Oil Pattern: Bowling with the oil.

When you go bowling, do you ever wonder why the balls start to feel slippery? In this post, you will learn what causes that and how to use it to your advantage.
oil pattern bowling

Bowling balls can start to feel almost greasy after a few frames.

That’s because every lane – even those at your neighborhood bowling center – is coated with oil on a regular basis using a special machine that protects the surface.

Successful bowlers have learned to take advantage of these oil patterns, which most bowlers don’t even notice or know about.

The oil is applied in terms of volume (amount of oil), shape (width of the lane), and distance (length of the lane).

This is accomplished by the lane machine applying a higher volume of oil in the center of the lane and less toward the gutters.

Beautiful woman bowling

So, how does the oil pattern affect your game?

A ball that is thrown down the middle of the lane has a harder time grabbing the lane as it travels across oil and therefore will remain straight longer.

If you are a left-handed bowler, oil patterns may play to your advantage.

Conversely, a ball thrown away from the high concentration of oil in the middle will be able to hook back toward the center

The oil pattern has a significant influence on the speed, spin, and direction of your ball as it approaches the pins.

Bowling

What is an oil pattern in bowling?

An oil pattern is the distribution of oil on a bowling lane. Oil patterns can be designed for different purposes, such as making it easier for bowlers to hit the pocket or making it more difficult to do so.

Oil patterns can affect the speed, spin, and direction of a bowling ball.

Why are oil patterns used?

Oil patterns are used to protect the lane and to control the ball. The oil helps to keep the lane from drying out and cracking, and it also affects how the ball behaves as it travels down the lane.

How do oil patterns affect the game?

It will be strike! Close-up of bright red bowling ball rolling along bowling alley

Oil patterns can affect the speed, spin, and direction of a bowling ball. A ball that is thrown down the middle of the lane has a harder time grabbing the lane as it travels across oil and therefore will remain straighter longer.

Conversely, a ball thrown away from the high concentration of oil in the middle will be able to hook back toward the center.

While a typical “house pattern” is designed to give you a larger margin of error, professional bowling tournaments use a “sport pattern” designed to make it much harder to consistently hit the pocket.

Understanding Bowling Oil Patterns

If you can understand oil patterns, you can increase your bowling scores.

Every oil pattern has a name such as “house shot” or “sport shot.” Sport patterns have less oil in the middle and more oil on the outside. This makes it more difficult for a bowler to hit the pocket.

Most bowling oil patterns are designed to protect the lane and control the ball.

What oil pattern do bowling alleys use?

Strait in the center

Most bowling centers use recreational patterns – also known as “house patterns” – that are designed to make it easier for the average bowler to knock down pins by funneling the ball toward the pocket.

House patterns. Verses. Sport patterns

Sport patterns have less oil in the middle and more oil on the outside. This makes it more difficult for a bowler to hit the pocket.

Most oil patterns are designed to make it easier for the average bowler to knock down pins by funneling the ball toward the pocket. Oil volume, lane width, and oil pattern length all affect how the ball will behave.

Bowling Fundamentals: Using the Rule of 31

top view of rules word made of wooden blocks on brown surface

Knowing where the ball should exit the oil pattern is important for becoming a successful bowler.

You can use the Rule of 31 to find the breakpoint for your shot. This rule is easy to do. You subtract 31 from the length of the oil pattern. Most house patterns are 40 feet long, so the breakpoint would be 9 feet away from the pin.

This gives you the number of boards your ball should exit the pattern on – so if the pattern is 40 feet long, your ball should exit on board number 9.

How to Read Oil Patterns on Bowling Lanes?

oil pattern bowling lane

Once you have determined whether you are on a sport pattern or any particular pattern for that matter, you need to be able to react to it.

The oil pattern will be different for every bowler because of how the oil is distributed. You need to be able to read oil patterns in order to adjust your game.

You will need to decide how much oil is on the lane surface and how to work with the specific pattern.

Breakdown of Oil Patterns

The breakdown of oil patterns is different with high flaring bowling balls than it was with low flaring bowling balls in the past. Today’s bowling balls cause the oil patterns to break down much more quickly and much more completely.

Differential Rg values for bowling balls today range from .040” to .060”. The maximum differential Rg value is now .060”, according to USBC specifications.

These high differential Rg values create a dynamic imbalance within the bowling ball. When a ball is drilled to maximize this imbalance, this causes track flare and results in the bowling ball rotating on a fresh part of the cover every revolution.

This ball makes the oil on the lane go away with every turn, causing the oil pattern to disappear throughout the entire lane instead of just at the headpin as it does with bowling balls that are more balanced.

How many oil patterns are there in bowling?

There are two main types of oil patterns in bowling…

First, there are oil patterns that are designed for recreational bowlers, which we will call “house patterns.” These oil patterns have more oil in the middle of the lane and less oil on the outside part of the lane.

The second type of oil pattern is designed for competitive bowlers. These are called “sport patterns.” Sport oil patterns have less oil in the middle of the lane and more oil on the outside part of the lane.

What is the hardest oil pattern in bowling?

The hardest oil pattern is the one that has the least amount of oil in the middle of the lane and the most oil on the outside part of the lane. Usually, these are sports patterns.

What is the easiest bowling oil pattern?

The easiest oil pattern is the one that has the most oil in the middle of the lane and the least oil on the outside part of the lane. These oil patterns are designed for recreational bowlers and are called “house patterns.”

Conclusion

Oil patterns can seem confusing, but if you take the time to understand them, you can use that knowledge to your advantage and improve your bowling scores. oil patterns are designed to protect the lane and control the ball.

Most oil patterns are designed to make it easier for the average bowler to knock down pins by funneling the ball toward the pocket.

The oil is applied in terms of volume (amount of oil), shape (width of the lane), and distance (length of the lane).

Most bowling centers use patterns that make it easier for the average bowler to knock down pins. The pattern funnels the ball towards the pocket

The lane machine puts more oil in the middle of the lane and less near the edges.

So, how does the oil pattern influence your game? A ball traveling down the middle of the lane has a harder time grabbing the lane as it travels across oil and stays straighter for longer.

Because of this, if you don’t hit your target, the oil in the middle of the lane will not prevent your ball from hooking into the gutter as it would on a house pattern.

A ball thrown away from the oil concentration in the middle, on the other hand, will be able to hook back toward the center.

There are two types of patterns for bowling- a house pattern and a sport pattern. The house pattern is designed to give you more leeway when you bol, but the sport pattern is designed to be much more difficult and make it harder to hit the pocket.

The oil on a sport pattern is distributed more evenly than the oil on a house pattern. This means that the ball will move more predictably on a sport pattern than on a house pattern.

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