the coaching canuck tyrel rose

Staying lined up,

Part 3
Navigating short oil

T
he PBA Tour’s Cheetah pattern has often
been called the ‘house shot’ of profes-
sional bowling. While it is definitely
more difficult than your average house shot, it
does allow for some very high scoring from
the world’s best bowlers. Why is this? First, it
provides a little more forgiveness to the right
than most professional patterns and second, its
breakpoint is the farthest outside.
This outside breakpoint is a key aspect of
all short oil patterns and is what gives them
the potential to be very high scoring. Bringing
the ball in from outside the 5th board is usually
conducive to optimum entry angle and therefore
good carry. So, why is short oil so hard for so
many league bowlers?
There’s no single answer to that question. I’ll
go through not only attacking a shorter oil pattern
but staying on top of it as it breaks down. What it
boils down to is axis rotation, rev rate, head belly,
and equipment selection.
Axis rotation and rev rate
I remember my first international experience
on short oil and describing to my coach how
frustrated I was that the only ones scoring on the
short were “old” men and women. I was young
and there’s not much to cripple the ego of a young
power player like getting beaten by people who
can’t rip it like you can. My coach responded with
a description based on rev rate and suggested I

Tyrel Rose is a member of Team Canada’s coaching staff, a director of Montreal’s local as-
sociation board, an NCCP Level 2 and USBC Bronze certified coach, and former Canadian
National Champion. He owns and operates Gold Medal Bowling Boutique and lives in
Montreal, Canada. Start or/join a discussion at www.bowlingthismonth.com/btmBB/

PAGE 48 BOWLING THIS MONTH MARCH 2011

 the coaching canuck

CANUCK COACH’S CORNER ARSENAL

Lower RPM Higher RPM
arsenal arsenal
AXIS ROTATION Lower RG, medium Urethane
aggressive, arcing, i.e. Wine U-dot,
Keeping track of your axis rotation: sanded Natural
i.e. Pin up Virtual
It’s as easy as placing tape on your axis Gravity, pin down
point. If you don’t know your PAP, have your Mission
local pro shop operator find it and place a
Higher RG, medium High or low RG,
piece of tape on it. Watching that tape for
solid, polished weaker pearl – not
the first 20 feet will tell you how much axis
i.e. Short pin high gloss
rotation you are creating. The more the tape
Avalanche solid i.e. Pin up Vibe, Pin
faces you, the more axis rotation you are
down Playmaker,
imparting to the ball.
V2 Dry
To attack short oil, work to have the tape
High or low RG, Med-high RG,
face more to the side (0 axis rotation) which
weaker pearl medium solid
will reduce hook and create a smoother ball
i.e. Pin down Sharp i.e. Avalanche Solid,
reaction!
Noize XS Power

try to straighten out and soften up with my hand.
It was one of my first lessons in the world of short
oil. My release was simply not good on short oil
and I needed to adapt it in order to score.
What I learned during that event and have
been teaching ever since, is that a high rev game
built on a lot of axis rotation is not good on most
shorter oil patterns. Let me put it this way: a typi-
cal short oil pattern is around 35 feet long. That
leaves 25 feet of dry (friction) in which your ball
will have traction. A lower degree of axis rota-
tion will limit the change of direction and allow a
more controlled breakpoint. Of course, lowering
axis rotation is a coach’s way of saying, “stay
up the back of the ball.” (See Canuck Coach’s
Corner tip).
Getting back to my story, it stands to reason that
those with lower rev rates will have less change
of direction, more stable ball reaction, and often
better results on short oil. I had to learn to break
my wrist to cut back on my revs and axis rotation
in order to truly master short oil. Being able to
manipulate ball reaction through hand position is a
key element in being versatile enough to bowl well
on short, medium, or long oil patterns. Depending
on your degree of success in manipulating your
ball roll, the selection of your equipment becomes
vital to success on short oil.
Equipment selection
It’s really not a coincidence that shortly after
the WTBA mandated short oil at their events,
there was a surge in the popularity of old urethane
equipment. Of course, ball companies responded
by producing ‘new’ urethane. The reaction char-
acteristics of urethane (less hook and an arcing
shape) are a perfect match for shorter oil patterns,
particularly for higher rev players who struggle
for control with reactive resin.
I have to say I don’t consider urethane an
indispensable part of a bowler’s arsenal for short
oil like most of my peers do but it is a very good
idea. Lower rev players probably don’t need it
as badly as bowlers with lower speeds or lots of
revs. In setting up an arsenal for short oil, it’s
more important to consider a bowler’s particular
characteristics to specifically match equipment.
That said, I’ve made two basic arsenals (see tables
above), one based on a lower rev game and the

