Bowling balls are made from some pretty impressive materials these days, but eventually they will need some tweaking in order to react the way you want them to. We’ve already written about regular ball maintenance like cleaning, and today’s article will go over another way to improve their performance: adding surface. What is Ball Surface […]
Skid, Hook and Roll: the Phases of Ball Rotation
The roll of a bowling ball down the lanes is a beautiful sight to behold, but its easy to view it as one motion rather than the distinct phases that actually make up your ball’s path. Ball rotation, as it turns out, consists of three phases which are important to understand. This article will go […]
What Are Carry Down and Breakdown? When Lanes Transition
When you’re starting to take the next step in bowling and progressing beyond bowling tips for beginners, understanding lane conditions and oil patterns is one area of the game that becomes paramount. (If you’re not familiar with the typical house oil pattern, we recommend reading that article first before coming back here.) Why Do Lane […]
What is Heavy Oil on a Bowling lane? Volume vs. Location
Often, bowlers struggle to score in situations where they are up against “heavy oil,” but what does this designation actually mean? You may know the basics of bowling lane oil patterns and still not be exactly sure what qualifies as “heavy.” And as it turns out, when we break this phrase down we discover that […]
Lane Conditions: Oil Pattern Length and The Rule of 31
We’ve talked some about oil and lane conditions on this blog, but so far the overall theme has been understanding where the oil is applied from left to right. For example, the main house pattern is forgiving because it has less oil outside near the gutter, so a shot missed wide can more easily hook […]
What is the House Oil Pattern and How Do Lane Conditions Affect My Ball?
If you consider yourself a recreational bowler, it is likely that you focus mostly on the ball, pins, and hopefully the dots and arrows. And this makes sense: these are very important pieces of the puzzle when you want to succeed at bowling. But concentrating solely on these elements leaves out one area of crucial importance: […]
How to Bowl on Very Dry Bowling Lanes: Overcoming Drastic Hook
The ideal strategy for bowling is highly dependent on lane conditions, as the amount of oil on the lanes has a great effect on how the bowling ball will react. In general, a dry lane creates more friction between the ball and the surface, and this can cause a much greater hook compared to a […]