How to read a lane?

Player1 SG

May I ask, how do you guys read a lane's inital oiling, and tell how it breaks down after being bowled on?

I'm no expert but I do know abit about some oiling patterns. But how do you tell the pattern on a freshly oiled lane by throwing a few shots straight away?

I read up that you could throw a medium hook ball with medium pace on the lane, from the outside line, the inside line and somewhere in between to roughly tell how its being oiled. Is that appropriate in league? I feel that in league, practise throws allow you around 4 to 5 throws per lane. After that, there's the breaking down after 1 and 1/2 games being thrown.

Errr, ultimately, how do you read a lane???

clown SG

Frankly speaking, I don't exactly know how but just to share my views with all and exchange some pointers. (part of learning)

I believe if you have very good control of your game (ie. ball control, speed, etc) then by throwing your ball in different areas as you had mentioned, you can probably know which areas you can play and which is out of bounds.

If you do not feel good with your shots, do not adjust your targets or even your position, cos is something else that is cosing the problem.

My last point, look at those bowling in the same pair to estimate how the lane is shifting, breaking down.

That's how i do it.

Any1 else with other ideas??? My ideas are not textbook but just my own theory.

tinybird SG

first of all, you've got to have a consistent shot that does what you expect it to do on 'regular' (freshly oiled) patterns.. then by executing that same shot during your practice throws, you'll be able to gauge whether your ball is reacting the same, over-reacting, or under-reacting and adjust accordingly from there..
if it's under-reacting, you might want to switch to a ball in your arsenal that has a more aggressive coverstock and drilling pattern, if it's over-reacting, vice versa..

does that help?

Deamon SG

U all may disagree with what i'm going to say.BUT the first 3 shots of the practise throws must NEVER be trusted.This is becos:

1)Your body is still not fully warmed up. Yes, u may have stretched yrself, but you may not have fully loosen yrself, esp when throwing a heavy ball.

2)Becos yr body is not fully loosen up, the ball speed may be slower than normal, giving u a false interpreation that the lane is hooky. However, when u are fully loosen up, most ppl will tend to throw the ball faster. This will give them a false impression that the lanes has less or more backend and hence making position changes, when it is not necessary at all.

3)Lastly, becos the 1st shot u throw may be a strike, u may wanna force yrself to adopt that shot. But that strike shot is becos yr body is still rigid and stiff.As a result, the bowler become confused when he has to make changes.

Hence the 4th and 5th shot will be corner spares. By then, u shld know if the body has loosen or not. If missing the corner spares by left or right and knowing yr body condition, then u can adjust accordingly

Last few shots in the practise will be on strike. I prefer to throw my strike balls when i'm fully loosen up, cos i know how my ball is reacting. And shld i change line i can release the ball with the same loosening of my body as my previous shots. Also by throwing in the last few shots, u know if the 2nd and 3rd shot of the 1st game needs to move targets or not. I mention 2nd and 3rd is becos the 1st shot of the 1st game ,i always follow the last shot of my practise throw.

IN the game, to change line and targets reallys depends on the courage and confidence. Courage comes in realising that the shot dun work and u need to move. Confidence comes when u know u have been throwing the same shots and u can still release the same ball even if u move 5 boards differential. That confidence, i believe, comes from how much yr body has loosen up to the game.

Why do many bolwers out there need to play some games before they play league or join tourny? Its the same reason, they need to loosen up their bodies before they start to find their lines. Hence, i strongly believe the physcal part of bowling, becos this gives you the confidence to move. And the difference between a shot release by a rigid body is thousand times different frm that of a loosen one.

And as we get older, the physcal conditioning becomes even more important. The tendons do not become as elastic as before.

And reading of the lanes comes with the confidence of moving targets lines, and that confidence comes from knowing u can throw the same shots over again.

Just my $0.02 thots

harmzuay SG

I agree with Deamon about the shots executed when the body and arm has not loosened up yet. There is a tendency to "pull" the shots or simply just a shortage of ballspeed at the release because the release will not be as clean as it should be. All this kills the length of the ball.

Too often, I see people adjusting for these "non-representative" shots and ruining the line they had or could have had. To far too many bowlers, there is only one rule:

The ball overhooks = lane too dry.
The ball underhooks = lane too oily.

I don't mind so much that these jokers kill their own game. But it's the advice that they give to others that destroys the trusting recepient's game.

About the topic, I do not have a set rule for reading lanes. I simply watch the ball move. The way the ball reacts tells me all I need to know about the lanes. The most crucial point for me is to watch the roll of the ball at the expected breakpoint. If it bites or skids tells me about the amount of oil present there or beyond.

About the sequence of practice shots, I have answered before in an old topic.

Twisted Evil