Yes, but most tournaments are contested on house shots, making tournament average more meaningful. Plus for those coming into the tournament, how do they fairly calculate their average? Maybe they bowl on a tough house condition, get in the middle division and clean up.
Bowling against the pros? You mean the other 210-220 bowlers also in that division who will most likely be shooting 170s and 180s? Why would it be fair for you to be in the middle division while they stay in the higher one? And if you're 228 on a house shot, you'll be in the upper division no matter what. It's the highest of the 3 options, house average, upconverted tournament average, or whatever the other one was. I don't know what you're missing here, it's not about tournament average, it's about entering average. You won't be going in with 212, you'll be going in with your house average like you and everyone else does every single year. That's why they upconvert the tournament average as one form of qualification. So based on your tournament average, your projected typical house shot average is 212, but your real one is 228, so your entering average will be 228, which will put you in the top division easily.
And it's a tournament, not league. Yes, I realize you have a family and don't have much time to practice . . which is the same story for the vast majority of the people going. But yes, there are also single professional amateurs with staff contracts who practice every day and have connections, but why should they handicap it so that you can compete with those guys, how is that fair? Then they would be neutralizing all the work and effort those guys have put in. What's next, a 4th division for the 225+ guys? I find it odd that someone who doesn't have the time to practice still wants to go to a tournament, but have it adjusted so they can be successful.
And what you said is the very point. The vast majority of the people going are in your same shoes, they're big average house bowlers who never see a sport pattern and who usually average 30-40 pins less on sport conditions. By taking your highest average, converted or not, they're placing you right where you belong, against other people in the same boat. If they use tournament averages, you'll still be competing against the exact same group of people.
They can't change it to go off tournament averages alone because of how hard it is to adjust for all the differences across the country, and you have thousands of new entries every year and the tournament conditions vary. One 230 bowler doesn't equal another 230 bowler. Matt McNiel averages 235-240 on a house condition, but averages about the same at nationals, or at least here recently. The bottom line is there's always going to be people at the bottom end of every division feeling like they got the shaft. How about me? My house average is putting me in the top division next year too. I've bowled exactly 5 games on a sport condition lefty in the last 5 years.
All im saying is that if you do have a tournament avg for set amount of games at the nationals you should go off that avg and not your league THS average where your most comfortable and not shooting on sport shots. Many tournament clubs have their bowlers compete on the tournament avg. Heck, our local city tournament goes off of your city tournament avg for the past # of years. So basically ill be bowling against all the pros whom bowl on this crap everyday to make a living. How can i compete? Im just a casual bowler, not a competitive bowler anymore, who averages high on THS and not on sport conditions cause i dont have the time, single father of 2 kids, to get better on tough shots. I may get lucky and shoot a 240 or something but not average 228 like i am on THS. Maybe its just me and nobody else feels like the nationals should use a tourney average, say minimum of 3 years participation to set an avg. If i have to bowl off a 212 avg when i have never averaged 212 for 1 single tournament at nationals, wheres the motivation for me going and spending $1500 on a trip? Im not a brackets player, and maybe thats where im losing focus on cause im just looking at the scoring of the tournament.