Everyone can bowl, but isn’t the scoring tricky?
The great thing about Ten Pin Bowling is that all abilities and ages can participate together. And everyone knows what to do, so it’s dead simple, right? Well yes, we simply take aim, roll the ball down the lane, hope we’ll be lucky and the computer calculates our score.
Splendid fun indeed and even more so when accompanied by a glass of your favourite beverage (Slush Puppie / coffee/ beer / delete as appropriate).
But the scoring is tricky!
But for those with an inquisitive nature this isn’t enough and until they’ve grasped the tricky scoring system the second frame will just have to wait. And rightly so, shouldn’t we all know what we are doing?
The most difficult part of the scoring is to comprehend when a strike or spare is scored, as the score on the scorecard does not get updated immediately – it needs more info.
The basics
- A game consists of ten frames, which start with a full rack of ten pins. In each frame, you have two deliveries of your ball, in which to knock down as many of the ten pins as you can.
You generally score one point for every pin knocked down on each roll of a frame. Sliding and wobbling pins don’t count, sorry! I’m sure you won’t do this, but if your friend’s ball hits the gutter they’ll score a big fat 0 and you’ll grin widely.
Our diagram below shows you scored 7 with your first go and 2 with your second – good start!
Strike!
If you knock down all the pins with your first ball of any frame, you’ve got a strike. Strikes are good so ensure you get more than your friends to avoid buying the beer – but not to be confused with industrial action!
Anyway, the tricky bit is that your score doesn’t get added on straight away. Because for a strike, you get the values of your next two balls as a bonus.
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For example, if you score a strike in your second frame, then a 6 and 3 in your third frame, you would score 19 (10+6+3) for the second frame, making a total of 28 after two frames.
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28 |
37 |
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Spare
If you can’t get strikes then be sure to get spares! If you knock down some of the pins on the first ball, and the knock down the others with the second ball, you’ve scored a spare.
Again, the score doesn’t get added on straight away because for a spare, you get the values of your next ball as a bonus.
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For example, if you score a spare in the fourth frame, say a 6 and a 4, then got an 8 and a 1 in the fifth frame, you would score 18 (6+4+8) for the fourth frame, and 9 for the fifth frame, making a total of 64 after five frames. If you’re really stuck for something to do, please feel free to re-read this at lunch time.
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55 |
64 |
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Final Frame
Nine frames later when your mental arithmetic is ready to challenge Carol Vordermen, it, er, changes slightly in the final frame – doh!
Except it changes in a good way because you get bonus balls! (if you strike or spare, to a maximum of three deliveries)
If you get a strike in the first delivery you have the opportunity to strike in the remaining two and have three deliveries in total.
If you scored strikes in each of your final three deliveries, the score for the final frame would be 30 (10+10+10). If you spare the final frame, you get the third delivery as a bonus. So, a spare, 9 and 1, followed by a strike would equal 20 (9+1+10).
Got it? If you’ve read down to here give yourself a pat on the back either way!
Your scorecard
Your scorecard is divided into 10 frames and each frame is divided into two boxes in which the individual score from each delivery is recorded. The cumulative score after each frame is written underneath, maybe as 9 or X or / or – or F:
9 If a player knocked down nine pins, they would score a “9”.
X A strike is recorded in the first box of the frame by an “X”.
/ A spare is marked down on the scorecard with a “/”.
– A zero is recorded with a “-“.
F Fouls are recorded with an “F” on the scorecard (and crucially NO points). But you the goods news is that you can get your foot on the right side of the line and also get to bowl your second delivery at another full set of pins.
No pressure but..
A perfect game score is 300, and made up of 12 consecutive strikes. In 2006, Elliot John Crosby became the youngest ever bowler in Britain to roll a perfect game, at the age of 12 years and two months, so no pressure!
To learn more about our Ten Pin Bowling Centre, Indoor Children’s Play Centre and Lazer-Tag Arena please check out our Facebook page – see you there!
