Anyone know the official ABC position on re-racking a bad rack?  We had this come up in a tournament recently.  One lane was giving us (what we felt was) a tight pocket.  It happened that one guy was stringing the strikes and was re-racking quite often to get a fair rack to shoot at.  Fortunately, he managed to shoot trey.  After the tournament finished, a tournament official came over to us, stating that some of the bowlers complained about the numerous re-racks the 300 shooter took during his game.  The official then stated that there is an ABC rule that limits the number of re-racks one may take during a game and that all re-racks required the approval of a tournament official.  Of course, I had to see this for myself, so I looked through the online ABC rulebook.  No re-rack limit rule anywhere to be found.  However, there is ABC rule 7a, Pins - Improperly Set, which states that it is up to the individual to insist that any pins incorrectly set be respotted before delivering the ball.

This wasn't a PBA event, so their re-racking rules don't apply here.  There was no explicit tournament rule prohibiting re-racking either.  Anyone know what the proper protocol is here?

The 300 stands.  As for the tournament having a re-rack rule, written or oral, no they didn't.  However, like most tournaments, they did warn bowlers to refrain from touching the scoring console, primarily to prevent unauthorized score changes.  In order to reset the pins without having it score, one must use the buttons on the scoring console, not the reset button on the ball return.

If the rule book does not address the issue and the event rules contain no provisions regarding re-racks, then it sounds like a case of sour grapes.

Further, if it had truly been an issue of concern to the TD, one would think he would have come down earlier in the match.

And, even in events with rules about the number of re-racks, there are also generally provisions to allow for extras but only after the TD has been called to the lanes and gives the OK.