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This show has a little bit of everything. Brad going for his first title, Ryan getting to another Major TV show, Pete loves Indy, and Walter still trying to get number 41.

The show starts a little later today and there is a tent just outside the bowl hosting an industry fan day.

In preparation for the show the most obvious observation is that three of the four bowlers will be attacking the same part of the lane. Walter's part of the lane will most likely be left to himself. Brad, Pete and Ryan are going to be attacking the same part of the lane. They will start out throwing shots in the 13 to 7 range and it won't take long before they are forced to follow it left. That doesn't mean they won't be able to strike from there.

All week long I have watched that part of the lane go through quick and dramatic transitions. Just after that part of the lane looks bad the bowlers would start stringing strikes like the lanes were walled up. But right behind that the lane started looking wet/dry laterally.

There is no reason to think that won't happen again it is just a matter of how fast it happens. Expect quick transitions.

The oil going down the lane is the most obvious transition characteristic this week. You will probably see several 2-10's.

Trying to make the ball hook creates quicker transitions in the front part of the lane. It is important that a bowler doesn't try and get too "handsy" at the release point. Reving it up with out hitting up is a big advantage. Clearing the thumb and letting the ball roll down the hand before making the ball choice has been the focus this week with Brad.

The TV pair they will be competing on has not been bowled on all week so we don't have a feel for that particular pair. Choosing the finishing lane might have an important impact on the show.

It has not been easy to get the head pin back up on the lane. I don't expect to see many scouts unless they did some work on the TV pair. A couple tournaments ok I have saw they did some kick back repairs on the TV pair. Then there is the plexi-glass issues. I wonder if they will be using it on the right lane this week.

They are using sanction lane machine technology this week. It has been common for the right lane to play a little tighter quite often with the sanction technology. It will be interesting to see if this is the case this week.

Moving laterally off of two pins and four pins have not been very effective either. Front to back reads and adjustments have been much more effective than lateral moves. A bowler who is able to see return down lane seems to have the advantage once the oil going down lane transition evens out. At that point lateral moves work until the lateral wet/dry comes into play.

When the lateral wet/dry hits bowlers are forced to clean up the front part of the lane physically and square up or make a bolder move left and figure out a way to get the ball around the corner and still hit. You will probably see several flat tens during this time.

Considering how deep the break point is liable to get with Brad, Ryan and Pete I expect Pete to struggle the most at that time.

Practice should have a big impact. If the three higher rev players leave Walter alone he should have a pretty good advantage. If they choose to spend practice setting up the lane instead of trying to search I would expect Walters look to be in the middle of transition in his early match. Walter will most likely have to make a ball change during the show and it is important to add that making ball changes has been one of the reasons for his recent success.

Walter is not making the over shelling mistake near as much as he typically has over the years. He still is using rolly layouts that look like they will flat 10 too much but Walter has always been able to get the 6 to just catch the bottom of the 10 when it lays in the gutter.

Walters ability to get the 6 to tickle the 10 out of the gutter is a lot like Tommy Jone's ability to scout what every he leaves on the lane with the light hit.

You will see Brad's ball get caught in the middle of transition as he tries to get it to turn the corner down lane. Flat 10's have been very common this week. When he sees this Brad will make physical changes that will involve more axis tilt. Getting the light pocket hit by mixing the pins on the deck has been the key hit for him this week.

I would say that Ryan probably has the most natural match up from the middle part of the lane. I have liked the way his ball has rolled down the lane all week.

Walter's success is likely to be related to the practice session.