This is a league condition. There is a high concentration of oil in the middle of the lane (the dark portion) and a light concentration of oil on the outside of the lane. This high concentration of oil in the middle of the lane prevents you from missing left and missing the pocket. Think of oil as ice and dry as dry pavement. When the ball hits the ice, it skids (no traction), and when the ball hits the dry part of the lane, it hooks (you have traction).

There is a lot more oil in the front of the lane and it decreases smoothly as you get to the back of the lane. If your speed is too high or too low, the lane condition compensates for you, getting the ball to hook at the right distance down the lane.

To succeed on this lane condition, start in the oil, and swing the ball out toward the dry part of the lane. Use aggressive equipment, finding a ball that reacts to the oil but still gets down the lane far enough, then hooks back from the dry boards. Find an “area” to roll the ball toward.

This is a sport condition. The big difference between the middle of the lane and the outside part of the lane no longer exists. When you bowl on this lane condition, it will appear to you that the outside of the lane is oilier than the inside part of the lane.

The oil on this condition also drops off very quickly, and the last 15’ of this lane condition is very flat. This will cause a ball with too much speed to skid, and a ball with too little speed to hook a lot.

Generally speaking, you must control both your ball direction and speed to be successful on this lane condition. Shots rolled to the right of your intended ball path will miss wildly to the right, and shots pulled left of your intended ball path will miss wildly left. Shots that are faster than intended skid too far, while shots that are slower than intended hook too much.