WTBA Sydney - 33 Ft

I played three games on a freshly oiled Sydney pattern.

Here are my thoughts:

I always start any practice session by not lining up shots at all, but rather picking up the ball and just getting into my swing. This makes for very effortless arm swings and a nice way to ease into a mentally challenging set.


The Set Up
- Sliding 20 - Targeting 10.
- Moderate hand position.
- Ball Layout - Leveraged for max track flare potential
- Ball Specs - Pyramid core (very forgiving), Solid reactive cover. This ball is generally my benchmark ball for medium lane conditions. In the end, I think I would have gotten better results with a Pearlized cover stock and pin down placement.

The Lane Play
 I learned a few very valuable things about this pattern.
1. There is a definite out of bounds right of five. I picked the ten pin off a full rack after throwing a three bagger.
2. There is about 2 board margin of error, and that is all right of target. (Zero margin of error left of target.) This may have been improved with a different ball in play.
3. If you miss at all left, your ball will end up left of pocket. No forgiveness. 
4. Bring a Plastic Ball for spares or something extremely tame like the Ice. Your ball will jump in the back ends and you will miss your share of opposite-side spares if you don't play them straight.

And here is the most important thing:
5. A relaxed arm swing and release will pay off HUGE DIVIDENDS on this pattern. Your ball will hook so much coming out of the back ends that your instinct will be to throw harder. DON'T DO THIS! It will only produce less consistent release, more hook, and possibly your ball just rolling out. You will leave frustrating things, like the 8-9, which I left THREE times!
My best advice is when you want to hit the ball or pull down your swing for power, DON'T. Just slide, sit down in your approach and wait for the ball to get in front of you, then release. Keep focused and calm. Refill your mental game every shot. You will need it.

Final Notes:
- In the end, I wish I would have had a different piece of equipment to play. Everything I brought had lots of track flare. As I stated above, I think I will try a Pearl coverstock with a tamer, pin down placement so that this ball has a smoother back end reaction.
- Lot's of oil came back on my ball, every shot, and continued through about 20-25 frames until I saw substantially less oil.
-  This pattern doesn't necessarily create an early ball reaction - there is plenty of oil where there is oil - but with the combination of Hollywood's ProLane surface (hot back ends) and the shortness of this pattern, you are presented with a major challenge and FUN!