When is not shooting your highest possible score on a lane not considered sandbagging?

This question has recently crossed my mind. It was caused by the potentially damaging effects of consistently bowling on a Walled THS with desert-like outsides. This condition seductively lures the bowler into playing a 'bank-shot' to the pocket. And with its hold area inside and swing area outside, it erodes a player's focus and skills to the point where the 'board area' they are playing on the lane typically encompasses more than two arrows also. Thereby, rewarding(?) the bowler with inflated averages, withering skills and developing bad habits in the process.

So, if one chooses to not 'cheat' and use the Wall of China to Sahara Desert route to traverse the lanes. But rather, chooses to play a tighter, more demanding line through the oil the whole way to the Promised Land. (Preferring to pretend the Desert was not there and play the lanes as though there was a Sport shot on them...) IMHO--One would still be shooting the highest score they possibly can; but on that, the tougher, portion of the lane.

One's average would surely drop from, say, 220 to 200, but at the same time the bowler would also be honing his craft to enable himself to be a better bowler on tougher conditions.

Note: There aren't any Sport &/or Scratch Leagues in the area for a player to join.

Would this player then be in jeopardy of being called a sandbagger?

My opinion is 'no', but I am interested in other viewpoints.
Thank you.

You get into such a slippery slope when you don’t try your best all the time.

Say the scenario where you are bowling inside on the puddle to practice bowling on more difficult shots. If your team is bowling for the league championship and difference to you is an extra $200 in your pocket, are you saying that your not going to be tempted to use the shot to shoot bigger scores just for that one night? How is that any different than just happening to miss a couple of single pins a game intentionally all year but not doing that in the roll off.

If you go to a handicap tournament, are you going to bowl in the puddle then?

If the only house reasonably available to you is tough then you haven’t consciously tried to get an advantage by bowling there. And if that is the only place you bowl then, as Sawbones said, you will not necessarily bowl a lot higher when on easier shots. You will get out of your comfort zone.

If all you bowl is scratch then knock yourself out. But if you turn it off and on depending on the situation then you are bagging. It’s all about trying to get an unfair advantage by keeping you average artificially low.