What do you think constitutes a fair handicap?

[J Anderson]

For some people, scratch leagues are almost impossible to join. I'm one of those people, I work night shift M-F and it's almost unheard of to have scratch leagues on weekends. The only one I've seen is for seniors, and I'm to young to join. There's simply no way to get the weeknight scratch bowlers to move to the weekends, or the weekend handicappers to drop that antiquated "I wanna win some money too" BS from the 1950's.

I don't like handicaps, but I have no choice. It's a silly outmoded crutch for a sport that helped people legitimize the gambling/purse aspect of a weekly league. Otherwise, it makes no sense and degrades the "sport" when players are punished for their skill, or artificially advanced because of their lack of it. And, I say that as a 190 average bowler who usually gets a little handicap. I never want it.

No other sport I've ever played included handicaps. Why would they? You're supposed to earn your score by actually scoring. The only exceptions are golf and bowling, both of which use handicaps to make the quasi-gambling more enticing.

Makes one wonder how many would quit bowling if the prize money went away, teams bowled for the pride of winning, and only the unofficial side pots and brackets remained? I'm pretty sure that ball manufacturers and pro shops would see a big drop in sales, having spent all of my winnings from last season between reconditioning two balls and buying a new Roto-Grip Shatter.

[GoodGravy]

So the question is "Is it Fair"????

That is an interesting question since "Fair" is a highly subjective term in the first place. From a straight competitive standpoint, there is nothing more Unfair than to give a lesser player an artificial advantage to compete with a higher skilled player. What is the motivation to get any better, or to achieve any level of expertise if you can just be handed points because you stink. It is just like the ridiculous notion that in kids sports leagues there is the 'we don't keep score because all the kids are winners for just trying' attitude...John Wayne is turning over in his grave...

Having said that, the handicap system gives the appearance that the bowling community as a whole is more interested in creating an environment where the average and less than average joe can be enticed to enter a league. It keeps the general interest up and keeps the coffers of the league full.

So overall, considering that the handicap system gives the impression that there is a way for new and under-skilled bowlers to compete in league play, I guess some would consider is 'fair'. As a final thought, if somebody out there is really that good and the concept of playing in a league where there is a handicap is causing them grief, take your bad self and get your PBA card and go for it!

[Eternal Bowler]

This topic always seems to come up everywhere I go in what I like to call "the bowling portion of the Internet"...because it never seems to come up in real life.

With that being said (or maybe not actually being said, but typed ...see what I did there?), however, I'm the kind of bowler who genuinely wants to improve. I look at handicap as sort of an obstructive number. I remember not that long ago when my handicap was higher than my average...of course it's been over a year since that was the case. We're talking a 90% of 200 handicap scale here.

Of course, the youth tournaments had different handicap systems from the youth leagues (at least ours, anyway); one tournament was 80% of 210 and another was a whopping 90% of 210.

I'm a newbie so I improved a ridiculous amount over both league seasons I've bowled in (2011-2012 and 2012-2013)...went from averaging in the 40s (after 3 games) to 78 in my first league and from 96 (after 3 games) to 120 in my second. Between those two seasons...well, you do the mathematics as to how much I improved. I can assure just about anyone with any doubts at all, I was not sandbagging at all, heh.

I don't think anyone seriously considered me to be a sandbagger. My team last season did finish in last place, despite quite a bit of handicap we got. I was so livid that despite all those times I raised my average (and I was the anchor, too...yep, I did have the highest average as well), I couldn't pull my team together. I think my team (a different one from last season) had a better season when I was the lead-off (finished with second lowest average) in my first year, but my memory's very fuzzy as to anything relating to that year.

Thus, handicap is not something to be proud of in my opinion; handicap to me is like a golf score; you want to get it as low as possible.

Whew, that was a whoppingly long post...sorry about that.

[dnhoffman]

I just want to be a scratch bowler.... So close, yet so far away.

[DrOcktagon]

I don't think there's anything unfair about the current handicap system. IMO it keeps things pretty level and competitive across varying skill levels. However, I do think scratch is the only real way to go. Bowling is a sport just like any other; the better bowler/team should be the victor. Obviously not everyone is skilled enough to bowl scratch - your average league bowler wouldn't stand a chance without a handicap - so there will always be a place for handicap bowling.