MARCH 2011 BOWLING THIS MONTH PAGE 49

 the coaching canuck
other based on what a power player might need. I
have included balls I’ve used as examples.
An important thing to consider when looking
at your equipment is its effect on the lane condi-
tions. Urethane balls do not deplete the oil at the
same rate as reactive resin. When bowling with
several people using urethane, the adjustments
on short oil will not necessarily be the same as
the adjustments needed with bowlers using resin
exclusively. We’ll get to that right after a quick
note on head belly.
Head belly
Head belly refers to how many boards a ball
crosses from left to right (for a righty) in the heads
or front of the lane. The most common mistake
I see on a short pattern is trying to swing the
ball out to the breakpoint. By now, most bowlers
understand that shorter oil requires a breakpoint
closer to the ditch. The issue is that rather than
play a line that goes directly to that breakpoint,
many bowlers will swing the ball out to it.
Most often, I’ll see a bowler who is used to
playing 16 to 5 on a house shot move right and play
10 to 4 on a short oil pattern. This is the right idea
but hasn’t been taken far enough. By their percep-
tion, they’re playing ‘straight.’ This isn’t straight
enough. When they are forced to move their feet
farther right and truly play ‘up’ (right to left) the
boards, the reaction improves significantly.
A good way to force yourself closer to the
ditch is to simply place an obstacle on the ap-
proach beside you in your start position. For a
righty, I’ve placed a bowling ball directly to the
left of the left foot. Progressively moving the
ball to the right each shot, the bowler obviously
had to move to the right each shot, until at last
they had broken free of their ‘comfort zone’ and
were playing the correct path. In the end, they’d
moved from 17 to 10 with their feet. By placing
a physical barrier on the lane, it allowed them to
break the habit of placing their feet toward the
PAGE 50 BOWLING THIS MONTH
middle of the lane and truly get to the outside.
That physical barrier will help break old habits
and create new ones. Combine this with square
shoulders and a straight swing, and short oil
becomes a simple matter of finding the correct
path and ball and watching the strikes happen.
Attacking a short pattern
Now that we’ve got our equipment set up (give
or take a surface adjustment), it’s time to figure
out how to get strikes. Fresh short patterns can
offer the biggest challenge, as the back ends are at
their strongest, and can be a challenge to control-
ling ball reaction. As the lane breaks down and if
the pattern is played properly, short patterns can
evolve into what is essentially a house shot.
My theory on short oil is simple: When in
doubt, move farther outside. I usually ask my
bowler to exhaust all options moving outside and
playing more direct before trying to jump left to
use more of a left-to-right trajectory. The only
exception to this rule is when you see everyone
left of you scoring better than you.
Using the “Minus 31” theory (pattern length
minus 31) to get the exit board and a starting point,
short patterns usually end up having a breakpoint
somewhere around the 3rd to 5th board or even
farther outside. Armed with the most even roll-
ing ball, play as direct as possible to that point
and adjust from there. Remember that on short
oil, the idea is to have your ball make its move
as far away from the pocket as possible. So, if
you go high you need to move farther right. Many
bowlers make the mistake of moving left here and
crossing more boards to the breakpoint which, on
fresh short oil, can be a recipe for disaster.
Using the decision making process I’ve dis-
cussed the last two months, let’s talk about how
the lanes can breakdown and how to take best
advantage of what’s happening. We’ll talk about
two different scenarios and apply the decision
making model to each.
MARCH 2011

