Learning to understand oil patterns are a crucial part of improving as a bowler. As a complete beginner, though, this isn’t usually your focus, and understandably so. Most regular bowlers face what’s known as a house pattern, which generally makes it much easier to score.
In this pattern, less oil is applied closer to the gutters while the middle of the lane has more oil. This naturally funnels the ball into the pocket because it will hook back more easily from the gutter, while a bowling ball in the middle of the lane will slide and stay there.
But when you advance to more competitive bowling, you’ll encounter sport patterns, which are more challenging. In the rest of this article we will explore why, and more importantly, how to face them effectively.
What is a Sport Pattern and What Is Its History?
With significant advances in bowling materials, the game started to get a lot easier for top bowlers. Thus, sport patterns, also known as a “sport shot” were developed specifically to make things more difficult for these top of the line balls.
Different Types of Sport Patterns: First and Second Generations
Of course, bowling on a sport pattern isn’t as easy as adapting to one specific pattern. Compared to a standard house pattern which is usually about 38-42 feet long, sport patterns have much more variability. See the image above for a graphical representation of the difference we are talking about.
For one, they can range as much as 32 feet on the short end to 53 on the long end. The individual patterns are known by the names of exotic wild animals (because why not?) and can be grouped into two categories: first and second generation sport shots. First generation patterns include the Chameleon, Cheetah, Scorpion, while second generation patterns which were introduced in 2013 include Badger, Bear, and Wolf.
To get a sense of how these sport patterns vary, take a look at the following info taken from the sport bowling Wikipedia:
- “Chameleon (43-feet) Chameleons change color to outsmart their enemies. To excel on this pattern, bowlers must be versatile in many styles of play.
- Cheetah (35-feet) A cheetah may look harmless, but this speedster has a dangerous side. So does this pattern – with a fast scoring pace and play near the gutter, there’s no room for error.
- Scorpion (43-feet) A scorpion is dangerous and unpredictable, like this pattern. If you can’t find the right groove on the lanes, you’ll be stung!
- Shark (47-feet) This pattern forces bowlers to play deep inside the center of the lanes, like sharks that troll the depths of the ocean.
- Viper (39-feet) A viper strikes with multiple angles of attack. This pattern will challenge players to attack the pins from multiple angles in order to score well.”
To get even more details on these and other specific patterns, check out the Sport Bowling website of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).
How to Score High and Strike More on Sport Patterns
When adjusting your game from a house to a sport pattern, your margin of error goes down considerably. In fact, it’s so small that you must hit your target much more exactly in order to succeed. The biggest difference with sport patterns is that the oil is applied more evenly across the lane so you don’t get the benefit of the dry outside and oily inside that we explained above. So what specifically can you do better to succeed on a sport shot?
First, you need to have a good understanding of where to stand, how to appropriately set your target, how hard of a shot to throw, how to manage your breakpoint, and then adjust all of these to the specific conditions you are facing.
Our articles on lane conditions, where to aim and oil pattern length/the rule of 31 can help with these concepts.
From there, the Bowl.com oil pattern bank goes in detail on the different patterns used in the PBA, youth/collegiate bowling, and all manner of USBC tournaments and competitions so you can see exactly what you may be facing. Within each category, every pattern is shown with a diagram and relevant statistics so that you can come up with a winning game plan ahead of time.
Being attentive and present during your warm-up will help you determine where the oil is and how best to tackle your shot, so use this time wisely. To give a couple of examples, against a longer pattern you will usually want to stay closer to the head pin. With other patterns a straighter shot may be needed when shooting your spares on the left or right hand side, so make sure to practice spares too during warmup. And as previously mentioned, for your first ball you will need to decide on your mark and starting position, and then monitor the conditions for oil transition during the contest. Also, when facing sport patterns it’s likely you have an arsenal of more than just one bowling ball, so be sure to consider the qualities of each one you have and how they correspond to the length of the particular pattern.
Finally, you do well on sport patterns by throwing an accurate shot over and over again. If your consistency is still lacking, then this is truly a case in which practice makes perfect. If it’s one of your first times facing a sport shot, be prepared for it to be a humbling experience! But it truly opens up a whole new world of complexity to the game of bowling, and ultimately makes it a more rewarding experience. And who knows, some day you could end up with a tournament win on your resume!
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