Ball Delivery Question

[StormTex]

Last night in league play (USBC) a bowler on the other team, which was right handed, used a reverse spin off the left side of the lane to pick up the 10 pin every time he left it, he used no grip no fingers in the holes, palming the ball and lofted it at a slow speed where the ball had a right hand rotation and crossed the lane left to right. His regular delivery with fingers in holes was left to right off the left side of the lane. Just curious if this is legal in play? I wasn't going to question it being rather new and not know the rules completely. I actually thought it was cool and creative since he never missed picking up the 10pin.
any thoughts?
Thanks

[bowl1820]

Since he didn't use the holes there are several technical details involving the rules for number of holes and/or how the ball is weighted etc. that could make it a illegal delivery if they weren't followed.

But assuming none of those issues and Just to keep it simple, yes it legal as long as he used the same hand (Righthand in this case) he's just throwing a backup ball.

[chip82901]

Being a thumbless 2-hander, I can get into many debates about delivery and legality of this. So, as the rule states, the ball, outside of gripping holes, can only have one balance hole. For instance, I don't drill a "thumb" hole. For the traditional bowler, this means you can't do dual balance holes (as if someone would ACTUALLY do that). Now, onto your subject. If he didn't put ANY fingers into the bowling ball, he could technically only have ONE hole in the ball, to make it a legal shot. Now, in a league setting, I don't think anyone would actually throw a fit unless there was big money on the line. I would mention to the bowler though that if someone DID want to raise hell, it would be a forfeit for the entire series in which he bowled.

[bowl1820]

Now, onto your subject. If he didn't put ANY fingers into the bowling ball, he could technically only have ONE hole in the ball, to make it a legal shot.

as long as you can you can use the fingerholes, you can have more than one hole:

Chapter 8: Equipment Specifications
6. Holes.
a. Holes or indentations for gripping purposes shall not exceed five and shall be limited to one for
each finger and one for the thumb, all for the same hand. The player is not required to use all
finger holes in any specific delivery, but they must be able to demonstrate, with the same hand,
that each gripping hole can be simultaneously used for gripping purposes. Any thumb hole that
is not used for gripping purposes during the delivery would be classified as a balance hole.
b. One hole for balance purposes, not to exceed 1¼ inch in diameter is permitted. (Slugs and
bowling tape will be allowed in balance holes, however interchangeable devices are
not allowed).
1) Any hole that cannot be reasonably shown to be used with a single hand is classified as a
balance hole.
2) Balance holes may not intersect gripping holes.

[1VegasBowler]

Per the USBC: If no fingers are used for the first ball it is a legal delivery. But, that delivery must be used the entire time for every throw.