While eating a very good beef stew for lunch today, I came to a startling realization.  Startling not just because of the crux of the matter but also startling in the fact that I never thought of this before.

Was the invention of handicap leagues the precursor to today's typical house shot (THS)?  The purpose of handicap leagues is to even out the playing field so that bowlers of different skill levels can compete on a more levelled playing field.  The THS in most of today's bowling center does the same thing, it allows bowlers of lesser skill to use the free hook and free hold areas to score on a more level basis with players better able to repeat shots.  The same can be said of modern equipment.  Now even the rev-challenged bowlers can generate a big hook.

If you believe as I do that today's average lane conditions are the primary reason for the decline of the sport (not the game) of bowling, did we first go wrong by implementing the handicap system?  Is today's THS not enough of a handicap for most leagues?
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J.J. "Waterola Kid" Anderson, the bLowling King  : Kill the back row

I agree that the range of scores, overall, has widened, but the vast bulk of bowlers are not on the extreme ends of the scoring scale.

Specifically in the 190-210 average range, I would argue that we have more bowlers than ever.
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J.J. "Waterola Kid" Anderson, the bLowling King  : Kill the back row

Bones,
 I agree---and disagree---lol.
 I agree in that the last several champions of one of the leagues I bowl in have been men who aren't the best technical bowlers,yet bowled well enough over the course of the year to get into the rolloffs and win the Cup. A combination of handicap,bowling over average, and the better bowlers having a bad night.
 At the same time,the better bowler will eventually come out ahead in the personal awards category---high average,high game,high series,etc. You hit the nail on the head with your observation of being able to repeat shots and make the spares that the 160 average bowler will miss. I've seen it---and been victim of it---lol.
 However,if not for the implementation of handicap I'm not sure that bowling would be where it is, albeit we are in trouble with the current state of affairs.
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Chris
 Lane#1--nothing else hits like 'em.

Thanks for responding, everyone.  Maybe it just seems like we're trying to level the playing field.  The typical house shot "china" can also be called "bumper bowling for adults".  My thoughts on levelling the playing field sprang from personal experiences.  Here's an example.

There was a gentlemen (I'll call him "Bob") I bowled against the last couple of years.  While its true that Bob never quite kept up with me in average during the adult bumper bowling sessions, he was usually within about 10 pins.  Last year we both bowled the ABC nationals tournament which is (for many reasons) in my opinion a fair condition, but generally more difficult than the THS on which Bob I and bowled league.  That 10 pin gap tripled.

This year, Bob subbed in one of my leagues.  This league competed in a house with a broken lane machine that wasn't fixed until mid-January.  The broken lane machine resulted in conditions more difficult than the THS.  The 10 pin gap was doubled.  When the lane machine was fixed, the 10 pin gap re-established itself from that point forward in the season.  There are other places and conditions in/on which Bob and I have competed with similar results.

So, while its true that I score higher than Bob on every condition we've encountered, it certainly feels like those bumpers give him the best chance of keeping up with me (on edit: which doesn't bother me.  Bumper bowling is bumper bowling, I know and understand that.)
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J.J. "Waterola Kid" Anderson, the bLowling King  : Kill the back row


Edited on 5/26/2005 11:08 AM