bowled out during a circus

[foreverincamo]

I hate pre-bowling, or bowling out, whichever is preferred. But tonite the center was absolute chaos. The place is usually quiet on Wednesdays, but not tonite. Every lane was full, so I had to wait 1 1/2 hours to get a pair of lanes. When I did, I was sandwiched between 20 5 to 8 year old screaming kids at a party, and beginners getting lessons. Lane courtesy was non-existent. I had to jump up and bowl as fast as possible, which didn't help.
I bowled over average, but not by much, 619. No clean games, and being rushed didn't help my timing at all. My wife took pictures of me, and my backswing was way too high, causing my ball speed to increase and my ball kept missing the breakpoint and just left corner pins all night . Our league takes 10 pins off your average per game when you're absent, so my 619 gave my team 67 more pins than taking the blind score.
It's a team sport, and I only did this to help the team. What a freaking nightmare bowling with all the distractions. Every have your ball at the top of your swing and have a ball on the next lane going the wrong way after hitting the pin sweep arm? Happened THREE TIMES! I had kids kicking the ball downlane, dancing next to me, walking onto my approach, you name it. I never lost my temper, but never found my swing either . I'll get them next week I guess.

[Bradski9]

It makes me cringe when I see bowlers make a big fuss about lane courtesy during open bowling on a very crowded evening . I'm glad you didn't lose your temper! I've seen adults bullet a 14 pound ball right into the guard xD

[zdawg]

Every have your ball at the top of your swing and have a ball on the next lane going the wrong way after hitting the pin sweep arm? Happened THREE TIMES! I had kids kicking the ball downlane, dancing next to me, walking onto my approach, you name it.

I can do you one better, I had a little girl run diagonally onto my approach and throw her ball on my lane - I was working on a 6 bagger too :D

Her mom applauded, obviously the girl was too young to understand and the mother either too ignorant or just not paying closing enough attention. Either way I shrugged it off and laughed, it was open bowling after all.

In my league we're not allowed to have one person pre or post bowl, either the entire team does or the entire team does not. Also, we have to call an hour or more in advance to ensure that they can set us up with fresh oil and a one lane buffer which is kinda cool.

[epiepenburg]

In my league we're not allowed to have one person pre or post bowl, either the entire team does or the entire team does not. Also, we have to call an hour or more in advance to ensure that they can set us up with fresh oil and a one lane buffer which is kinda cool.

That's pretty standard for prebowling in most leagues, either the entire team or not at all. the house I bowl at also requires that prebowling be done on the same pair that we are suppose to bowl on that night.

[Mudpuppy]

Prebowling and open bowling are horrible for me. total disaster.

[foreverincamo]

Our league had a meeting to pass a rule that any bowler could pre-bowl instead of the entire team . It's not a competitive high dollar league. No one really cares about where they finish because the prize money difference between first and last place is about$100 .

[rv driver]

It seems to me that "pre-bowling" sort of defeats the whole purpose of team play. It would be sort of like baseball players being allowed to show up before the actual game and score hits off the pitcher, then not have to be there for the game. If you can't be there, your scores don't count. If you can't be there a lot, why are you in a league to begin with? That may sound harsh, but it sounds like the whole "pre-bowling" thing is sort of a cop-out.

[epiepenburg]

It seems to me that "pre-bowling" sort of defeats the whole purpose of team play. It would be sort of like baseball players being allowed to show up before the actual game and score hits off the pitcher, then not have to be there for the game. If you can't be there, your scores don't count. If you can't be there a lot, why are you in a league to begin with? That may sound harsh, but it sounds like the whole "pre-bowling" thing is sort of a cop-out.

Couldn't agree more. If you can't be there for the actual night, then a sub should be there. Prebowling while normally done on more used oil conditions, usually can be a more consistent shot.

It's been a painful year in our 5 man team league. We had a guy committed to be on the team, he bowled the first night, never came back. Every week we are playing the round robin of subs. We also had a guy break a toe, so for a while we were looking for two subs every week. The bowling center allowed my wife to be one of our subs, up until a few weeks ago she had the 4th most games shot on our team. Now that the guy with the broken toe is back I think he has 1 more weeks worth of games. There were many weeks that we had to go with 4 people on our team. The third of fourth weeks of the season we were in first. Having to go with four people dropped us down to the bottom.

[foreverincamo]

In my defense, it was the only week I've missed this season, and it was to attend a charity event that I couldn't miss. We have 6 guys on our roster, but one was off that night for business on the west coast. We have bowled a couple nights with 4 guys and having to take a blind score, and got crushed both nights. So I pre-bowled to help the team. It's legal so I did it.

[epiepenburg]

In my defense, it was the only week I've missed this season, and it was to attend a charity event that I couldn't miss. We have 6 guys on our roster, but one was off that night for business on the west coast. We have bowled a couple nights with 4 guys and having to take a blind score, and got crushed both nights. So I pre-bowled to help the team. It's legal so I did it.

If the league allows it, then there is nothing wrong with it.

[rv driver]

In my defense, it was the only week I've missed this season, and it was to attend a charity event that I couldn't miss. We have 6 guys on our roster, but one was off that night for business on the west coast. We have bowled a couple nights with 4 guys and having to take a blind score, and got crushed both nights. So I pre-bowled to help the team. It's legal so I did it.
Not judging you at all! You gotta do what you gotta do. My apologies if you thought I was judging you. My last league (years ago) didn't have pre-bowling. We either got subs or "bowled short." I'm simply not used to the idea.

[J Anderson]

I have decidedly negative yet mixed feelings about prebowling. When it's a small league, it really seems dead if a full team or if several individuals aren't there on a given night. On the other hand, the days when teams had six or seven person rosters, 5regulars and 1or2 subs, seem to be long gone. It does seem that the prebowling option is the only thing that keeps even more teams from dropping out because they can't field a full team every week.

As I understand it, the rule was originally introduced to encourage more teams to enter the USBC Open without having to forfeit a weeks worth of points in league. It would be interesting to find out what percentage of prebowled games are actually used by teams going to the Open, as well as how many league prebowl rules are actually in agreement with the USBC rules.

[fortheloveofbowling]

I can do you one better, I had a little girl run diagonally onto my approach and throw her ball on my lane - I was working on a 6 bagger too :D

Her mom applauded, obviously the girl was too young to understand and the mother either too ignorant or just not paying closing enough attention. Either way I shrugged it off and laughed, it was open bowling after all.

In my league we're not allowed to have one person pre or post bowl, either the entire team does or the entire team does not. Also, we have to call an hour or more in advance to ensure that they can set us up with fresh oil and a one lane buffer which is kinda cool.

That is something that scares the hell out of me when open bowling next to kids. At the risk of being a jerk, i always try to point out nicely to a parent that it wouldn't be a good scene if your child ran up behind me and caught a ball to the head on my back swing or ran in front of me during my approach.

[foreverincamo]

Rv driver, I was just clarifying why I did it. Wasn't feeling judged at all. And I was extremely worried that I was going to clobber a kid in the head with my ball or just trample someone . Every shot was rushed. Was happy with my low 600 series, but it took me two hours to unwind after that set at home. Thank God for wine!

[rv driver]

Rv driver, I was just clarifying why I did it. Wasn't feeling judged at all. And I was extremely worried that I was going to clobber a kid in the head with my ball or just trample someone . Every shot was rushed. Was happy with my low 600 series, but it took me two hours to unwind after that set at home. Thank God for wine!
Nectar of the gods...