The most common thing I overhear while working at the bowling alley is people asking their friends how the scoring system works. I wanted to cover a brief explanation of it so that it's easier to follow along with the later parts of what I talk about. and also just to keep yourself aware so that you can gather more enjoyment from the experience.
- There are 10 frames per game, each acting as a separate turn. Each frame you get the chance to bowl twice, unless you get a strike in which case that fulfills your full turn. If you get a strike that means you get 10 points, plus whatever you get the next 2 throws.
- For example, let's say you got 5 and then made the spare, you would get 10 points added to your strike since a spare is 10 pins. If you got 2 more strikes you would get 20 added to the first strike, making that frame worth 30 points, and then add more points to the second and third strikes and so on as the game progresses). If you get a spare it's the same situation but only for the very next throw, so if you got a 1 but made the spare you would still only get an extra 1 point added on to the previous spare. On the 10th frame, you have the opportunity to have an extra turn or even two extra turns. If you get a spare you may bowl one more time, if you get a strike and then a 2nd strike as well you can go one more time. The highest score you can get in a single scratch without handicap game is 300, which is called a perfect game. It means that you got a strike every throw, for a total of 12 strikes
- Handicaps are something used exclusively in certain leagues, events, and tournaments, no need to bold they help to make competition more equal. In most of these leagues, the handicap is determined based on your 3-game average, and for most tournaments, it is based on numbers closer to a 20 game average.
- For example, if you were to bowl 128, 162, and 200 in the meet, your average would be 163. The handicap is determined by taking this average and subtracting it from a base score. The base score varies depending on the league but is generally around 210. If a person's average is 163 and the handicap is the base score of the league is 210, then that person's handicap would be 47. Now to incorporate the handicap into how it affects scoring. If this bowler were to bowl 3 games the next week, of scores 142, 150, and 186, their total scores would be 189, 197, and 233. A better bowler has a much lower handicap than a worse bowler, which is why it makes the competition a little more fair
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