No, this isn’t about offering my coaching services; I am talking about allowing you to bowl up to your potential without destroying your chance of winning.

It is my belief that most people want to bowl their best. It is also my belief that everyone would like to win; win a game, win a set, win a league.

Around for hundreds of years in its current form; Bowling is purely offensive and a skill based sport. There is no defense, and NO STRATEGY! Good rules allow bowling to be just that. Unfortunately, bad rules not only allow for strategy to replace skill they actually reward average and score manipulation.

So the question is; Do you want to bowl your best and take your chances that the other guy (or girl) may be a little better than you, or do you want to be pushed by bad rules to “Cheat to Win”. Understand that the latter means that the person willing to say; “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, I will sandbag like I have never bowled before to keep my average down and steal the money.

Now is the time for decisive action. I need your help. This summer I dedicated a huge amount of time and energy to this subject. I have spent time with the USBC rule book, read many rules from this and other houses, and have spoken with bowlers and other proprietors to gain perspective for positive change.

Although there are no perfect rules, there are basically two ways to encourage honest competition:
1. Take away the reward. Adjust prize funds to make it harder to gain from cheating.
If you can’t be paid for it why would you trade 32+ weeks of deceit for nothing.
2. Correct rules that add a strategy game to a skill sport. Over time rules tend to have
additions that just don’t make sense. Some are manipulated, and some start off well
intentioned but leave loopholes that beg gamesmanship.
From my thirty years experience coupled with recent research; I have concluded that both have to be addressed, and matched to each other to effectively address the problem.

So if you are still with me; it is likely that you have signed on to the concept, so I will continue with that hope.

For anyone that is not aware of how leagues rules are normally formed: People that are interested in bowling in a particular league will show up for a meeting. If the league existed the year before they normally start by reading the prior seasons rules, and opening them up for amendment. This is where anyone can propose changing a rule. It is also where anyone can propose using a completely different set of rules. Note: It is usually best if the person proposing the change explains why it would be a good idea, and then everyone votes. The majority prevails, and in the end the rules are accepted.

One reason the meetings are so important is that once the first ball has been thrown in competition the only way to make a change is for all the team captains to vote in writing and agree 100% to the change.

At the bottom of this page is a link to a page that I will be adding content to, in the coming days. What I hope to have up before leagues begin are copies of last year’s league rules for every league. Included on those pages will be my notes and recommendations for changes that you can propose in your league meeting. I will also post some rules with competition and recreational league formats that can be substituted, or utilized for new leagues. Please take a look, consider, and take action.

One more option to be aware of; Many houses have now gone to managed leagues. A managed league would be one that the rules are presented (generally as a complete set) and accepted by the league members. Along with those rules is the acceptance of a league manager. The league manager would conduct all league business, and be the final arbiter of rules, with the exception of an appeal to the USBC.

Please be aware that this isn’t about calling out the cheats. For some it is easy to come to the conclusion that if some people are going to take advantage of the loose rules, I have to do the same if I want to compete. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be that way. Your input and your vote are as good as anyone’s, and if you educate yourself and participate in the process then you can bowl your best and still have a fair chance to win, and a better than fair chance to have fun.

I do thank you more than you can know for your time and consideration.

Dan M. Simril

Rule correction page link: https://sites.google.com/site/foxfirelanes/home/league-rules