But if you make the decision to bowl on a handicap league you know what that entails going into it, so it doesn't make much sense to complain about handicaps being unfair.

It is kinda weird though. Are there even any other sports that have a system like this in official competition? Most sports are usually just about who's the most skilled, not who's the most consistent and/or improved.

[Hampe]

It is kinda weird though. Are there even any other sports that have a system like this in official competition? Most sports are usually just about who's the most skilled, not who's the most consistent and/or improved.

Well, at the highest levels of bowling there are no handicaps, it's only the recreational level that has it and that's only to make it interesting/competitive among vastly different skill levels. Also, other sports do have handicaps in some form.....a salary cap in team sports is a kind of handicap. In a lot of team sports in European countries there is a limit to how many foreign players you're allowed to put on the field at a time....that can also be seen as a kind of handicap.

For me, a fair handicap is 60% of the difference of the highest players in the tournament/league. So if you have a bunch of players in your league who average 220, 60% of 220 minus your average (a 180 avg player would have 24 hcp). The better player still has the advantage, while the lower skill player at least has a chance to win.

[bowl1820]

It is kinda weird though. Are there even any other sports that have a system like this in official competition? Most sports are usually just about who's the most skilled, not who's the most consistent and/or improved.

Polo:
Here, it is based in goals. A rating between two and ten is assigned, based on the determination of the worth of the player to the team. The cumulative individual ratings of the players determines the current handicap for the whole team. At this point, the handicap for both of the competing teams is compared, and the difference between the teams results in the award of points to the lower rated team before the competition begins.

Horse Racing: Handicap Races:
A handicap is based on the basic concept that different horses have different levels of ability. In a handicap, each horse is assigned a certain weight, in the hope that heavier weights will slow more accomplished athletes, while lighter weights will give less talented horses an edge. Weights are assigned by a handicapper, an official who ranks horses on the basis of their past race performances.

Archery:
In Great Briton The Grand National Archery Society runs two systems of classification: the main Classifications (for indoor and outdoor shooting) and Handicaps. To do this, they produce tables of scores for all recognised rounds and an archer's classification and handicap can be worked out from their scores, normally by a club's Record Officer.

For indoor rounds, an archer has a classification represented by a letter from A to H, with A being the best and H the worst. This applies for both seniors and juniors.

Trap Shooting:
Each time a competitor wins an event or shoots a score of 96 or higher, s/he may earn additional yardage (also known as "getting a punch"), and must thereafter shoot from farther away from the traphouse.

[JJKinGA]

A lot of fairness has to do withwhat the league is like and wha tyou are trying to accomplish.

Usually we take a very simplifed approach - which is to make everyone have an equal chance of winnign on average. (Or 90% of equal).
the better bowlers have less days when they really suck so they ahve an advantage. Teh scoring system makes it really hard for high average (210+) bowlers to get huge pins above average night so they suffer a bit to the wildly streaker intermediate skill player.

I think for most handicap leagues with a range in skill level that wants a competitve environment, the goal is to create an environment where no one feels they can't compete but that still encourages them to beocme better. So I think the target is to bring everyone up to a passing level but leave room at the top so better si still better.

I like the idea of handicaps at 100% of 185. This way the 140 average bowler and the 160 average bowler and the 180 average bowler are on equal footing relative to their average. But they are still 15 pins behind the 200 average bowler and 30 pins behind the league best at 215. This make incentive to improve. A great night will still beat the hgih average bowlers, but a good night wil not.

[josheaton16]

i think handicap is fair, if a team is high average it shouldn't matter. I bowled in a mens league a couple years ago and 3 people were new bowlers. So we always got tons of handicap and still finished dead last. Against one team we even got over 400 pins a game!! And still lost. So the advantage is definitely with the high average bowlers still. Our handicap was 90% of the difference in team averages by the way

[e-tank]

The better i get the more it kinda gets to me sometimes when i team only beats us because of their handicap but i have to realize that not even a year ago i was a 120 avg bowler with a large handicap. It may not be fair but the handicap is what lets less skilled bowlers have fun and break into the sport. I probably wouldnt have quit if there was only scratch leagues because im always working to get better, but not everybody has that mentality.