Bowling Spencer on September 10, 2009 05:40 am
A Bit Rusty
So, my first night back had it’s ups and downs. I started out very timid and didn’t trust my approach and shot a 148. The second game, I recovered fairly well and ended up with a 224. I finished out the night with a decent 188 for a 560 series and a 186 average (which is where I officially ended last season).
Overall, not too bad coming out of the gate. We did however, lose all 7 points and I can only suspect some serious sandbagging the first week. If it were one team member, that’s understandable. Even two… but when all four bowlers carry averages in the 180-190 range (for years) and have a first week average in the 130-140 range so that their handicaps are through the roof, I get suspicious. I took the whole summer off and still kept my average. 50 pin differences from the first week to the second are not statistically normal… not when it is everyone on the team. I try to be positive and look at the best in people because I don’t want to believe that people would really do that, but in this case the numbers don’t add up. Teams don’t get 3000+ pins with handicap for a night; it just doesn’t happen without some manipulation.
This has been a long standing league and I believe that the first 7 weeks should use the ending average from the previous season if you bowled in that league; or your USBC book average if you didn’t. Only if you have never bowled in league should your first 3 games establish your average. It’s infuriating. That would nearly eliminate the possibility of purposeful sandbagging at the beginning.
While I am fairly pleased with my performance, maybe it would have served me better to bowl 150 all three games to establish low. Of course, under no circumstances could I even bring myself not to try my best; it’s just something that doesn’t enter my mind as a possibility.
on September 11, 2009 at 1:47 pm 1. Mom said …
Great average for first night out. You are absolutely right about the sandbagging. I could never do that because my internal competition clock wouldn’t allow. Good for you………….I do believe some complaint should be discreetly given to league officers – or was it one of them????
on September 18, 2009 at 3:51 am 2. E.B. said …
I agree with you about the averages; however, I have gone into the new league here with a serious drop in average: 11 pins in 3 weeks. It DOES happen that a relatively good bowler legitimately starts out weakly.
My goal is not nearly as lofty as yours I just want to finish over 170 for the first time ever. Right now, though, it seems like a long, long way to go.
on September 18, 2009 at 5:21 am 3. Spencer said …
I understand starting slower and down 10-15 pins in the beginning after a layoff. To be honest, I was just hoping to be above 180 to start. These bowlers have bowled for years and consistently averaged 50 pins higher and the change from week 1 to week 2 was too drastic. Oh well, that week is over so we move on. 🙂