I sent the below email today in response to a situation that happened in League Monday. I wanted some input from the community on this. Thank you in advance:

I had a situation on a league I sub in that was definitely unethical and I want to know if it violates a USBC rule.

This past Monday during practice one of the bowlers on the other team stood on the approach rolling a 500 grit ball down the left side of the lane on both lanes. The bowler had their shoe cover on so it was obvious they were not practicing. I have 2 left hand bowlers on my team. It appeared to me they were trying to mess the shot up for the left handers. Does this violate a USBC rule? If so what is my course of action.

legal by USBC rules.  the league should address this jerk.  or the lefties should do the same to the right side of the lane when bowling this fool.

There is nothing in the rules that prevents this.  Practice/warmups aren't for score, so they aren't considered competition.  The way the Unfair Tactics rule is written, this wouldn't be covered either since what he did doesn't make the lanes non-USBC certified.

It's just a tacky move by this guy, who has some sort of heartburn with left handed bowlers.  It is also doubtful that rolling a 500grit ball down the lane one time is going to make any kind of appreciable difference, so what he is doing is kind of pointless.  If it gives this guy some sort of mental satisfaction to think he is making some sort of difference, more power to him.

If it’s 5 man teams and 10 minutes of practice he’s not throwing enough shots on both lanes to have much of an impact. Like ignite said, if their whole team threw plastic on one lane the whole time, then you’re gonna be in a real pickle. Either way it’s just league bowling, completely unnecessary and pathetic.

20 or so years ago, bowling in a TNBA in Detroit, made it into the stepladder finals, won my first match, set to bowl Arnie Goldman (he's lefty, I'm righty) in the semifinal match and he spent his entire practice time throwing his plastic ball at the 3 pin.  He didn't get enough shots to make a difference but I'm guessing he was trying to play mind games, kind of a dick move but I just laughed at him.  He ended up beating me anyways but it wasn't because of that.  Had he had 10 straight minutes of doing this, it would have mattered.

Quote from: mike300 on March 20, 2023, 12:16:42 PM

20 or so years ago, bowling in a TNBA in Detroit, made it into the stepladder finals, won my first match, set to bowl Arnie Goldman (he's lefty, I'm righty) in the semifinal match and he spent his entire practice time throwing his plastic ball at the 3 pin.  He didn't get enough shots to make a difference but I'm guessing he was trying to play mind games, kind of a dick move but I just laughed at him.  He ended up beating me anyways but it wasn't because of that.  Had he had 10 straight minutes of doing this, it would have mattered.

Wow, so that story is verified from a friend of mine back in Detroit.  I got an email reply on the 18th after I had mentioned this link and he mentioned Arnie as an example too.  Here it is:

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject:    Re: USBC Rule Question
Date:    Sat, 18 Mar 2023 22:06:16 +0000 (UTC)
From:    Doug
To:    


Arnie Goldman used to roll plastic straight down the right side to push carry down into the rh pocket

He is certainly famous for his "antics".

I live in Windsor, ON (across from Detroit) and pretty sure Arnie is the one my PSO was telling me a story about. Similar tactics but it was during a match against my PSO (I believe) where he was losing so he was trying to help out another bowler he was splitting with who my PSO would be facing next.