4 weeks ago we finished our main league, the Night Owls Mens Doubles... a handicap league at our local centre.

We won the league and acompanying KO Cup last year in a great season, and where quietly confident for this year.

Well, at the end of the season, we had the high team average scratch... and finshed 5th!! sickened!

Into the KnockOut and we scraped through the group stages into the Quarter finals, and on a piss poor condition we got beaten by straightbowling fluffers in a luck contest to go out... not impressed!

Any time we complain about handicaps, we get the same answer... "its a handicap league".. which would be a valid answer of there was a scratch alternative... but there isnt

really makes you wonder why you bother!

Ah well... on to the world cup qualifier... at least thats scratch and played on some oil!

Ryan

I don't understand the complaint.  You knew the rules coming in.  You
won it one year, what do you expect?

I have to agree, in general, with scadreau.
I was in this mixed handicap league for the first time this year. 3 of the 4 bowlers were 190 - 205. There were some teams with 4 100 - 120 average men and women. It IS a social league, not a money league. We're weren't there to make money (there were no pots and no brackets) we were there to have fun and bowl. While bowling we wanted to win, of course.

Afterwards and at the end of each night, I kind of felt bad for many of the lower average teams. There were many of them in this 24 team league. The handicap was 80% of the difference in the team average. (I like that system the percenatge is bad, however.)

At 80%, with our team having two 190 avgs, and one 205 avg, we had a HUGE advantage in terms of handicap pins. HUGE!

Does anyone remember that the ABC had calculated that, on average, for all the teams and leagues that existed the handicap, in order for all teams to be on equal footing, had to be 110%!

So if your league uses 90%, the higher average teams sti have a large advantage over lower average teams, nomatter what your impression might be!

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"None are so blind as those who will not see."
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I know where Ryan is coming from - His centre was my home centre before I moved back to England.

Starting a scratch league is probably not an option. There is a singles league running over there and they have a scratch section and a handicap section, however, while there are some good bowlers in it, it is only a handful and the standard of the handicap league that he is referring to, is actually higher...

Starting another scratch league is probably not an option as you hear the cries of 'What's the point, I'll never beat so and so.' There are not a great deal of bowlers over there to begin with.

The implication is always that the high average team should win the league. But that doesn’t always happen even in a scratch league.

If scratch averages were going to dictate where you fell in the standings then why even have the handicap in the first place.

If you knew the what the results were going to be before you started the league then there wouldn’t be a competition.

You can look at any handicap league with a large dispersion of team average. The top 5 stops will be dominated by the high average teams.

If you can’t get a scratch league started then try and get a league of higher average bowlers so that handicap is not as much of an issue.

CHARLEST .. as usual .. I totally agree with you! You put the facts out .. now it's up to the reader to understand! Well done!
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Hit them light and watch them fight
      J O E - F A L C O

On the opposite end of the "I get beat by handicap even though we have the high team avg in the league" spectrum, I bowled in a league on friday nights this year where the handicap was 80% of 200. Handicap was given to each individual based on their avg. My team had avgs of 207, 173, 221, 225, and 227. We did the 4 point system a night with 35 weeks, and out of 140 total points we lost...... 25 all season.

Usually we would win total by 200-300 pins, with the occasional 500 pin total ever so often. In that instance, the handicap rule basically made us all 200 avg bowlers and the rest of the pins in our avg were bonus.

Luckily, they decided to change the handicap next year to 80% of 220 so that it doesn't get that way again. There is always two ends of the spectrum and you need to view both of them.
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First one to leave 15 ten pins wins!

I was accused of getting pins in my mixed league when I needed a sub for wife. My wife's average was 175. The SUB's average was 105.

The handicap was 90% of 210. So in their eyes we were getting 63 pins more a game. Well the SUB bowled around her average for all 3 games. I recall it was like two games with 90 something and one game over 110.

It was my Father-in-law and I that had the big games that carried us not the Sub. All I heard that night was how many pins we were getting and we did it purposely to beat them.    

This is simple math and most people don't understand it.