Bowling

Bowling is the common name for several sports that involve rolling a ball towards a target or to knock down pins.

The sports known as bowling may be divided into two distinct groups. The first group is played along an "alley", most commonly of wood. Here the players attempt to score points by throwing a ball to knock down pins. Included in this group are

Candlepin bowling, played in eastern Canada and New England, is a variation of ten-pin bowling, where the player gets to roll a small ball three times per frame instead of two, and fallen pins are not removed between throws.

Duckpin bowling, commonly found in the Baltimore, Maryland area, in central Connecticut, and in eastern Canada, is another variation of ten-pin bowling, where the player rolls three times per frame toward small, squat pins.

The second group is played on a lawn, usually outdoors. Here the players throw a ball (which may be eccentrically weighted) in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point. This group includes

Lawn bowls
Bocce
Petanque

Ten-Pin Bowling

Ten-Pin Bowling is a sport with a simple aim--knock down as many targets as possible by rolling a ball down a wooden pathway. The game is made more difficult by gutters which run along either side of this pathway (called the "lane"). If a ball falls into this gutter, no targets will be hit, and therefore no score will be acquired.

A game of Ten-Pin Bowling is divided into ten rounds (called "frames"). In a frame, each player is given two opportunities to knock down the skittle targets (called "pins"). He or she rolls the first ball at the pins. Whatever pins are knocked down are counted and scored. Then the player rolls a second ball at any remaining targets. In the event that all ten pins were razed with the first ball (a "strike"), the player receives points and a bonus, and play passes to the next competitor. A player has no more than two balls to play in each frame (one exception applies, see below), so even if he or she fails to knock over any pins, after having taken taken two shots, play passes to the next competitor.

The ten pins are usually automatically set by machine into a triangle with four pins in the back row, then three, two, and finally one in the front, at the centre of the lane. Obviously, due to the spacing of the pins, it is impossible for the ball to strike every one, therefore a tactical shot is required, which will result in a chain reaction of pin hitting pin. In order to count, the pin must be knocked over entirely; in unlucky circumstances, a pin may wobble furiously, yet come to rest upright, thus not being scored.

Scoring

In general, one point is scored for each pin that is knocked over. So if a player bowls over three pins with the first shot, then six with the second, the player would receive a total of nine points for that frame. If a player knocks down 9 pins with the first shot, but misses with the second, the player would also score nine.

In the event that all ten pins are knocked over by any one player in a single frame, bonuses are awarded.

Strike: When all ten pins are knocked down with the first ball (called a strike), a player is awarded ten points, plus a bonus of whatever is scored with the next two balls. In this way, the points scored for the two balls after the strike are scored twice.

Example:

The total score from these throws is: 10 + (3+6) + 3 + 6 = 28

A player who scores multiple strikes in succession would score like so:

A player lucky enough to bowl a strike in the tenth (final) frame, is awarded two extra balls so as to allow the awarding of bonus points. If both these balls also result in strikes, a total of thirty points (10 + 10 + 10) is awarded for the frame.

Spare: A "spare" (often called a "half-strike" in England), is awarded when no pins are left standing after the second ball of a frame. I.e., a player uses both balls of a frame to clear all ten pins. A player achieving a spare is awared ten points, plus a bonus of whatever is scored with the next ball (only the first ball is counted).

Example:

The total score from these throws is: 7 + 3 + 4(bonus) + 4 + 2 = 20

A player who bowls a spare in the tenth (final) frame, is awarded one extra ball so as to allow for the bonus points.

Correctly calculating bonus points can be difficult, especially when combinations of strikes and spares come in successive frames. In modern times, however, this has been overcome with automated scoring systems, linked to the machines that set and clear the pins between frames. A computer automatically counts pins that remain standing, and fills in a virtual score sheet (usually displayed on monitors above each lane).

The maximum score in a game of ten-pin is 300. This is scored by bowling twelve strikes: one for each frame, and a strike with both bonus balls in the tenth frame. In this way, each frame will score thirty points (see above--Scoring: Strike).

Five-pin bowling

Five-pin bowling is a variation on ten-pin bowling which is popular in Canada, where most bowling alleys offer it, either alone or in combination with tenpin bowling. It was devised in the early twentieth century to offer bowlers the chance to play a game during a half-hour lunch break. This goal was achieved by using smaller balls which travel faster than tenpin balls and which can be thrown in rapid succession.

The balls in five-pin are small enough to fit in the hand and therefore have no fingerholes. There are, naturally, five pins, arranged in a V. In size they are midway between duckpins and tenpins, and they have a heavy rubber band around their middles to make them move farther when struck. The centre pin is worth five points if knocked down, those either side, three each, and the outermost pins, two each, giving a total of fifteen for the lot.

In each frame, each player gets three attempts to knock all five pins over. Knocking all five pins down with the first ball is a strike, which means the score achieved by the player's first two balls of the next frame or frames are added to his or her score for the strike. They are also, of course, counted in their own frames, so in effect they count double. A player who takes two balls to knock all the pins down gets a spare, which means the first ball of the next frame counts double. As in ten-pin, if either of these happen in the last frame, the player gets to take one or two shots at a re-racked set of pins immediately. A perfect score is 450, which is probably attained less frequently than perfect tenpin scores are.

Until 1967, an eastern Canadian bowler was required to knock down the left corner ("counter") pin to score any points, while a western Canadian bowler was required to knock down the right corner pin. The values of the pins were changed in the same year to the current values.

Some believe that the hockey term "five hole" (the space between the goaltender's legs) is taken from five-pin bowling. Knocking out the headpin (worth 5 points) by itself leaves a large hole through which it is easy to put the next one or two balls without hitting anything.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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