Dry backends or carry down

[bluerrpilot]

What do you experience the most??

I read a lot of posts where people change balls because they say the backends are drying up. But most of the lanes and conditions I see, the backends don’t dry up, they get carry down. And the midlane and heads are what dry up. I could see that happening if there bowling on wood lanes. But synthetics should not do this. Is it possible that the backends are really not drying up, and people just think they are because the ball starts to hook earlier?

[Rowdy]

You got it exactly right! It never ceases to amaze me that guys who were striking in the first game and part of the second,WILL NOT MOVE or change balls to adjust to the carrydown. I try to watch a couple of pairs to either side of where I'm rolling to try to get the jump on the lane change. Instead of their scores getting better as the nite goes on,they get really worse. Their loss,my gain.

[dw800seeker]

Can you define the difference between getting dry on backends vs. carrydown?

Example/Test: Seems to me if you have 8 guys all playing up the 10 board that there would be carrydown along their line to the pocket. To avoid over/under reaction on that line you could move left and go to fresh area or move right and finish across the carrydown line left by the 8 others.

If you go left you can avoid the carry down.

If you go right the carry down would interact with the ball's motion as it crosses through that carried down oil.

Unless you are bowling on long pattern aren't you always going to have "dry backends"? [What part of the lanes are considered the backends?] Aren't the back ends the part of the lane that are dry that the lane mechanics walk along when the pinsetter breaksdown?

[Rowdy]

I always divided the lane into three parts. Heads,midlane and backend. The odds of 8 guys all playing the SAME line are astronomical. Theres always been room to move just a board or two and find the oil again. That small a of a line change doesn't affect the backend of the balls I'm rolling but I have seen guys go way off the reservation to find oil,but have no line. I guess it all comes down to how adaptable you can be. I belive it was Bubba Ray that said the guy who keeps up with the changes the fastest usually will wind up the winner.

[Stampy79]

well, what I typically see is carry down starting at the end of practice and carrying into the 7 or 8 frame of the 1st game. Maybe longer, depending on the pattern or maybe less ! I usually just move right to start, then make that next decision when the time comes. And thats the hard one for me !

[Rowdy]

How long do you guys practice? A couple of hours?JK:D Or is the oil made of a water base?

[bluerrpilot]

Can you define the difference between getting dry on backends vs. carrydown?



Backends are anything past the end point of the pattern. Your example would be correct. Even 1 person bowling on the same line repeatedly would cause a “burn” in the front part of the lane and push oil down the lane to the break point. This is why you would move deeper into the lane to find head oil and use the burn spot as a bumper. Or move outside and go around the carry down spot. But generally, the “backend” of the lane, does not hook more, it hooks less. Specially on synthetic lanes. Unless you get into a high number of games bowled, then you will start to see the back burning up.

[Stampy79]

Well everytime a ball rolls from oil to dry, its carrydown. Most everyone is RH also. You want to see quick carrydown, Throw your white dot up 10 and watch the people freak out ! I do this when we bowl teams who really have no idea what they are doing, they just like to watch it hook. I throw the Maxim up 8 or 10 and thats all I do for the whole practice. Then mysteriously, there stuff wont hook for a 1/2 game or so ! LOL. I just move deeper and get it out sooner or use chalk and play up the puddle !

[BubbaRay]

Can you define the difference between getting dry on backends vs. carrydown?


Carry down is the process that happens when oil moves from the heads (the first 15 feet of the lane) to the midlane (next 25 to 30 feet). The oil is stretched towards the pins by balls moving over the boards. Carry down will delay your balls hook into the pocket.

Dry Back ends usually refers to the far end portion of the lane where the most hook can occur.If the backends are very dry, the ball will continue to hook with power for most players;

[tjb0621]

Sorry for this "dumb" question. If carry down is the problem and I move a board or two with my feet how far do I move my target if i use the 10 board at the arrows?

[LeftHook]

I'm a believer of the 2 to 1 rule. Now, this works for me, but not for others, so don't try this during league - practice with it first.

Here goes.....for every 2 boards you move your feet, you adjust your target 1 board in the same direction. Example: If I was standing on the 16 and throwing over the 12, I would move my feet to the 18 and throw over the 13. The goal is to have your ball break at the exact same point on the backend. As the oil carries down the break point will be the same because your ball is hooking slightly more than it did when you started. Never forget that you also need to adjust hand position the whole time you're playing...depending on the lane, you may need less or more hand. For my Widows it's usually less hand as the night goes on.

Good luck and remember, you will get many opinions here....take them all with you and see which one fits your style.

[Young300]

What do you experience the most??

I read a lot of posts where people change balls because they say the backends are drying up. But most of the lanes and conditions I see, the backends don’t dry up, they get carry down. And the midlane and heads are what dry up. I could see that happening if there bowling on wood lanes. But synthetics should not do this. Is it possible that the backends are really not drying up, and people just think they are because the ball starts to hook earlier?

There are two transitions that you need to think about. What is the first transition the oil makes? Carry down. You are going to need something that will still push through the carry down and give you the angle that you need to get to the pocket. What is the second transition the oil makes? Burning up heads. You will then need to find a ball to get you through the heads but still give you the strong turn on the backend to continue with the angle that is needed. Hope this helps in describing what is going on with the lanes.

[bluerrpilot]

Young...I fully understand what is going on with the lanes and the transitions that happen over the course many games. What some are not seeing is that I was trying to politely say that some people are not experiencing what they think they are. Many people have stated that ball “A” does very well until the lanes dryout. Then they switch to ball “B” In most cases they are stating that the backends get too dry for them to continue to use ball A. Yet in a different thread or time, they have stated that ball B can only be used when the lanes are fresh. So I started this thread to see what peoples understanding was of the way a lane transitions

[Young300]

Young...I fully understand what is going on with the lanes and the transitions that happen over the course many games. What some are not seeing is that I was trying to politely say that some people are not experiencing what they think they are. Many people have stated that ball “A” does very well until the lanes dryout. Then they switch to ball “B” In most cases they are stating that the backends get too dry for them to continue to use ball A. Yet in a different thread or time, they have stated that ball B can only be used when the lanes are fresh. So I started this thread to see what peoples understanding was of the way a lane transitions


Basically, backends won't ever "dry out". The only time they are clean are in the beginning of the first game. That is what I was stating with my previous post. The backends don't dry out, the heads transition. People mistake that with what they see their ball doing. When their ball checks up early some may think that the backends are drying out, when in reality, the heads of the lanes are dry, causing the ball to lose a lot of energy and then the ball is hooking at its "42 ft. mark" when it is only 25 ft down the lane. To find the oil, people will have to move out by 5 and throw straight up, or they will have to move deeper and play across the 5th arrow and look for their break point around 15 at the farthest.

[Street Racer]

Both... but i dont mind either...

[HammerheadKenny]

I see things two different ways. I used to hear people say their ball would start hooking more and so they would need to switch to a less hooking ball and could stay on their original line. I've always noticed carrydown, and hence my ball doesnt hook as much as it used to. But, since I started to throw the BWS and BWP, I've noticed everytime I start with the solid, after about a game or depending on how many times I threw it in practice, that it will start hooking sooner than how it started. This is because it picks up alot of the oil instead of carrying it down. So once it seems to be breaking sooner than I like, I switch to the Pearl. Then again, this all depends on how many other people are playing similiar lines