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Hello everyone.
I would like to take a
couple minutes of your time to give you some insights on what goes into
lane conditions. There are many people who think the lane conditions
should never change. Let me first say that is 100% impossible. There are
many factors that effect the oil on the lanes. The lane surface itself,
the type of oil, the cleaner used, the temperature inside the building,
the ground temperature, humidity,equipment, and what lane you are on all
affect the way the oil pattern plays.
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Lane Surface-
Fiesta Bowl’s lane surface is called “DBA IQ”. The characteristics
of this surface is extremely hard. This means it is one of the
hardest (not difficult) synthetic surfaces made. A hard surface
tends towards a slicker oil pattern in the oiled area (0-40 ft. at
Fiesta Bowl) and a more violent reaction (hook) once the ball gets
to the dry portion of the lane (40ft.- the pins). As games are
bowled the oil in the first 40 ft. is transferred from your ball to
the backends in what is called carrydown. Carrydown can have
different effects depending on where the bowlers on the lanes are
playing.(See below for more info.)
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Lane Oil- There are
numerous lane oils on the market that have many different
characteristics. In the past 5 years we have mainly used 2
companies. Currently we are using an oil called Millennium from the
company Neo Technologies. Last year we were using Infinity from the
company Kegel. In comparison both of these oils were very close in
the way they play but Millennium has showed less carry down.
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Cleaners- The
cleaner used to break down the oil is important so a large amount of
oil does not build up in the Heads (0-15 ft.) and the rest of the
lanes are stripped completely. If the cleaner is not removing the
oil that is on the lanes the machine just continues to add the
regular pattern on top of anything left behind. To prevent this we
routinely do what is called a test clean to make sure the machine is
properly stripping the lanes. We also do an occasional “double
strip” (cleaning the lanes 2 times before oiling) to prevent build
up. We are using a Kegel product called Defense-C for our cleaner.
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Temperature, Ground
temperature, and Humidity- These are the main things that effect the
lane condition. Consider the lane surface the canvas with the oils
and cleaners being the paintbrushes, the weather is the paint.
Indoor temperature is affected of course by the outdoor temp. and
our heating and air system. We try to maintain a temperature of
68-70 degrees. Body heat from a full house will usually cause the
temp. to rise a degree or two. Humidity is the #1 overall factor in
how the lanes play. It is a factor we have very little control over.
Let me give you some insights on the things I have learned from some
of the top oiling technicians in the country.
A.
Normal
conditions- Indoor temp 68, Ground Temp 70+, Humidity 35% or less. This
will give you the most consistent ball reaction. The oil bonds to the
lanes the best under these conditions. The lanes have less carrydown and
your ball will pick up less oil off the lanes.
B.
Hot and
Humid- The normal summertime condition. Humidity 40%+ Indoor temps reach
towards 72 with a lot of body heat. Lanes seem to be slicker with the
same condition applied. The oil does not bond with the lane well so it
carries down faster and stays on your ball more.
C.
Cold and
dry- Humidity below 25% with 40 degree or less outdoor temps. The heat
from the heating units meet the cold temperature of the lanes (caused by
the ground cooling the concrete slab the lanes are built above) causes
the lanes to have a wet/dry effect. The cold and hard surface creates a
low friction area that the ball skates on when in the oil (wet effect)
and the low humidity mixed with a dry backend causes a violent reaction
(dry effect). The bowling ball can be difficult to control under these
conditions because if you pick up too much oil in the center of the lane
you won’t get much reaction and if you play outside in the dryer area
your ball will tend to over react. The best approach is to play an area
between the heaviest oil and the driest part of the lane. At Fiesta Bowl
this is between the 2nd and 3rd arrows.
D.
Cold and
humid- With out a doubt this is the hardest condition to control your
ball under. The ground is cold like today but the humidity is up due to
an abnormally warm and muggy day (currently 55% humidity in the
building). The ball doesn’t seem to want to hook from anywhere. It
returns with oil over the entire shell. This is the most difficult
weather condition to combat on our hard lane surface. The oil does not
bond with the lane well and it quickly moves around with every shot. It
makes it difficult to play the same part of the lane for very long
because the shot is changing with the moving oil.
