Pin Drop Rule

[Carolyn Leahy]

My league (a mixed handicap league) decided for the first time to implement a 10 pin drop rule and I was wondering how other leagues managed it especially for new bowlers that do not have an entering average. Do you subject the new bowlers to the rule and if so, how many games bowled do you base it on?

Thanks.

[Frank Goebel]

The short answer is that, without a more specific league rule, a bowler with no entering average is not subject to a pin-drop rule. Read on for details.

There are essentially two "pin-drop" rules than can take effect:

1. A bowler's average (for the purpose of calculating handicap) cannot drop for than a set number of pins below the book average (returning bowlers or ones having book average).

2. A bowler who is absent for a prolonged period of time will have her/his absentee score drop further than the league's rules would call for, for a first-time absentee.

I'm presuming you're on the first option, above. Let's say that you've used a pin-drop of 10. As an example: That means that if someone's book average was 180, then the average wouldn't be allowed to drop below 170. If that bowler's average dropped to, say, 160, the team (or individual) handicap would be based on 170.

Without a book average, there's nothing to based a pin-drop rule on. Your new bowlers would establish an average for the current season after a number of games (maybe 9?) but, unless your leagues specifically say that pin-drop rule would apply to the average after those 9 games, then the pin-drop rule wouldn't apply to those new bowlers. Essentially, their entering average is zero, and zero minus 10 is -10. Any average a bowler would have would be above that (I hope, anyway).

I personally have never seen a league use a rule in this manner, although I have known leagues to use pin-drop in a different way to restrict substitutes (won't get into details here).

It's a non-standard rule...when you're in the Averages tab of the Rules, you'll see it in the very bottom of that section. Plus, there's a number of options there once it's selected, so your league may have to have a meeting to clarify them. I could not find "pin drop" in a search of the USBC rule book, and the word "drop" by itself did not lend anything to this topic.

This is also disadvantageous if you have a bowler who suffered a serious injury and is no longer capable of bowling anywhere near his ability in the past. The rule does purport, however, to prevent "sandbagging", that is, an average going low for a bit and then a bowler suddenly bowls a miraculous score.

[ranger56]

We apply our 10 pin drop rule a little differently than Frank. We use the 10 pin drop from the current average on the standing sheet for the week in question. It does not come into effect until the average has been used for nine games. New bowlers will have established an average at nine games, so it applies equally to all bowlers. If a substitue is used, the game count does not increase on the absent bowler since the average is not used. The drop only applies when the average is used. We also apply it to any vacancies after the vacancy score has been used for nine games. The league feels it would be unfair to allow that team to get the advantage of not dropping ten pins when actual paying team members are penalized when they have missed nine games. It also serves as an incentive for the team to help try and fill the vacancy.

[Hal Schoppman]

Ranger56- Aren't you confusing the 10 pin drop rule with how the absentee score is determined? The drop option controls how the handicap is calculated, you can't use an average that has dropped more than 10 pins from the entering average when determining the handicap if that is what is in your league rules.

It sounds like you are talking about the 10 pins that gets subtracted when an actual bowler is absent.

Regarding the vacancies, if this a USBC sanctioned handicap league it is not permissable to calculate the handicap on the vacancy score and then subtract 10 pins from that score each game. Rule 105(d)(1)(b) states:
In handicap leagues the handicap must be based on the vacancy score used.
I don't believe BLS will even subtract the 10 pins if you have properly set up the vacancies with the name VACANT and then enter "V" in their scores. What are you doing, entering an "A" for the vacant scores?