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Strikes and Spares

By Brian Casey For The 4 min read

Synthetic bowling surfaces do have many advantages Not too many scores came in last week.

One highlight sent over was about Willy Gambrel who had a personal best at Manor Lanes during play in the Tuesday Summer League, where he bowled his first 600 series, turning a 611 as the final score.

Each week, when I start this column, I learn some new aspect of the game. Just when I thought I have exhausted all the different subjects I could approach up pops a new one.

I enjoy working on this column for that reason.

The proprietors are responsible for many of the new lanes I travel down. They are always willing to answer question I pitch to them, as they are a great group of men and women that really want to see the sport advance in our corner of the state.

This week is no different.

I did not know there were synthetic surfaces out there for the lanes. After doing a little research on the subject it sounds like this surface has many advantages. I do not think anyone is proposing this to replace the traditional wood lanes, but I will let you in on a little of the research and then you can decide for yourself.

The search was prompted by the message from Manor Lanes that they will be closed from May 16 to May 30 while they install synthetic lanes.

Now, you know I can’t let this opportunity go by without investigating what this surface means for the game.

I looked to the USBC (United States Bowling Congress) standards for synthetic lanes. The Congress is very specific when it comes to the use of synthetic lanes. One area they stress is the labeling of the synthetic surface.

According to the USBC standards the synthetic lanes must have at least one label that conforms to the following standards.

The label identifying the manufacturer, must be permanent, lasting the life of the product, and clearly visible.

The label should contain the approval number used by the USBC

The label must be located on the 5 board on the 7-pin side

On synthetic surfaces the Congress is very specific about the gaps were the panels are joined. Wherever two panels meet the leading edge of one panel must not be more than 40/1000 inch below the trailing edge of the adjoining panel at any point across the width of the lane. I don’t think my desktop is that smooth.

There are many manufacturers of synthetic bowling surfaces. Many are made of a laminate material that has been specially developed for bowling surfaces. The end result is a surface that meets all the requirements for bowling performances and sliding conditions that are so important to a bowler’s game.

Synthetic lanes provide a durable high gloss and wear resistant surface that allows for aggressive back-end ball reaction. The synthetic lanes also tend to minimize lane conditioner carry-down on the lane.

Many synthetic lanes come with enhanced approach slide areas and the ability to impart a glow to the lanes for special effects.

One producer of synthetic lanes even has an option that can be installed to report the velocity of the ball as it travels down the lane.

I went on a local bowling Internet bulletin board to see what bowlers had to say about this surface. One bowler writes, “I remember hearing Nelson Burton Jr. (17 PBA wins and ABC Bowling Commentator) remarking about synthetic surfaces applied over old wood and he states that the characteristics of the wood lanes as he had remembered them from bygone years, were exhibited through the synthetic overlay.” For the most part, many bowlers endorsed the synthetic surface.

I hope this information was helpful. If you already maintained a good knowledge about synthetic lane surfaces, then this served as a good refresher, if it was new, then you joined me in learning at least one new thing this week.

I wonder what will surface next week? Sorry about the pun.

Contact Brian Casey at brianwcasey@hotmail.com

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