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Equipment and
Lanes- The equipment you and your fellow bowlers are using affect
the way the lanes change. If all or most of your are playing the
same line to the pocket you will use the oil up in that are faster
and your ball will hook earlier and have less energy when it hits
the pins. You can hit your “mark” every time and your ball will do
different things. Also the lanes you are on can have an affect on
your bowling. The lanes have a tolerance of .040 inches of being
level. They are inspected annually for this measurement. But 2 lanes
that are tilted .040 inches in opposite directions can play 2-3
boards different from each other. Kegel did an interesting
experiment with pro bowler Norm Duke. They had a lane on hydraulics
and started with a perfect level surface. Norm thru 10 shots hitting
his mark within 1/10 of a board each time at virtually
the same speed, and he got 9 out of 10 strikes. They then moved the
lane to .040 inches higher on the right. Norm missed the head pin
all 10 times on the left. Next the switched to .040 inches on the
left and Norm missed the head pin right all 10 times. The next 10
shots were thrown with the lane having a .040 crown. This means the
lane was level from one side to the other but the center was .040
inches higher than the outsides. Norm’s shots were close to the
pocket but did not have enough drive finish all the way up hill. And
finally Kegel made a .040 inch depression in the lane and Norm’s 10
shots over reacted either into the nose or high in the pocket. All
50 shots were thrown on the same oil pattern at virtually the same
speed and with Norm Duke’s deadly accuracy, and all of the lane
levels were ABC (now USBC) approved. During the last inspection
Fiesta Bowl did not have a single checked spot out of tolerance but
did have numerous spots that were .020 out of level and/or crowned
and depressed.
There are other factors that affect week to week play. How
well you keep your own equipment consistent is a major factor. Reactive
resin balls and proactive composites all have numerous pores through
which oil is absorbed to give the ball a dryer surface to contact the
lane and create friction. Once these pores are full your ball will pick
up more oil on the outer shell and your ball will hook less. I recommend
soaking your ball every 30-40 games bowled in hot tap water with a
degreaser (Dawn works great) for 15 minutes. This removes oil from the
pores and helps to rejuvenate your ball. Also modern equipment is built
for high performance not longevity. Reactive balls start to lose their
aggressiveness after 150-200 games even with good care. I personally
have been thru about 15 reactive/proactive balls in the last 5 years and
I still use the same plastic ball for spares. Plastic balls will roll
straight forever for the most part. So depending on how serious you are
bowling can get as expensive as golf when it comes to equipment.
Finally I would like to tell you about an experiment Jeff
and I performed on our shot a couple of years ago. We were trying to
find a way to give people a way to miss right and get a good recovery
from off the gutter. We tried numerous oil patterns we had gotten from
Brunswick, Kegel, and from a few friends at other
centers and nothing seemed to work. One day we were talking about our
problem with the owner of Enterprise Lanes in
Benton
and he invited us to try our house pattern on his lanes. At the time he
was using the same oil, cleaner, and oiling machine we were using so it
was an ideal fit for an experiment. Enterprise
has an older Brunswick
surface that is in the medium soft range. We put out our house pattern
and we were amazed at how impossible it was to throw the ball in the
right hand gutter. The outside of the lane was so dry the ball looked
like it was hitting a brick wall at the 5 board and bouncing back.
Unfortunately for us we started learning that the harder lane surface we
had limited our ability to create certain types of reaction without
destroying a bowlers ability to play around the 2nd arrow.
And also unfortunately our lane surface is a long term investment not to
be replaced for 25-30+ years. It may make it difficult for us to put out
a gimmee shot you might see elsewhere, but we do intend to keep learning
more and trying new products as they come out on the market. I do
promise that we will always work hard to keep our oiling equipment in
top condition. I hope this was informative for all who read it and I
will be happy to go in depth with anyone who is interested. I will also
listen to any suggestions you might have such as trying a pattern from
somewhere you bowled before. I also hope after reading this you all
understand it is not a simple matter of “fix the shot” that I often here
after someone has a bad day.
Chris Campagna
501-321-2200
501-922-1331
fiestabowl@suddenlinkmail.com
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