Rules question

[wseidl515]

I am bowling in a sanctioned league and have been asked a very interesting question. If a bowler has an established average as a left handed bowler, but can bowl with either his left hand or his right hand. he is having problems with his left shoulder so he would like to start bowling with his right hand until his left shoulder heals. I understand he must establish an average with his right hand, but if he starts bowling at the begining of the night with his left hand can he switch to his right hand. I know he can not do this in the same game, but can he switch from one hand to the other from one game to the next or does he have to finish the entire night with the hand that he starts with?. thanks in advance. proud member of Bowlingboards.com

[PSBA10]

Go to this site http://bowl.com/rules/rulebook/index.jsp and reference rule 118b. I think you will find your answer.

In short, what ever hand he starts with he must use till the competition concludes for the night.

[wseidl515]

That was the way i was interpreting the rule, i just needed some clarification. thank you for your help

[greggas]

scroll farther down the page to 118e/1: May a bowler switch his/her delivery after the start of the season due to injury?
Yes. However, the bowler is required to obtain permission from the league board of directors.
If the bowler were later able to return to their original hand delivery, permission would again
have to be obtained from the board. No combination of scores bowled both right- and
left-handed can be used in computing an average. Therefore, two separate averages would
have to be maintained. A bowler who switches without permission forfeits those games.

[wseidl515]

I understand the fact that the bowler must get permission to switch from the board members. I also understand that the bowler must establish an average with both hands. it was unclear to me what the ruling stated as to when the bowler could switch. being at the end of a game or at the begining of a series.
My next question is being the bowler must establish an average with both hands does he/she have to purchase a second USBC card?

thanks for all of the information

[greggas]

no, you don't need a second card.

[wseidl515]

I have spoken to the bowler that brought this question to my attention and am being asked why they are being penalized for having the talent to bowl with either hand. can anybody shed any light on the reasoning behind the rule in question.

[Mellen]

Look at it this way -- You are at leagues one night and have a good look on the lanes. You are crushing the pocket and leaving very few single pins. Your opponent is doing the same thing and the games are close. you are both bowling right handed. At the end of the 2nd game, the shot is vanishing and you are starting to struggle to find a good line. Your opponent starts to have the same problem.......until he goes from bowling right handed to bowling left handed. He moves to the left side of the lanes and continues to blow up the pocket.

Does not seem fair does it?

[Big Dog]

Unfortunately, some people also use it to cheat. Example, the bowler established an average with their weak hand to get it lower and get more handicap. Bowling a couple of weeks like this because of the schedule. In other words the better teams. After that they switch to their dominant hand. To take out the weaker teams. This is an unfortunate thing. I saw this quite while back when the rule book was kept behind the counter. I hope I never see things like that again. It is a hollow victory at best.

[wseidl515]

I agree with you Mellen with that scenario, I also agree with you Big Dog about people using this to there advantage and also using it to cheat. I appreciate all of the info and I will certainly pass this info on to the bowler and to the board members and the other captains in my league.