From: fogelinc@nmr1.Cyanamid.COM (Carl Fogelin)
Newsgroups: alt.sport.bowling
Subject: Re: Adjusting??? What that is???
Date: 7 Jan 1993 04:41:42 GMT
Organization: American Cyanamid Company
Distribution: world
Reply-To: fogelinc@nmr1.Cyanamid.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: nmr1.pt.cyanamid.com

>  I am currently bowling in a league that scheduled  15 minutes after the lanes
>are soaked with oil.  Before 5pm, I have some really good (for me) games, but,
>after 5pm, I get to put into practise, the art of adjusting

Without knowing what type of shot you throw (straight, hook, fade), it's difficult
to advise you on the type of adjustments which are appropriate.  However, I
have a few suggestions which might help you out.

1)  Don't change the arrow you aim for, if you're changing your starting board.
    As it was taught to me, bowling is a game of triangulation.  By keeping the
    arrow you aim for the same, you get more consistant.

2)  If you hit left of the head pin, move left.  If you hit right, move right.
    Again, back to the triangulation.  If you were to draw a line between where
    you start and where you want your ball to hit the pins, your arrow is probably
    a fulcrum point. 

3)  You might consider shifting your line.
    Shifting means you change to a different arrow and move your starting position
    an equal amount of boards.  This effectively changes your shot from an inside
    to outside (or visa versa) shot (i.e., your line is the same, but you are
    working with a different part of the alley).

4)  If you are using a hard plastic ball (i.e., alley ball) and you throw a hook,
    the effects of the oil can be really hard to overcome. If the above suggestions
    don't work, you might consider buying an appropriate ball.

Now, an example of dealing with oil would probably be appropriate.  I'll use
my style and apply the above suggestions

I own a Pearl Red Hammer, finger-tip grip with inserts, drilled with 1 oz side
weight, reverse pitch thumb -- basically its a balled drilled to curve.  I use
this ball in medium to dry conditions, but I could adjust for oily.  I'm a right
handed bowler.  My normal shot is: I stand on the 2nd dot (10th board) with my
left foot and aim at the 1st arrow (5th board).

Assuming that I had to bowl in the oily conditions you're talking about, my
guess is that I would be lucky if my shot curved 2 boards.  That means my normal
shot would probably hit between the 3 and 6 pins.  I would first try and use the
same 1st arrow (#1), but move my starting position at least 5 and probably 7
boards to the right (#2).  This should pivot my shot over to the 1 and 3 pin
pocket.  Now, with my luck, I'd probably be still hitting light and should move a couple more boards to my right. The problem is that I don't have the room -- I'm already throwing over the gutter.  However, if I shifted my line (#3), that problem would go away.  So, I would change from #1 arrow (5th board) to the #2 arrow (10th board) and move my starting position from board #3 to #8.  Then I'd adjust this
new line as appropriate.

Hope this helps some.

Carl
---
P.S.  Sorry about the bowling lesson, I got carried away.  ;-)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Carl Fogelin (fogelinc@cyanamid.com)     "All opinions are strictly mine" 
Newsgroups: alt.sport.bowling