What Is Lane Oil?

I actually started to write an article about bowling lane oil many months ago; but, I was looking for a solid definition and description. Guess what? I didn't find one. Believe me when I say that I tried. I searched and read articles on the internet, numerous bowling publications, and talked to pro shop people as well as several lane mechanic friends of mine. No definitive answers, I'm afraid.

But, who's to say that we need specific and detailed answers to our questions about lane oil and conditions? Do we really need the technical specifications? Do we really need to care? Or is it enough that we know, in general, that one bowling center uses more units of oil than another, as well as the length in feet that they lay the oil?

Personally, I have only paid attention to, and cared about the number of units that are being applied to a lane and how many feet down they are putting the oil. For example, the current house I bowl at uses 25 units of oil per lane and goes down 39 feet. Another center I go to uses around 30 units of oil and lays down to 41 feet. Just asking either the desk clerk or the guy running the lane conditioning machine will get you the answer.

From my past knowledge and current way of thinking for today's conditions, I play around the 8 board for the 39 foot length and a medium or low reactive ball because it is only 25 units of oil. For the 41 footer, I play around the 10 board and start out with my highest reactive ball because of the 30 units of oil. After that, we all pretty much know that the lane conditions will change and we have to make our best judgment calls in order to keep up with the lane breakdown.

So, with that, here's what I know about oil now:

1) There are various types of oil certified for use by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) and the bowling center owners can choose whichever one they want to us. I've seen the phrase, "thousands of oil recipes." Have you ever seen an episode of "Bizarre Foods?"

2) USBC states that a "minimum of three units of oil" needs to be used when conditioning a lane. There is no maximum units limit and there is nothing that says how far down the lane the bowling proprietor has to lay the oil. I would have to believe that far more than 3 units are used or the lanes would be "burned" up.

3) The easiest definition of a "unit" of oil I found was in "US Bowler" magazine last spring (2007) that said that, "a sheet of typing paper is roughly 400 units thick." That sure makes 3 units look microscopic, doesn’t it?

4) For us folks in the PBA (Practice Bowler's Association), we think we have heavy oil when we are the first to bowl on the lanes after they just ran the machine on it. An article I read said that 50 units of less is "light oil" while "more than 50 up to 100 units was considered "heavy oil."

When I participated in the 12-week Sport Shot bowling league last summer, the first four weeks were 16 units of oil from the both channels to the second arrow (10 boards) on each side, 48 units of oil from the left-side second arrow to the right-side second arrow, 41 feet down the lane. The second four weeks were the same, except 43 feet down the lane; and the final four weeks were 45 feet down the lane. It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot. I don't care what the aforementioned article says, it was HEAVY oil for me and everyone else in the league.

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)