So you start off the year bowling. You took the summer off. Never threw a practice shot before league starts.  7 weeks into leauge, your average has dropped 30 from last year.

You get injured. Cannot bowl in the league for remaining year. You don't bowl in any league at the start of the following year. However, you finally get the okay from the doctor in February that you are able to bowl. You start practicing. Taking it easy. Don't want to sub in any league until you feel good throwing 3 games.

So March and April goes by, and you bowling just as good 3 years ago. Someone asks you to fill in a spot at a handicap tournament. Tournament requires an established average from past 2 years. You don't have an average from current year, but you have your low average (-30 from 3 years ago) you established last year before getting injured. Would you tell the tournament director to increase your entering average?

How many bowlers do you think would be honest in situations like this?

I made this story up, however I heard and seen stories like this through the years of bowling. I do not know of anyone that asked for their entering average to be increased. I guarantee most feel its their turn to gain an advantage.

So if something like this happens to you,do you say nothing and take the extra pins?

How many bowlers do you think would be honest in situations like this?

Honest about what?

What's the explanation for dropping 30 pins after 7 weeks before you got injured?

Rule says to take an average from the past 2 years.  You only have an average from 3 years ago, so my guess is the tournament enters you as a scratch bowler.

My second guess is that if you start to explain the situation the tournament director is going to tell you that they don't care and use whatever average is available from USBC.

That happen to me and I honestly went straight to the bank...  That was back pay from when they screwed me over .....

In what you described above most tournaments that I know will not take an average that is lower than 36 games. I would assume you would have to bowl scratch or take your book from 3 years ago since you only bowled 21 games in the lower average.

Even if I bowled 36 games and still had a lower average I would not say anything. There is nothing wrong there unless you were trying to set your average lower on purpose. The person did nothing wrong in the above scenario. He bowled his best till he got hurt and it just happens his average is lower then before. Maybe the injury that caused him to stop bowling was the reason he was so low in the first place.

its the typical " grey " area.... 

I mean i've seen tournaments put in crazy rules to kind of prevent stuff like this..  mainly it was smaller tournaments local handicap stuff..... and they'd put in something like your highest average in the last 10 years lol....

Or no PBA card in the last 5 years..... or no National Title " ever "   to eliminate people from bowling in a tournament. 

Unfortunately this usually gets more people into the tournament. I know people that won't enter a tournament if one specific person from our area enters. They state he automatically wins, and they don't want to be a donator.