Did you know there are invisible lane factors that you battle against every time you bowl? You didn't? Great, let's jump in. What is more important, Lane Topography or Lane Patterns? The downfall to this question is we cannot see either one with the naked eye. We need to either run tapes to get the lane pattern or use a special machine or balance tool with a color box to get the lane topography.

If you are unsure what Lane Topography or Lane Patterns are I will explain. Lane Patterns should be pretty clear. That is the same thing as an oil pattern, or a shot that you bowl on which is applied by a lane machine. Lane Topography is the actual layout of the lane itself. Obviously we want our lanes flat. Unfortunately over time, lanes warp and change shape, thus giving us different Topographies from lane to lane.

Now that we know the invisible factors of the lane, which one plays the biggest factor? In my opinion, Lane Topography will have the biggest impact. You may lay the same exact pattern on every single lane, but if the left lane slants to the left and the right lane slants to the right, you will get two different reactions on that pair. This is one reason why on pair to pair in the house, you may have to play different parts of the lane even though the same lane pattern was applied. Another example, if the left lane the end of the lane is raised the carry will be affected, while the right lane may allow you to free swing the ball further because it slants towards the pocket. All these little shifts on the lane itself will play a factor into how you attack the lane. Whether you just need to be standing a few boards from left or right, adding more or less loft at the release point, or having a higher or lower axis rotation. All these little changes could help dealing with Lane Topography. Due to Lane Topography, we can actually determine if some pairs are worse than others at a certain house.

The reason I did not go with Lane Patterns is because they mainly dictate the over all scoring pace. If you put a house shot out; why is it some nights you have no issues and shoot 700 with ease, while other nights on different a pair you are having carry issues and barely shoot 600 or worse? Lane Topography took a part of that. Don't get me wrong here, Lane Patterns can be altered from lane to lane just due to the machine messing up, but that does not happen near as much with the lane machines made and used today.

So next time you head to league or a tournament, watch your reaction from lane to lane, and see if Topography is different. Again this is very hard to see with just the naked eye but hey this is one thing you get to say where the bowler is not in the wrong! Have your house print out the graphs of each lane to see if there is any faults or not. It will only benefit you to know. Remember to enjoy the game of bowling and Practice, Practice, Practice.