Scenario 1
Six bowlers on the pair, a mix of high and low
rev players. Half the players are using reactive
resin and half are using urethane. A couple of
younger players are swinging the ball out to
5, two players are playing around 10, and two
players are playing ‘correctly’ on the ditch.
Scores are low on this pair. You’ve been playing
the 5th board out to the 2nd or 3rd board at the
breakpoint. You haven’t missed the pocket and
reaction has been mediocre. Your last shot was a
good one but left a flat 10 pin.
This is what I like to call the “soup mix” sce-
nario because the pattern is turning into soup. It’s
not being broken down consistently thanks to the
multiple angles and lines being played. Now we
need to see what adjustment to make off that 10
pin leave by applying the decision model.
1) Did I throw it well?
Yes
2) What happened in terms of ball reaction?
The ball rolled early, coming in without
enough angle, resulting in a flat 10
3) What adjustments can correct this?
• Ball change to something with more angle
• Move more outside to start the ball farther
from the pocket and create better angle
• Move inside to see if there is more oil to
delay hook/roll
• Make a hand position change to create
more angle
4) Which adjustment matches my preferred
move?
Moving my feet. In this case, I’m going
outside
5) Implement adjustment.
As you can see, there is a lot to sort through
in this kind of scenario. There are actually
two moves that could work, but as has always
been said when dealing with tough conditions,
“Straighter is greater.” Getting back to the best
way to attack short patterns in general, you want
MARCH 2011 BOWLING THIS MONTH
the coaching canuck
to minimize head belly (don’t move inside) and
well as minimizing the possibility of the ball
over-reacting at the back of the pattern (don’t get
too angular with your ball or hand position).
For me, the best move would be to move
farther outside with my feet and target, most
likely a 1&1 move. For lower rev players where
ball reaction is typically smoother in general,
a ball change or hand change might be more
suitable. Like any adjustment, it comes down
to the bowler’s strengths and knowledge of
their own game.
Scenario 2
Six bowlers on the pair, a mix of high and
low rev players, using mostly reactive resin balls
playing the pattern ‘correctly’ from the outside.
You’ve been all over the pocket playing the 6th
board at the arrows out to the 3rd or 4th board
at the breakpoint. The last few shots have started
going high, with the ball hooking early and
laying off on the back end. Your last shot was
well-executed but went high for a 4-6-10.
This is what I’d refer to as the “wall-building”
scenario. It’s important to understand that the oil
is being removed from the outside by reactive
balls, effectively creating a wall. This can allow
for a little more flexibility in your decision mak-
ing and will usually yield higher scores.
1) Did I throw it well enough?
Yes
2) What happened in terms of ball reaction?
The ball hooked early and went high
for a split
3) What adjustments can correct this?
• Higher ball speed to create more skid
• Weaker/more polished ball will skid
farther
• Find more oil; in this case, to the inside
• Change hand positions – create more axis ro-
tation to create skid and stronger back end
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 the coaching canuck
4) Which adjustment matches my preferred
move?
Moving inside
5) Implement adjustment.
There are two elements that result in my deci-
sion to move inside. The first is based on how
the lanes are being played and the second is my
preference to start with line and angle changes
over ball and speed changes. Some bowlers might
prefer to simply go to a polished ball. As I said
above, I prefer to keep from having too strong a
back end motion on shorter oil so I would usually
save those adjustments for last. For lower rev
players, the chances of having an overly violent
reaction are low so it might be a less risky move.
It’s very important to note here that even
though I’ve decided to move inside, it’s not going
to be a big move. Most importantly, I don’t want
to create too much angle through the heads, so
PAGE 52 BOWLING THIS MONTH
it probably wouldn’t be more than two or three
boards inside with my feet and one board with
my target.
In this kind of scenario, it’s very probable that
the wall will continue to be built and eventually
everyone will be balling down (choosing less
reactive equipment) or bouncing it off the ditch.
The higher the rev rate, the more likely we will
see a move inside. That’s exactly what we see on
the PBA’s Cheetah pattern. The pros are almost
exclusively higher rev players breaking the pat-
tern down correctly and building themselves as
much of a wall as they’ll ever need.
Next month we’ll cover long oil. With an even
more clearly defined strategy, this pattern can be
most difficult because of the quick transition and
extreme angles that make it hard to carry. When
played correctly, it breaks down to give a fair
amount of margin for error. All that remains is
creating the right angle for carry.
MARCH 2011
tyrel rose the coaching canuck

Staying lined up,

Part 4
Conquering long oil

I
n August 2004, I had my first international
bowling experience at the World Youth
Championships in Guam. It will probably
be remembered as Jason Belmonte’s coming
out party as the leader of Team Australia’s
dominating performance. For me, it was a
learning experience on many levels, not the
least of which was dealing with long oil.
After several squads of feeling like I was
always a step behind, I came up with a game
plan for bowling on the long oil portion of the
team event. The plan was this: Get lined up
in practice and then move a board left every
frame. My basic goal was to leave a 2 pin and
by then I’d be ahead of the breakdown and stay
still for a frame. I never left one. By the end of
practice I’d already started my progression left
and in the first game I shot 280.
Fast forward to 2011. I’ve got a better un-
derstanding of why my strategy worked and
now I spend more time explaining it than I
do applying it. This month, we’ll discuss stay-
ing lined up on long oil, the types of balls
you need, and applying the decision making
model to the pattern type with possibly the
fastest transition.
Balls for long oil patterns
Selecting balls for long oil is generally con-
sidered to be fairly straight forward: dull, solid,
and strong. This, however, is not always the
case. Long oil patterns often dry out quickly
which forces bowlers farther left or to weaker
equipment. A bowler armed only with the

