Carry down

[Tampabaybob]

Nothing is completely flat. All USBC certified lanes are flat and level within certain tolerances, measured in thousandths of an inch, at the time of certification.

Wood lanes are constructed so that each board is interlocked with the adjacent boards. While extreme changes in humidity could cause the lane to go out of spec, under normal circumstances they stay flat. The fact that most bowlers are right handed leads to more wear on the lane surface around tenth board. Eventually this requires the lanes to be resurfaced to bring them back into compliance.

I'm sure that this extra wear on the right side has some effect on synthetic lanes. I don't know what that effect is, whether it changes the surface texture of the lane or causes an actual low spot as with a wood lane.

John, you're correct in assuming that even synthetics eventually will show some wear. There was just an article somewhere in one of the magazines about that. Of course some areas of the lane will always get more usage than others. But they're still a lot better than the old wood lanes. It was very expensive to resurface every few years and some houses used to wait too long and by then the shot would be totally screwed up.

[billf]

I have to disagree slightly on the urethane not taking oil. My Natural will come back dripping at times and still needs to be cleaned (de-oiled). It's just not as often.

[ecub]

I have the Natural Pearl. The oil isn't absorbed though. It just remains on the surface.

[Tampabaybob]

You've got me to thinking about the urethane vs resin issue - what do you think of a Brunswick Slingshot? I am thinking of this one as it is one of the most popular entry level balls out there and reads well for me as I only bowl around the 13 m.p.h. mark and is inexpensive. You may have a better suggestion?
(I have been bowling for a few years - right handed 3/4 stroker)
Thanks.
ad.

Dave, the slingshot, made by Brunswick is a great ball for beginning and intermediate bowlers. It is not a urethane ball though, it's a reactive resin. i have recommended this ball to many people over the last couple of years with great success. It's just aggressive enough for someone to get a good roll out of and you can't beat the price.

[bowl1820]

I have to disagree slightly on the urethane not taking oil. My Natural will come back dripping at times and still needs to be cleaned (de-oiled). It's just not as often.

I have to agree, urethane balls absorb oil. In the years I've been bowling, I've seen plenty of urethane balls sweat oil. You leave one out in a hot car and pull it out of the bag and it would drip.

Plastic will absorb oil, just look at the original clear wolf ball. They would get cloudy and discolor do to oil absorption.

The thing with urethane and plastic is they just don't absorb it as fast as resin does. Bowlers don't keep and use balls as long as they use to. And if you follow a good cleaning regimen on your resin balls and use the same regimen on a urethane ball you would probability never much if any oil in the cover of it.

[Mike White]

All balls will pick up oil.

A flaring ball will redistribute a very small amount of the oil in the back end at the points where the "bow tie" crosses.

Non flaring balls (usually Plastic and Urethane) will redistribute a larger amount of the oil.

I would expect that in Slowinski's experiment, the bowlers were using flaring balls.

[GeoLes]

Oil pushed aside? I never thought of it, but that makes pefect sense and explains why a 3-1 adjustment works. move target 1 board right to get off the oil-displaced board. Move 2-3 boards left to adjust entry angle needed to maintain strike zone.