I've been asked, "What is sandbagging?"Sandbagging: In games and adversarial settings, to "sandbag" is to intentionally understate one's strength, with the intention of deceiving one's opponents into overreaching. The sandbagger can then reveal a hidden strength to take the opponent by surprise. Sandbagging is the practice of deceptively portraying oneself as being in a weaker position than is true. - In drag racing, when a racer has a dial-in time much slower than the car can actually perform. The function of sandbagging is to guarantee a win by outperforming the slower opponent at first, and then hitting the brakes near the finish line in time to just barely beat the opponent.
- In a Demolition Derby, sandbagging is avoiding contact with other cars, drivers refuse to be aggressive and/or pretend to have mechanical problems until the last two or three cars are running then their car will start running just fine and/or they become more aggressive; or hitting weakly to ensure better odds of surviving and winning the derby.
- In poker, in which a player with a strong hand bets small amounts to convince opponents to stay in the game.
- In golf, a "sandbagger" would enter a tournament, claiming a higher golf handicap than real, to gain an advantage in the tournament and over other players.
- On Internet chess sites, sandbagging is the malevolent resignement of a chess game in order to add "Elo" points to a partner or to a second user account.
- In the sales environment, sandbagging is holding aside completed sales with the expectation of producing them at a specific time of the week or month when there might be extra incentive or higher commissions. (also called "Stuffing the channel")
- In CB radio slang, "sandbagging" is listening in on others without talking or making one’s presence known, for entertainment or for collection of information on others.
- In the rock climbing world 'Sandbagging' refers to giving a climb an easier grade then it deserves. An example is a climb that would typically be rated as 5.10+ being rated as 5.9- (YDS).
- In Bowling, "sandbagging" is lowering your average on purpose, in order to gain added pins of handicap.
- In Weight lifting, "Voltaire is always sandbagging at the gym. He says that's all the weight he can lift but we know the truth... dirty sandbagger."
- In law, to refer to the process of concealing winning arguments for as long as possible, to prevent the opposing attorney from preparing effectively to counter them.
- In Business accounting, overstating the value of the company to encourage others to invest.
In customer service, delays returning a phone call to a complaining customer, hoping the customer gives up. "Not my job", "my boss is out"
Waiting for payment? "it's in the mail."
Mark Twain once said, “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damn lies and statistics.”
Even when statistics don’t lie, they can be very deceiving.
Ancient usage of the word, "Sandbag" can refer to a crude weapon consisting of a small bag filled with sand for use as a cudgel typically by criminals, or to the act of striking a person on the head with such a weapon. This usage is obsolescent in normal speech, appearing mainly in legal codes. Ever been sandbagged?Tell me how.Please read my book, "Confessions of a Sandbagger"