Tyrel Rose is a member of Team Canada’s coaching staff, a director of Montreal’s local
association board, an NCCP Level 2 and USBC Bronze certified coach, and former
Canadian National Champion. He owns and operates Gold Medal Bowling Boutique
and lives in Montreal, Canada. Start or/join a discussion at www.bowlingthismonth.
com/btmBB/

APRIL 2011 BOWLING THIS MONTH PAGE 17

 the coaching canuck

ARSENAL the ball choice is a little different.

More concerned with conserving
Straighter is Greater Extreme Inside energy than changing direction
Low-Med RG Low RG down lane, straighter players need
High Diff High Diff to get through burnt up heads after
Sanded solid or pearl Sanded solid or pearl the lanes have broken down. As
i.e. Pure Physics, Mission Pin down
with any pattern, the shape of the
i.e. Siege, Marvel
hook is more important than the
Med-High RG Low-Med RG
total amount of hook and getting
Medium pearl/hybrid High Diff
Pin up Polished Pearl a ball to save its energy longer will
i.e. Reign Supreme i.e. Mission 2.0 (+polish), usually provide better results. It’s
718A for this reason that sometimes
High RG Low-High RG relatively weak balls can be more
Medium-low diff Med Diff effective than stronger pearls on
Pearl Polished pearl long oil.
Pin up i.e. Burst, Grind
i.e . C System 4.5, Damage
Burning up – long oil transition

strongest equipment will not fare well in these
circumstances.
Bowlers with less hand don’t have the op-
tion of moving to the extreme inside of the
lane. With lanes drying up and only a limited
ability to get left, you want to set up equipment
for more length to handle dry heads as well as
staying near the track area. Bowlers with more
hand will migrate even farther left. The need
to create carry angle from such extreme lines
requires your equipment to be set up quite dif-
ferently. See the Arsenal Table.
When setting up my own equipment for
long oil, I would stick to a pretty standard
formula: a sanded pin down asymmetrical
ball, a polished pearl pin down symmetrical,
and a polished pearl pin up asymmetrical.
Eventually, the need to go to a weaker ball
would simply include my “regular” equipment.
The goal is simple: create an even-arcing shape
for the fresh, and progressively get more an-
gular with my ball choices for when the lanes
break down. I know full well that I’ll be going
over the left gutter and, from such a deep
inside line, I would need a fairly strong, fast
responding ball in my hand in order to carry.
For bowlers who aren’t able to move as far
left as I, or who are limited by their rev rate,
What is it about long oil patterns that make
them so volatile? Volume and ball surface.
Most longer oil patterns are really not very
high volume, as the conditioner is spread more
thinly over a larger surface than a shorter pat-
tern. This means that the lack of hook is due
more to the lack of friction at the back of the
lane than the total volume of oil of the pattern.
Combine this with the fact that most bowlers
attack a fresh long pattern with aggressive
equipment that is sanded and you’ve got the
recipe for a lot of oil removal in the heads in a
very short period of time. This doesn’t neces-
sarily mean it’s a recipe for disaster.
As in my example from bowling in Guam,
it’s possible to stay with the transition if you
are prepared for it. It’s also pretty common to
see bowlers migrating left very quickly. Very
rarely do you see someone finish a long oil
competition block in almost the same spot
as they started. That can happen on short oil,
and even on medium oil, but not on long oil.
All this transition means you’ve got to be on
top of your adjustments, particularly those
that relate to creating more angle at the back
end and/or more length. The angle of attack
will generally dictate the types of adjustments
you’ll need to make.

