Pet Peevs of Team your Bowling Against

[bowl1820]

Here comes another bowl1820 rule book reference lol. I haven't ever seen a rule that prevents it. I believe half the bowlers on my Wednesday night league finish in the other lane and yes I do find it somewhat annoying though.

As far as I know there is no USBC rule that prevents it, But it is kind of mentioned in the "Etiquette Information" in the back of the rulebook:

"Try to remain in your approach area while delivering the ball."

Now if you run out a shot and you cross the foul line on the other approach it is considered foul.

You also got watch out if you run out a shot, not to touch the wall (if your on a end lane) past the foul line that's a foul also.

[Mike White]

Here comes another bowl1820 rule book reference lol. I haven't ever seen a rule that prevents it. I believe half the bowlers on my Wednesday night league finish in the other lane and yes I do find it somewhat annoying though.

The rule is more of a "what if".

If the wanderer makes contact with you while you are making a legal delivery, your shot would be considered void, and shot over again.

It happened to me years ago.

I was playing deep inside on the right lane.

The bowler on the left lane, after completing his shot, while on his own approach, came back very close to the ball return and was swinging his arms because he just got "robbed".

One of his arms and my left arm made contact while I was making my approach.

Since it was my first ball of the frame, the solution was to re-rack to full, and start again.

There doesn't seem to be a penalty for the wanderer.

[Tony]

I forgot to mention my biggest pet peeve: Resetting the rack during the 10 minutes of warm up time.

Are you talking about people that throw their strike ball and then reset the rack and step aside (rather than throw their second ball) and let the next bowler take their turn ?

I bowl with quite a few guys the will do this, as they just want to find their strike line and not waste time throwing at spares, I have no problem with it, and I do it myself from time to time.

[Tony]

I guess mine would be people who throw their shot then walk in to the next lane while watching it roll. I do this sometimes if the next lane is empty, but some people seem to do it no mater what's going on. Probably an accident waiting to happen.

I have seen people do this but in some leagues where one lane courtesy is in place it could be a problem.

[Tony]

If I'm behind someone gong to reset the rack I'll step up and ask them to shoot it as is but I don't always catch them in time. It's a huge waste of time.

On the lanes I bowl at if you do the reset at the right time it will never setup the spare and will instead return to the full rack, it actually saves a fair amount of time vs actually throwing the second ball too.

[1VegasBowler]

Tripping the foul light works wonders as well.

[Tony]

The two most annoying guys I bowl with:

Guy A, waits for 2 lanes clear on either side of him, then stands motionless like a statue for about 10 to 15 seconds before he delivers the ball.


Guy B, also waits for 2 lanes clear, pauses a few seconds on the approach for delivery, his issue is after the pins are down he continues to stand at the foul line for another 5 to 7 seconds, long enough that if it's not a strike his ball is back on the return when he gets back to it, often he is still up there when the rack is set for the next ball or bowler. One of our guys a couple of years ago yelled at him "go sit down, no more pins are going to fall down".

To give guy A credit he never complains out loud about having to wait and he is a high average bowler 240's

[Mike White]

Tripping the foul light works wonders as well.

Making sure the foul lights are working properly doesn't seem to be a high priority to the proprietors.

Moonlight and open play bowlers don't care if they aren't functional.

It seems even many league bowlers would rather ignore rules about the foul line.

[bowl1820]

The rule is more of a "what if".

If the wanderer makes contact with you while you are making a legal delivery, your shot would be considered void, and shot over again.

It happened to me years ago.

I was playing deep inside on the right lane.

The bowler on the left lane, after completing his shot, while on his own approach, came back very close to the ball return and was swinging his arms because he just got "robbed".

One of his arms and my left arm made contact while I was making my approach.

Since it was my first ball of the frame, the solution was to re-rack to full, and start again.

There doesn't seem to be a penalty for the wanderer.

Which is why you should wait for players on either side of you to leave the approach before making yours.


In the above example that's covered under the Dead Ball Rule.

Rule 8 – Dead Ball
When a dead ball is called, the delivery does not count and the correct pins must be respotted. The player is allowed to rebowl that delivery. A ball shall be declared dead if any of the following occur:

e. A player has physical contact with another person or moving object as the ball is being delivered and before delivery is completed. In such case, the player has the option to accept the resulting pinfall or have a dead ball called.

[1VegasBowler]

Making sure the foul lights are working properly doesn't seem to be a high priority to the proprietors.

Moonlight and open play bowlers don't care if they aren't functional.

It seems even many league bowlers would rather ignore rules about the foul line.

No argument from me on any of that.

All I'm suggesting, is, during the 10 minute warm up it's not a bad idea to trip the foul light for the person behind you to have a full rack.

And I'll admit, that, if the person in front of me leaves a big split and doesn't trip the foul light, I'll hit the reset button.