“Them Lanes Are ‘A Changin!!”       
By Eric Frost

(Editor’s Note: This is another article written with the sole purpose of educating the bowling public.  We strongly believe that ALL bowlers should know about this).

      Perhaps the most controversial areas in all of sports, AND one of the biggest debates in the world of bowling, are lane conditioner patterns and how they affect lane play and the scoring pace of any tournament or league-play session..  Bowlers, managers, proprietors, lane maintenance personnel and mechanics are constantly trying to figure out how the mysterious, mostly invisible, slippery stuff will play, change, and hold-up over the course of an evening of bowling or the course of a tournament.  Unfortunately, very few people truly understand that many of the perceived problems of inconsistencies from week-to-week and day-to-day have nothing to do with the oil pattern, but can be attributed to other factors such as the lane surface, other bowlers,  temperature, dew point, barometric pressure, humidity, etc.  We have even heard from a person who studied “water tables”, and he was convinced that “it” also had a bearing on lane oil. 

    The actual lane surface could very well be the single most important factor in how lanes play, regardless of the oil pattern.  The shape (topography), of the surface can dramatically change the bowling ball motion.  A bowling center that has a lot of variation in its topography from lane-to-lane will be perceived as far more difficult than a bowling center that has a consistent topography.  Also, certain lane shapes can be detrimental to ball motion and pin-carry, while other lane shapes can help to create a “funnel-to-the-pocket.”  If one pair of lanes in a bowling center has an extremely depressed surface, while another pair has a crowned surface, those two pairs will play significantly different despite being oiled in the exact same manner.  Also, as surfaces get old and some pairs see more lineage than others, the lanes’ individual characteristics will change.  At Kegel, for instance, lane #6 has been used for so much lane machine, oil and cleaner testing,  that the surface has significant scratching in the “ball-track” area.  Consequently, an oil pattern that is applied to lanes #5 and #6 will always play very differently (typically 8 to 10 boards with your feet), from one lane to the other.   

      The next often overlooked factor is: other bowlers.  Everyone has experienced practicing by themselves on a lane (or a pair of lanes), and having to move considerably in a 3 or 5 game practice session in order to stay in the pocket.  Well, it should not be difficult to understand that having 8-bowlers on a pair will create many more changes very quickly.  Despite this seemingly obvious logical connection, many a league bowler has been dumbfounded by how every week “their shot” seems to change in a significantly, different way.  Some, if not all of this type of change, can be attributed to the fact that different bowlers will change the shot differently.  If one is bowling with a team of straight-ball bowlers (low revolution players one week), and the following week bowls against a team of big hooking, boomers (high revolution bowlers), the shots should be expected to seem different.  The style and type of bowlers one shares their lanes with cannot be discounted, particularly when thinking about going from bowling on a pair with 5-person teams on one day, and bowling with 2-people per-lane the next day.  Also important is to consider how much lineage that lane or pair of lanes has seen previously that day.   

    The final factors for consideration are the atmospheric conditions, namely the temperature and humidity.  The temperature refers not only to the temperature inside the bowling center, but also the temperature of the lane surface itself, which is often affected more by outside weather than the conditioned air of inside.  Many people blame this factor as a “scapegoat” without truly understanding how the temperature and humidity actually change the bowling environment.  The biggest changes occur either in the lane conditioner itself, or the way the lane surface changes as the weather changes.  For one, the actual viscosity of lane oil changes with temperature changes.  This type of change can result in different ball motion, the oil to transition differently, either by carrying down more or less, and weather can affect how easily the oil is cleaned off of the lane.  Any residue that is left behind because of poor cleaning can change “the shot” dramatically.  Also, the surface hardness can change with the weather - which can make the lanes play tighter or hook more depending on how that particular lane surface changes.   

    For instance, at last year’s ABC Tournament in Billings, Montana, the hardness of the lane surface was measured daily by the Sward Hardness Rocker, a very accurate tool that is designed to test hardness.  The lanes were checked daily (by the same person) at three different distances on the same lane.  Throughout the course of the tournament, in a climate controlled building, the rocker yielded results as low as 22 and as high as 38.5.  That range is more than the typical difference one would expect to see going from a moderately old wood surface to a new Pro-Anvilane installation!  And remember, this is one surface, on one lane.  Obviously, how that lane “played” from day-to-day could have changed significantly due to the surface hardness changes.  Finally, the weather can also affect the bowling pins.  The pins will transfer more energy into motion when they are struck if it is cool and dry.  Also, at the ABC Tournament, a new set of pins is placed in every machine every two weeks.  Again, the carry can change significantly from the beginning of a two-week cycle to the end of one, which can and will affect the scoring pace.  

    In light of all of this, it is important to remember that bowling has always been about repeating good shots and accuracy, but it is also about “reading lanes” and making the right moves.  Today, perhaps more than ever before, there are more choices to consider.  There are far more lane surfaces, lane oils, bowling balls, and types of bowlers that can alter the bowling environment around you.  The oil pattern is not, and never has been, the predominant factor in how well a particular bowler does on a particular evening.  In fact, the conditioner’s role may be at an all time low,  precisely because of all the expansion in the other areas previously mentioned.  Knowing and understanding the sport and making the appropriate moves at the right time is what bowling at the highest levels is all about.  On the Professional Bowlers Tour, all of the bowlers have the ability to throw the ball great and hit their target.  Their game, the professionals’ game, as Patrick Allen once told one of our technicians is, “All about the moves, hoss, it’s all about the moves.”  So, be prepared, “If Them Lanes Are ‘A Changin”.