I bowled in the Virginia state bowling tournament this weekend.  There were two men there with averages of 99 and 152.  They were using summer averages from the 2014-2015 season.  The number of games bowled were 21 and 33 respectively.  If the story is true, this was the first season they bowled.  The went into the 2015-2016 season and bowled 3 leagues each.  They bought equipment, and tried to get better. 

The tournament uses a 100% handicap based on 230. (yes, I agree it is ridiculous, but the state is run by a bunch of 180 average bowlers) They shot 1741 in doubles.  One of them had a 935 in singles.  The tournament "apparently" does not use a 10 pin rule. 

Amazing how this is totally on the up and up, and legal.  Re-rating can only be done prior to the start of bowling as well.  So technically they cannot be re-rated.

This is a sad statement of the state of bowling if this holds up, in my opinion.   

I for one only bowl in this tournament because of the scratch side-pots, but I feel bad for the people in the tournament who had great showings ... or those who put money into handicap brackets.

I understand and respect your opinion, but don't agree.  When people can shoot scores like 353 in a single game by accidentally stringing a few strikes together, and I can't shoot any higher then a 300, then something is amiss with the system.  The 10 pin rule should always be implemented, and if there is a difficulty with obtaining that information, then the USBC should make it a priority in their reporting.  Just throwing an idea out there, but if they must report season end averages, then they should be required to report Jan 1st averages.  With modern centers and software, this shouldn't be that difficult.  If the USBC is going to govern the tournament, then they should have measures in place to make the tournament fair for everyone who participates.  The growth curve in bowling is too fast to allow this to happen. 

These guys weren't even in my division, so this isn't personal to me.  It is about ... dare I use the term ... 'integrity of the sport'.

I don't really care who does it, but since secretaries are typically paid positions and most leagues that I belong to have software to record data, the secretary should probably be the one to do it.

The higher your average, the more diminishing returns you get as far as luck is concerned.  No matter how good I get, I won't be able to shoot 6 or 7 300 games on a house pattern in one weekend.    So yeah, the average matters to me.  People with a 99 average might be able to do better than that while blindfolded, whereas a scratch bowler doesn't have the luxury of carrying 3 brooklyn's in a game to exceed their average.

I don't agree with the 100% pins for handicap.  It promotes the environment of cheating.  It doesn't encourage people to get better, it encourages financial gain by doing less then you are capable of doing. 

I was told that the USBC will not have scratch only tournaments, so that will never be an option. 

We have sport shot tournaments in our area, you get maybe 30-50 guys on a good day.  Not the 1000's of bowlers you get for the state tournament.  I bowl in sport leagues every summer.  I know the grind, and I see how much your THB bowlers struggle.  Some of them quit because their egos get hurt.   So yeah, I would love to see the state go to a difficult shot, but I also know it would cut attendance for the following years into fractions of what it was.

I just "sell it short" based on experience.  We've had two of the larger leagues in the area go to tougher shots (kegel challenge series).  It lasted one year for each of them.  The summer leagues that have sport shots have about 5-10 teams in them.   Maybe some areas have different mentalities, but around here it doesn't fly.  We don't have an influx of younger bowlers ... maybe that would help.

People have all these thoughts on why bowling is dying.  I get it.  I have a bunch myself.  The reality is just that ... it is dying.  State officials are probably afraid that putting down a tougher shot will be the nail in the coffin.   I would normally say that you should bowl on the shot that you establish your average on, but that is not possible in a state tournament since everyone bowls on different conditions. 

Look at it from the other side. You have 2 new and enthusiastic bowlers. They are spending money in the center, in the pro shop, and are working to get better.

Do you really want to penalize them for improving?

Nope, but that doesn't give them carte blanche to take peoples bracket money or tournament money. 

Do you really want 30 more people to not go to the state tournament next year because of this incident?

There needs to be a fair alternative in this case.

As a matter of fact, I spoke with the local association president today.  He said that two years ago, despite the committee's recommendation, the tournament chairman insisted on dropping the ten pin rule.  He stated that they will be reinstating it for next year. 

So yeah, I don't just come on here and whine, I try to affect change.

Looking at the the rules for that tournament and with the info presented here, The two guys did nothing wrong.

Since that tournament has a scratch division, just bowl scratch next year if the handicap bowling is a problem.

You can't just bowl scratch.  You have to pay for handicap as well.  They say this is a USBC rule.

Quote from: Aloarjr810 on May 16, 2016, 04:42:37 PM

Looking at the the rules for that tournament and with the info presented here, The two guys did nothing wrong.

Since that tournament has a scratch division, just bowl scratch next year if the handicap bowling is a problem.

You can't just bowl scratch.  You have to pay for handicap as well.  They say this is a USBC rule.

California does the same thing. You can pay extra for the scratch category, but you have to pay entry into the handicap tournament first.