For the past 2 years I have been bowling in 2 Mixed Leagues in which the bowling courtesy apparently has been 1 lane on either side. I am now also bowling in a more competitive league & find that some people in that league seem to allow a 2 lane courtesy & some 1 lane. I noted in a recent post that someone had mentioned that 2 lanes were the established courtesy.
It appears to me that allowing 2 lanes slows down the bowling some what but if that what is expected , fine . Is there an established amount , if so where is it listed ?

It is suggested that a 1 lane courtesy is given. As far as I know the ABC/WIBC or YABA does not have a rule covering it. However, leagues may establish a rule in their by-laws if they wish. Most leagues wont.

Personally, I never give more than 1 lane courtesy and will not join any league that has established a stricter rule. It is a complete waste of time. Anyone distracted by someone two lanes over needs to focus more and stop blaming everyone else for their poor games.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">Originally posted by The Fish Bowl:
It is suggested that a 1 lane courtesy is given. As far as I know the ABC/WIBC or YABA does not have a rule covering it. However, leagues may establish a rule in their by-laws if they wish. Most leagues wont.

Personally, I never give more than 1 lane courtesy and will not join any league that has established a stricter rule. It is a complete waste of time. Anyone distracted by someone two lanes over needs to focus more and stop blaming everyone else for their poor games. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">It's not a "real" rule, however, in the back of the "What Is The Answer" book that's issued to league secretaries, there's a list of things entitled Etiquette Information (I actually retyped it and it's the back cover of my league's bylaws).

#5 says "Observe 1 lane courtesy. The bowler on the right should bowl if both reach the approach at the same time."

I wish my league observed 1 lane courtesy. Some of the ladies wait for MORE than 2 lanes, and it can take 3-1/2 hours to bowl 3 games

I usually go with what is accepted by the league. I don't think it slows down the game nearly as much as people that don't pay attention to when they are supposed to bowl. Also on the list are the people that wait for their team to finish bowling on one lane before they start on the next lane. Nothing slows down the game as much as that. The lane courtesy doesn't take that much time to me. On my monday nite league we start practice at 7:00 and we are finished by 9:30-9:45. Anything under 3 hours is great to me. Last year I was on a 5 man team that started at 9:00 and always finished about 11:00-11:30. That included 2 lane courtesy.

One lane courtesy is usually the norm in the leagues I've been in. If someone wants to give or take more you can't stop them. I've seen people waiting 3-4 lanes over which to me is totally ridiculous but what can you do?

What drives me crazy are those that give no courtesy and don't even glance around before they march up to the line. After a while you get to know who the culprits are and just let them go first. You would think that their own team members would mention it to them but no, this goes on year after year. You just have to deal with it.

How about those that stand at the line for what seems to be an eternity before making their shot.
It's usually the low average bowlers that are doing this. What are they thinking about for so long? What ever it is, it's obviously not working otherwise they would have a higher average.

Everyone does their own thing. You just have to go with the flow.

Forgive my rambling on.
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LadyLuck

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">Originally posted by LadyLuck:
How about those that stand at the line for what seems to be an eternity before making their shot. It's usually the low average bowlers that are doing this. What are they thinking about for so long? What ever it is, it's obviously not working otherwise they would have a higher average.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="VERDANA,ARIAL,HELVETICA,TAHOMA">My league has a ton of new bowlers and the thing that surprises me is the number of bowlers that don't know to step off the approach after they've thrown their first shot. I've found that if I just tell them nicely "You have to wait there till the ball comes back," they're pretty cool about getting off the approach.

The ones that continue to stand there are my favorites because they improve my concentration on my shots and they don't seem to mind that I go up there while they're waiting for that ball to come back

The two lane courtesy is strictly enforced in all Regional and National Pro Tour events - this is properly done by allowing a bowler on the pair to your right to bowl, then a bowler on the pair to your left and then you go, next time the sequence is the same only the other bowler on your pair is up, not you. As for time on the approach, the 25 second rule is from the time you pick up your ball until you complete your release, and although this normally does not apply to league play either, in my opinion, it certainly should.

I always followed a one lane courtesy on both sides. I never believed in two lanes because of the time factor. Also, I pick up my ball, throw it down, watch the pins fall, then walk off the approach. It's just that simple.

IMO, there is no reason why in most leagues you should not follow a ONE lane courtesy rule. This is as it is and has been in most of the leagues I have bowled in. There are always going to be those that wait and wait for that two lane or even more courtesy, but typically it's one lane.

Only in severely competative scratch leagues have I seen two lane courtesy and then its written into the league rules.

So my suggestion is to ask the league president for a meeting to clear up this confusion. Once the league agrees one way or the other, then the situation is resolved.

Erin

Almost every league I've bowled in has had a one lane courtesy. One exception was a scratch doubles league I bowled in this summer. They used 2 lane courtesy. Part of the reason was to keep the pace of the bowling slower and more even.