There's WHAT on the lane? Have you ever noticed the slippery stuff on your ball after it comes back through the ball return? That's oil. And no, it doesn't go inside your car.
Just like bowling balls, all bowling lanes are not the same. Wear and tear, lane makeup and, most importantly, the oil pattern make each bowling lane unique.
Today oil patterns affect the balls reaction as it goes down the lane. Oil is extremely important to the game. Originally oil was put on the lane to protect the lane surface. Without oil, your bowling ball would hit the lane, begin sparking, leave a burn mark and explode in the gutter. OK, it wouldn't be that bad, but it would hook
too much and make the game nearly unplayable. You need oil to help control how much your ball hooks and to help you strike consistently.
So, what exactly is an oil pattern?
We've established the fact there is oil on the lane, but how does it get there?
Each center has a "lane machine" that is used to put the oil on the lane. The center mechanic programs a specific pattern into the machine, telling it how much oil to put down and where to put it.
Oil isn't spread evenly across the lane. Typically, there is much more oil in the middle of the lane than on the outside. This allows more "hook" from the outside part of the lane to the pocket.
The Rule of 31
How much of the lane oil covers really matters.
. Knowing the pattern distance can help determine where the ball needs to be when it reacts toward the pocket.
Follow these rules to help get lined up on short or long oil patterns.
- Know the oil pattern length.
- Subtract the number 31 from the length of the oil pattern i.e. 41ft – 31 = 10.
Use the result as the target board for where your ball needs to be when it breaks toward the pocket (in this case, the 10 Board).
Types of Oil Patterns
You may watch the pros on Sundays bowl a 200 game and think to yourself, "Hey, I can bowl a 200. I could beat these guys." Well, the difference is the pros bowl on a much tougher oil pattern.
During league play, you bowl on a typical "house pattern" designed to give you a larger margin of error. Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tournaments use a "sport pattern" and the margin of error is very small, which means the pros must hit the correct target each time in order to strike consistently.
During league, do you ever miss your target by five boards left or right but still strike? Of course you do, you're not E.A.R.L.! The reason you still strike is that there is a lot of oil in the middle part of the lane and very little on the outside part. If you are a right-handed bowler and miss your mark to the left, the extra oil toward the middle of the lane helps the ball hold position and not hook too much. If you miss to the right, there is less oil and the ball hooks more, allowing it to get back to the pocket.
However, on a Sport pattern, the oil is distributed more evenly across the lane. If a right-hander misses to the left, the ball will hook just as much. There is much more oil on the outside part of the lane, too, so an errant shot to the right might even slide into the gutter!
Now that you know a little bit more about oil patterns, try to concentrate on it a little more the next time you bowl.Summing it up, make sure to use your practice time wisely to find out exactly where the oil is before you begin your league or tournament session. If you can master this, you’re well on your way to being one of the elite in bowling.
I'm trying make a simple pdf sheet with some basic info on reading lane graphs and pattern info. to add to my BOWLING STUFF
This is what I got so far.
Lane Graph & Oil Pattern Information
Some of the main things to look at on the oil pattern sheet are the Pattern Length, Total Volume of Oil, the 2 to 2 loads and the Ratios.
Pattern Length:
Generally a
pattern less than 36 feet is considered short, 37-42 feet is considered medium, more than 43 feet is a long pattern.
The length of the pattern tells you where your ball should exit the pattern to give you the best reaction to consistently hit the pocket.
Typically the longer the pattern the closer to the headpin you have to play. A rule of thumb is as the oil goes longer, the exit and break points move inside.
Volume of Oil:
The volume of oil will give
you a idea of the strength of ball and what surface you will want to use. Basically the higher volume of oil the more aggressive ball and/or a rougher surface.
A general guideline from Kegel is:
Less than 18 ml use a weaker cover ball
18 - 21 ml use a weak to medium cover
21 - 25 ml use a medium to strong cover
More than 25 ml use an aggressive coverstock
Also the lane type and where the oil is applied will affect how the ball reacts. A ball will hook more on wood lanes than synthetics using the same volume of oil.
The 2 to 2 loads:
A load is the amount of oil applied by the machine a given distance down the lane. The more loads you have, the harder the pattern will be.
You want to check the total number of 2-2 loads (forward and reverse). The 2 to 2 loads refer to the oil being applied from the 2nd board on the left to the 2nd board on the right.
What your looking for is how much oil is near the gutter. Because the more oil near the gutter, the less friction or “free hook” there will be.
The Ratio:
The “Latitude Ratio“ is how much oil is towards the center of the lane versus the amount of oil towards the outside of the lane. Generally the lower the ratio of oil from the inside to the outside, the harder the oil pattern will be.
The “Longitude Ratio” is the front to back taper. Lower front to back ratios usually are more difficult, higher front to back ratios help the ball slow down.
Forward Oil:
The forward oil creates the shape of the pattern and controls the breakpoint location.
Reverse Oil:
Reverse oil controls the amount of oil in the front part of the lane. The more reverse oil in relation to the forward oil, the longer the pattern will last and the smaller the transitions.
Some starting place references:
Note: These "formula" are just guides and
not an absolutes
Mo's Breakpoint Formula:
Look at the composite graph, Find the corner of the first highest red bar (the Forward Oil) and see what board it is on. Then Subtract 3 from that board number and that's where your breakpoint should be to start.
Example: Kegel East Street pattern 38'
The first highest red bar is on board 13, then the breakpoint will be around the 10 board.
Guru's Breakpoint Formula:
((Pattern
Length-24)/2)+3= The Breakpoint (+/-1Board) at the Pattern length plus 5 feet.
Example: Kegel East Street pattern 38'
38' minus 24 = 14, 14 divided by 2 = 7, 7 plus 3 = 10.
This gives you a breakpoint on the 10 board (+/-1Board) at 43 feet.
Slowinski's Exit Point formula:
The Exit point for oil = length of pattern minus 31, this can be used as a guide to where the ball should exit the pattern. Warning the "Exit point" breaks down on the extremes, short
patterns and extreme long patterns.
What is a Unit of Oil?
A "unit" of oil was defined by the American Bowling Congress (ABC) and Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) as 0.0167 cubic centimeters of oil evenly spread over a 1 sq. ft. surface, which equates to a film of oil about 7 millionths of an inch thick."
Example: a piece of typing paper is about 400 units thick.
(.000007*400 units=.0028", A 16# bond paper is .0032" thick so that's pretty
close.)
The Typical House Shot aka: THS
There are many types of house shots, The main thing that makes them easier is the high volume of oil towards the center of the lane and less oil towards the outside (Oil Ratio). This gives you more friction to the outside (free hook) and more hold toward the center, which helps funnel the ball to the pocket.
Now the numbers can vary with different patterns, but here are some comparisons:
The volume of oil for the average house shot has about 18-20 milliliters of oil, a average sport shot can be about 25-26 milliliters. (But not limited to this)
A typical house shot has a ratio of say 10:1, A sport shot has a ratio of 3:1 or less.
The typical house shot has maybe 2-3 loads on the outside, where as a shot like the USBC Open Championships have around 6 loads.