As promised last month, most this column will be about the five main oil patterns for PBA Experience leagues coming to a center near you this summer. You can log on to bowl.com to check the streaming instructional videos by Chris Barnes, Parker Bohn III, Tommy Jones, and Jason Couch and pba.com to see the oil pattern designs themselves. Here are a couple of things about all these patterns, including the four major tournament patterns. There is a limited space and angle to get your strike ball through to the pins. Unlike a league or house pattern, you don't just stand anywhere left and throw anywhere to the right. There is rhyme and reason how to get the most of your style. Some patterns force you to roll the ball in certain areas and even certain ways. Your ball speed may have to change. You will have stand in different parts of the approach to navigate these specially-designed oil patterns. There is so much more to just 'stand left, throw right.'

     1) Viper pattern-37 feet. Looking at the overhead view, it appears like a league pattern. In time, it may play like one if it is played properly. You can start around 2nd arrow projecting the ball a bit to the right, but not too far right. Why? The drier area is further down the lane, not closer and to the right as you might be accustomed. One place you might want to try is straight up the gutter with a duller surface ball. A newer lane surface (5 years or younger) may not allow it due to its smoothness. An older lane surface may allow a faster speed or an average speed with a pearlized coverstock. That line usually becomes unplayable after a game or two early on, but how far left is the move? Using somewhere between 2nd and 3rd arrow as a starting target, getting the proper angle down the lane is the key. A pearlized ball without a huge snap is your best choice. Getting too far inside with the feet and too sharp a break allows too small a margin of error.

     2) Chameleon pattern-39 feet. This can play pretty easy, although not as easy as the Cheetah pattern, but easier for a longer pattern. The drier area is not as far down the lane, but finding the right angle quickly allows an easier read of the first oil transition. Like the Viper, you can start near 2nd arrow and depending on the type of players in your group, you can plan to move left similar to a league pattern. A stronger pearlized cover is good to start, but you may need a more angular reaction later as the drier area develops. If a distinct drier area does not develop after three games, it may not appear at all, making the pattern lower scoring.

     3) Scorpion pattern-41 feet. You wouldn't think a two-foot longer pattern compared to the Chameleon pattern matters, but it's the extra oil at the end of the pattern which can cause headaches, so the middle of the lane is usually off limits until later in the session. Starting out with a duller surface may not be the optimum choice, so keep a lower RG ball handy. It will rev up quicker, allowing a different ball path and/or line to be used. You might get to the pocket, but if the ball is hitting like a bag of feathers, it's time to change to another ball. Ball angle down the lane once again will be a key. A straighter starting path through the pattern will give you a good look and allow it to open up, gradually giving you a larger area to play.

     4) Shark pattern-44 feet. This pattern forces you to start usually around 3rd arrow and can score well, but any errant toss too far out may leave some interesting spare/split combinations. There is hold in the middle, but again, finding a controllable path down the lane to start can be intimidating. Find the hold toward the middle while using a lower RG (fast revving). Some left- handers may have trouble with the heavy oil further down the lane, so it will take longer to develop a controllable ball reaction.

     5) Cheetah pattern -35 feet. What else can be said about this pattern besides 'strike early, strike often.?' This can be the highest scoring, yet one of the more frustrating patterns at the same time. The first big hurdle is getting over the fear of rolling the ball at the gutter at around the 40- foot mark. Once that fear is overcome, then its getting used to the ball literally bouncing off the 1 or 2-board and heading to the pocket. Some of the crankers use an aggressive duller shell to tone down too much flip, while others use moderate flip ball to increase a 'bounce' back to the pocket. The idea is to get the 'bounce' directed back to the pocket. This pattern does have a bad area to navigate and that is just inside 5-10 board if you are using outside first arrow as a breakpoint. A ball thrown in this area may either take off to the 7-pin or miss the headpin to the right, leaving a washout. Shooting spares may be a bit tricky as well. You have to remember the lane has much more friction than before, allowing the ball to hook in the midlane (the 20'-40' area)

     Here are a couple of other points you will have to consider. These patterns are easier to play if everyone plays the same part of the lane. If you have six different people playing six different ball lines too far apart, you end up with most of the lane not being as scoreable as others. You may consider changing the ball surface to help on these patterns. With the slicker lane oil being used these days, polishing isn't the first or even second choice to fine tune a ball's reaction. Using higher grits of sandpaper or Abalon pads (up to 4000 grit) can enhance pin carry as a ball moves from oil to dry either side to side or front to back of the pattern. The last factor to consider is lane surface. A worn surface will play much different than a smoother one.

     Most of all, keep an open mind while going through your PBA Experience league. You may reaffirm what you knew all along while rediscover some lost skills you thought you lost.