Same with TAP....you have an over all team handicap that you have to stay under...I dont like it but I understand that they do it so you can't load a team up with the best players and dominate every one...It gives the lower level players a chance to be on a competitive team because the higher level players have to have a couple 3' or 4's ...I agree that it drastically slows the progress of the better players and it promotes sand bagging...
USAPL does not have a team handicap limit, BUT it does take total points away from a score once your team reaches over a certain handicap score, depending on the league you are in.
For a 3 match team in my Master's 10 Ball that I play with my son on Wed for example, the limit is 300 points so you can have 3 100 rank players play before penalty. To get to a 100 rank in 10 ball you have to be a B+, or at least play very well as a B (meaning no choking when you should win the game).
This way if you are friends with 2 A players, you can have them on your team, even if they max out the rating at 125, and still play, you'll just need to take a point penalty for the match for the whole team. At least it does not block you from having people on your team that you want to have, but still tries to keep the score even.