PAGE 18 BOWLING THIS MONTH APRIL 2011


Adjusting to transition – inside angles,
higher rev players
It’s pretty common to see power players
dominate longer oil patterns. That’s really not
a surprise because of their ability to create
back end reaction which is necessary to score
from a breakpoint that is farther down lane
and farther inside. Typically, a high rev player
will start somewhere near the track area, or
inside of it, and simply keep moving left to
find more oil. Here’s an example using the
decision-making model I introduced in part
one of this series.
Six bowlers on the pair, a mix of high and
lower rev players. Practice is just finishing
and everyone has been playing near the track
area, with a breakpoint around 11. Some of
the higher rev guys are already a little bit left.
The last couple of shots in practice have been
a little flat, but you’re sure that you’ve been
throwing it well. The arrows come up and you
throw a ball which you think is good off your
hand, but goes high for a 4 pin.
In my experience this is pretty typical of a
long pattern, particularly with a fair amount of
traffic on the lane. After 15 minutes of practice,
the lanes have already started to break down.
As a higher rev bowler, you can already see the
ball hooking a little early, judging by the flat-
ter entry angles toward the end of practice and
now the arrows are up and you’ve gone high
for a 4 pin in the first frame. Now what?
Did I throw it well?
Yes.
What happened in terms of ball reaction?
The ball hooked early, did not get out to
the desired breakpoint, and went high for
a 4 pin.
What adjustments can correct this?
1. Ball change to something with more
length and angle
APRIL 2011 BOWLING THIS MONTH
the coaching canuck
2. Move left to find more oil, trying to
keep the same breakpoint
3. Move right to find more oil, moving the
breakpoint
4. Increase loft
5. Increase ball speed.
Which adjustment matches my preferred move?
Moving left.
There are always multiple options when
looking for a solution. It’s a key element in
the decision-making process that you go
with what you do best rather than choose
something out of your comfort zone. For most
higher rev players, moving left is a very logical
option since power players are always standing
left. My solution here would be move left to
find more oil, keeping approximately the same
breakpoint. Eventually the lanes will break
down to the point that a ball change will be
required in combination with these inside
moves, but at the beginning of the day, going
to a ball with too much angle can be disastrous.
Adjusting to transition – straighter angles,
lower rev players
Let’s look at the same scenario through
the eyes of a lower rev player. These players
are typically more speed dominant, have
less change of direction at the back of a long
pattern, and are often more accurate. They’ll
need to be on long patterns because they have
less margin for error than their heavy-handed
counterparts.
Six bowlers on the pair, a mix of high and
lower rev players. Practice is just finishing
and everyone has been playing near the track
area, with a breakpoint around 11. Some of
the higher rev guys are already a little bit left.
The last couple of shots in practice have been
a little flat, but you’re sure that you’ve been
throwing it well. The arrows come up and you
throw a ball which you think is good off your
hand, but goes high for a 4 pin.
PAGE 19
 the coaching canuck

Being a lower rev player on this pair might first, then hand position, and then moving a
be a challenge due to all the traffic. It will be little left, he was able to control his breakpoint,
important to create good angles as the lanes without going to an inside angle that ruined
break down and allow the ball to retain as his carry.
much energy as possible. Now that the scoring In my opinion, straighter players do have to
has started, and the lanes are already starting work harder on long oil and are generally at a
to break down, what is the best solution for disadvantage compared to higher rev players.
this situation? As I mentioned last month, short oil is the op-
posite. Medium length oil is a whole different
Did I throw it well? animal, and one that any style can dominate,
Yes. or look foolish. Next month, we’ll cover these
What happened in terms of ball reaction? kinds of patterns and why they can be the
The ball hooked early, did not get out to hardest of all.
the desired breakpoint, and went high for
a 4 pin.
What adjustments correct this?
1. Ball change to something with more
length
2. Speed adjustment
3. Loft adjustment
4. Move left to find oil, keeping the same
breakpoint
5. Move right to find oil, moving the
breakpoint right as well
6. Change hand position for more length.
Which adjustment matches my preferred move?
2, 3, or 6

Again, there are lots of options. For most

straighter players, ball speed, loft, and hand
position changes will be most effective in
this scenario. The lanes have not dried up to
a point that is absolutely forcing them out of
the current zone, but they are starting to hook
earlier. A small physical change to counteract
the earlier hook would allow better carry.
I bowled on a pair of lanes with four bowl-
ers a few weeks ago with two straighter players,
a tweener, and myself. Because there wasn’t
a lot of traffic and because it was not a pair
filled with 400+ rpm bowlers, the transition
was not too bad. I moved a total of about seven
boards throughout the night and had the high
series on the pair. The straight player who
made good adjustments scored very well also
and was second high. By adjusting his speed

PAGE 20 BOWLING THIS MONTH APRIL 2011