because they see the lanes playing different.

Most will never see a lanemapper printout so won't have that to guide them in the decision making (and like oil pattern sheets it wouldn't help most anyway and it could make thing worse.)

In the past Most good house bowler's knew that the lanes in a house played different depending on where they were or how they were used etc.

The lanes where all the birthday parties were played different than the ones that hardly ever had any open bowling on them etc. etc. They knew those lanes were wore more than those, in other words they knew about Topography they just didn't know that's what it was called and they knew to adjust accordingly.

As I said above I think it is important that "every" bowler be aware that a lanes topography affects their balls motion. But for the average league bowler after that what else would be of practical use.

How did knowing make a difference?

[boatman37]

Not sure if I'm wording this right But here it goes...

While I do think it is important that "every" bowler be aware that a lanes topography affects their balls motion. That the lanes at one end of the house won't play the same as the other or a pair of lanes won't necessarily play the same and you have adjust to this.

For the average league bowler, Now that they know that lane wear affects their balls reaction/motion not just the oil pattern and they have to adjust then what?

Or maybe put this way,

For average joe bowler whose probably never going to see a lanemapper printout of his lanes, how does just knowing that lane wear (Topography) is why the left lane is playing different than the right do him any good what's he going to do different than what he would have done not knowing?


What else are they going to do (or supposed to do) different than what they would (or should) have done before they ever heard the word topography other than make a adjustment because they see the lanes playing different.

Most will never see a lanemapper printout so won't have that to guide them in the decision making (and like oil pattern sheets it wouldn't help most anyway and it could make thing worse.)

In the past Most good house bowler's knew that the lanes in a house played different depending on where they were or how they were used etc.

The lanes where all the birthday parties were played different than the ones that hardly ever had any open bowling on them etc. etc. They knew those lanes were wore more than those, in other words they knew about Topography they just didn't know that's what it was called and they knew to adjust accordingly.

As I said above I think it is important that "every" bowler be aware that a lanes topography affects their balls motion. But for the average league bowler after that what else would be of practical use.

How did knowing make a difference?

Right. I had always thought of 'divots' in the lanes from the Friday night kid lofting a ball 5' in the air and it landing 1/2 way down the lane but being aware of it and what to do about it are 2 different things. Now if I saw that topography map and saw the far left edge sloped towards the gutter then I would know to stay a little more inside but for the more 'patchy' low spots I would be likely to ignore it at my level.

[bowl1820]

Right. I had always thought of 'divots' in the lanes from the Friday night kid lofting a ball 5' in the air and it landing 1/2 way down the lane but being aware of it and what to do about it are 2 different things.

While that's true, It's not quite what I meant.

Now if I saw that topography map and saw the far left edge sloped towards the gutter then I would know to stay a little more inside but for the more 'patchy' low spots I would be likely to ignore it at my level.

See part of what I was trying to say was, say you didn't know anything about topography and it's affect, never even heard the word before. If you started bowling on that lane with the far left edge sloped towards the gutter. You would have seen how your ball reacted and still most likely made that same adjustment. You Just might have not known why you had to do it.

Knowing the lane topography before hand might can give you a quicker start at matching up to the lane. But not knowing it isn't necessarily a hindernis if you know your equipment and watch the reaction on the lane.

[boatman37]

While that's true, It's not quite what I meant.



See part of what I was trying to say was, say you didn't know anything about topography and it's affect, never even heard the word before. If you started bowling on that lane with the far left edge sloped towards the gutter. You would have seen how your ball reacted and still most likely made that same adjustment. You Just might have not known why you had to do it.

Knowing the lane topography before hand might can give you a quicker start at matching up to the lane. But not knowing it isn't necessarily a hindernis if you know your equipment and watch the reaction on the lane.

I knew that wasn't what you meant but just something I had thought about before. And yep, I likely would have moved in if the lane were slightly sloped out on the edge but I probably would have assumed it was due to oil conditions out there. I had heard alot about topography from Rob but had never seen a map of it until this video

[bowl1820]

I had heard alot about topography from Rob but had never seen a map of it until this video

yeah it's pretty neat, Kegel came up with the lanemapper a few years back. That's when the look at lane topography really got going.


