I have a guy in my league who clearly sandbags.  I am high average in the league and we pick teams.  I get stuck with him every year cause I get last pick.  No one wants him.  Been on my team 2 years now.   Its not a big money league but that's beside the point.  Sick of his crap.  I talked to the league President he said nothing he can do.  Wanted him thrown out of the league.  He said we can't until he does something wrong.  Well sandbagging is wrong.  Anything else I can do to get rid of him?  It is a sanctioned league.

Sandbaggers suck, but they've been around since bowling began, and nobody has figured out yet how to stop it.

 Good luck.

What is his angle? Why does he do it?

Yes too 16 averages.  Low picks first and so on.  Like fantasy football.  First round bottom guy gets two picks a so on.  4 on a team.  Only way for me not to end up with him is for me to bag.  I have known this guy for 30 years.  Been doing it forever.  Never bowled on a team with him before.  Best part is he is like 65.  We go to states last year and he sucked so all that bagging did no good.  Had him on a Monday night team 2 years ago (should have known better) we were winning and he goes to my girlfriend who is kind a a new bowler averages 165 and tells her "slow down you don't want your score to high".  Really she's trying her butt off to do well and you say that.  We pick out own teams that night so the end of the year I told him get lost.  He got thrown off another team on Friday cause he was bagging.  They threw him off in 3 weeks.  It was that obvious

We have a bowling center in our area that is very run down, and poor lane conditions a lot of the guys who bowl there carry averages of around 20-30 pins lower than if they bowled somewhere else.and they bowl there for that exact reason. they always cash in the local handicap events. would you consider that sandbagging or not??

that's a tough one.  to me, it is pretty much the same as sandbagging, but also not.

This is similar to the guys that only bowl in a sport league, but this year with no sport certifications from USBC and I assume no rerating of averages (haven't bowled handicap tournaments this season so don't know) that would be essentially legalized sandbagging.

If all games bowled were recorded sandbagging could be kept under control. Bowling alley should be rated just like golf courses. Scores should be entered into a database after every league and or tournament. My feeling is USBC doesn't want to do anything about this issue because it would cost money they don't want to give up.

Difference is a golf course has little it can do to change the slope rating.  Sure, cut the grass different, placement of holes/tees, but the course is the course.

At a bowling center, the shot can be easy or hard day in day out.  I like the concept, but not sure it will be easy to implement.

If people bowl at dungeons for the sole purpose of having a low book average, then that is suspect.  I have even seen people bowl lower than possible in the dungeon and justify their scores because it is a dungeon making the situation worse.

I used to get bent out of shape with sandbagging.  I have since refrained and no longer participate in handicap events.

Sandbagging is done by desperate people looking for an advantage because their bowling cannot stand on it's own merits.  Plain and simple...


I'd suggest getting people to start asking him why he's so desperate.  When people start calling him out and making an example of him the behavior might change.