If I Can't See Bowling Oil, How Will I know How To Play The Lanes?

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 8/10/15;  Updated: 3/16/21

Asking if I can’t see bowling oil, how will I know how to play the lanes is a fair question?

No one can see the invisible lane oil lubricant used to protect the lane surface from excessive friction caused by bowling balls rolling down the lanes.

The oil is applied in accordance with pattern distances and ratios prescribed by the specific patterns.

The lane oil pattern coupled with the friction factor of the lane surface determine how your bowling ball will react. The process in reading the lanes is tricky because of the non-visibility of the oil placement.

Just as with putting on the golf greens, you must read the bowling lane but not visually as in golf putting, but rather by your ball reaction.

In bowling, your adjustments are based on previous ball reactions so you may determine if you move laterally, change your ball projection skid distance, or if you change bowling balls.

Reading the bowling lanes makes the difference between good players and less than successful players.

It is important to learn to read the lanes and develop a strategy in doing so.

If you have no current system in place to read the lanes where you bowl your leagues or tournaments, then it is advised to consult with an experience bowling instructor so you get assistance in doing so.

Your ability to read the lanes and make sensible and effective adjustments as oil conditions change makes all the difference between good scoring and poor scoring.

Avoid the trap of playing the lanes the same way every game you bowl and making no adjustments whatsoever if you expect to improve your score results.

Learning to read the lane conditions and align and adjust accordingly is the trick in producing good scoring results.