Oiling Patterns

There are some occassions when, if you know what you are looking for, you can see oil on the lane but, generally, the oil pattern is invisible to the human eye. That's what makes the lane play element of the sport such a challenge.

Under ultra-violet light, however, the additives in the oil will glow in the dark allowing us to see what is normally invisible. The pictures on this page show two oiling patterns under ultra-violet light.

Want to learn more? Read why we oil lanes. We also have basic lane dimensions plus lane play techniques and systems for finding the optimal strike shot on different conditions.

Revised February 19th, 2000.

Ultra Violet Lighting

You've probably seen the oiling charts posted elsewhere on this site: these readings are made with a special device which detects the ultra-violet additives present in the oil. Unless you've developed a heightened awareness it's usually almost impossible to see where the oil is on the lane, indeed many people may not realise that there are "different" conditions and how much they affect the way you play the lane. But these same additives can make that pattern visible if you look carefully in the "moonlight/cosmic" bowling popular in many centres.

These pictures were taken under ultra-violet lighting and enhanced in the computer. There are two different patterns applied and pictures taken from the foul line and further down the lane, looking back to the foul line.

Pattern 1 This is a pretty basic league/ "house" condition. Right from the heads (part of the lane closest to the foul line) you can see "dry" boards on the outside. They are not dry, but there is visibly less oil in this area. This is especially visible in the second picture (computer enhanced with light green showing the heaviest oil). The oil is heaviest in the centre, protecting it, but large areas of dry outside allow almost anyone to hook the ball. This is a very high scoring condition.
Pattern 2 This is a more challenging pattern. Looking down the lane it is much harder to see the pattern, even under ultra-violet lighting - the lane glows across it's entire width. The second picture (green) shows that it is a much wider pattern and extends further down the lane. Longer, flatter patterns are less forgiving, more challenging and anyone with an inconsistent game will soon realise that a 220 league average is probably much less under tournament conditions.

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