You can read some more about here:
http://www.kegel.net/topography-study/

You can see a example of the info here:

This is the LaneMap Guide for the SCAA Bowling Centre-Hong Kong
http://www.abf-online.org/zipped/wyc...neMapGuide.pdf

[RobLV1]

A few years ago I used to bowl Pot Games each Friday at the Gold Coast. Lanes 25 and 26 were always the lowest scoring pair. It seemed like the ball wouldn't finish (on the right side) on lane 25, while lane 26 would hook hard to the pocket. I knew that I always had to use a more aggressive ball on 25 and a less aggressive ball on 26. When the USBC Masters came to that center a few years ago, the USBC published the topography maps for the entire center. Just for fun I looked at 25 and 26. Sure enough, lane 25 had negative topography at about 40', while 26 had positive topography at the same point.

In terms of causation, where the screws are is only one factor. Synthetic lane material is only about 7/16" thick. The large panels are attached to a wooden framework that is susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. If you compare the lane surface to a fitted sheet on your bed, you can see that getting perfect flatness is virtually impossible. It the same with lane surfaces.

While the maps show us that most of the positive and negative topography appears in small areas that go in the same direction as the lane surface, it can be helpful to visualize the areas as raised bumps and lowered bowls. For example, at the center where I bowl leagues, most league bowlers throw out to the 8 board at the end of the 41' pattern. If there is a bump at that point, then only balls that hit the exact top of the bump at eight board will strike. Balls that miss to the outside will travel downhill away from the pocket, while balls that miss to the inside will dive downhill towards the headpin. The only way to play this condition is to either play way outside and to around the bump, or to play way inside to use the positive topography on the inside of the bump to your advantage.

While bumps in the lane surface can cause havoc to your scores, bowls can be a great help. A bowl at the same place on the lane as the aforementioned bump will cause balls missed outside to hook back harder and hit the pocket, while balls missed inside will hold line and stay in the pocket.

For those of you who want to downplay the role of topography, consider this: the Sun is 93,000,000 miles from Earth, and yet gravity has kept us revolving around it for the past 4.5 billion years! Gravity is the strongest regularly occurring force in the universe. Even the slightest elevation change in the surface of a bowling lane will affect the path of your bowling ball.

[bowl1820]

A few years ago I used to bowl Pot Games each Friday at the Gold Coast. Lanes 25 and 26 were always the lowest scoring pair. It seemed like the ball wouldn't finish (on the right side) on lane 25, while lane 26 would hook hard to the pocket. I knew that I always had to use a more aggressive ball on 25 and a less aggressive ball on 26. When the USBC Masters came to that center a few years ago, the USBC published the topography maps for the entire center. Just for fun I looked at 25 and 26. Sure enough, lane 25 had negative topography at about 40', while 26 had positive topography at the same point.

For those of you who want to downplay the role of topography, consider this: the Sun is 93,000,000 miles from Earth, and yet gravity has kept us revolving around it for the past 4.5 billion years! Gravity is the strongest regularly occurring force in the universe. Even the slightest elevation change in the surface of a bowling lane will affect the path of your bowling ball.

I hope your not suggesting I'm downplaying the role of topography, Im not.

I'm just saying that just knowing that topography will affect the path of your bowling ball, Doesn't in of itself help you. You would need more specific info liken the maps.

But even then if you have those it doesn't necessarily affect what you might already be doing just from paying attention to whats been happening on the lanes.

Your Pot Games each Friday at the Gold Coast are a great example. Before ever seeing a topography map of the lanes, You already knew lanes 25 & 26 played different, You made adjustments that I assume worked for you.

So When you finally did see a Topo-map it didn't change anything. It just either confirmed what you might have already might have suspected and/or showed you why those adjustments worked.So you were no better or worse off, It didn't give you anymore info than you already had.

Now if a bowler was lost, didn't understand watch was happening with the reaction they were seeing, having a topo-map might help.


As I said earlier I do think it is important that "every" bowler be aware that a lanes topography affects their balls motion. But they don't have to feel bad or left behind just because they haven't seen a topo-map and don't know there's a positive or a negative topography somewhere on the lane. Their ball will tell them what they need to know.

If you have a map ahead of time (and understand it), Yes it could get you started faster. In a tournament/PBA and even a league that's a big plus. But if didn't have it, You not really that worse off as long as you know your equipment and pay attention to whats happening on the lanes.



Considering that most bowlers will probably never see a lanemapper or topo-map of their house. knowing their equipment and paying attention to what the ball is doing on the lanes. Will serve them more than worrying about knowing everything about topography.

Topography maps are a great resource when you go to some place new or have very little experience at your lanes, It can tell you thing's that would take you time to learn on your own.

But at a place your familiar with like your home house, That you've bowled at a long time at. It might not really tell you much more than what you already know from experience.