Are you new to bowling? Have you been spending time at Bowlmor and decided you want to get serious in this sport?
The objective of bowling is quite straightforward – to knock down as many pins as you can. The more pins you topple, the more points you get. One game has 10 frames, each one consisting of 2 opportunities to knock down 10 pins (except the last frame). Every pin that falls earns you 1 point, but you also get a chance to score additional points by hitting “spares” or “strikes.”
Modern bowling alleys have a computerized system that automatically computes your score and show it on the screen for you to see. However, many years ago, bowlers had to record their score by hand on a piece of paper and also do the calculations on their own. This is probably why today you could still see some bowlers write their score on paper or a notebook. It’s just what they’re used to. Although sometimes they prefer to do it to keep a record of their progress.
Spares and Strikes
A spare is when you fail to topple all 10 pins on attempt #1, but manage to clear the remaining ones during your second try. It is symbolized by “/”.
A strike is when you topple down all 10 pins on attempt #1 within one frame. Two strikes in a row is referred to as double, while three strikes in a row is called turkey. If you hit 4 and 5 strikes in a row it’s what is known as four/five-bagger(s). A strike is symbolized by “X”.
Spares and strikes are scored a bit differently from regular frames.
- Spare: 10 points + how many pins you knock down on attempt #1 at the next frame.
- Strike: 10 points + how many pins you knock down for the whole succeeding frame.
Double:
- 1st frame – 20 points + how many pins you knock down in frame 3.
- 2nd frame – same as strike
Turkey:
- 1st frame – 30 points
- 2nd frame – same as double
- 3rd frame – same as strike
Four-Bagger:
- 1st frame – 30 points
- 2nd frame – 30 points
- 3rd frame – same as double
- 4th frame – same as strike
Knowing How to Score Your Game
Let’s try to make this easy to understand by showing an example, using the score sheet of a random guy named Jim.
Frame #1
Jim scores 20 points for frame #1, as he got a strike followed by toppling down 10 pins in the succeeding frame.
Frame 2:
Jim scores 15 points for frame #2, as he got a spare and then toppled down 5 pins for his first attempt at frame #3.
Frame 3:
Jim scores 17 points, as he threw a spare and then toppling down 7 pins for his first attempt at frame #4.
Frame 4:
Jim scores 9 points, and did not get extra points.
Frame 5:
Jim scores 30 points for his ensuing turkey.
Frame 6:
Jim scores 29 points for his ensuing double (20 points + pins toppled down after 2 frames).
Frame 7:
Jim scores 19 points, since he got a strike subsequent to toppling down 9 pins in the succeeding frame.
Frame 8:
Jim scores 9 points and did not get extra points.
Frame 9:
Jim scores 10 points, got a spare after toppling down 9 pins for attempt #1 at the subsequent frame.
Frame 10:
The last frame is different. Spares and strikes do not result in bonus points, but you do get to have an additional shot.
In our example, Jim topples down 9 pins at attempt #1 and then makes the spare. So he gets to have another shot, and hits a strike, awarding him 20 points (for toppling down 20 pins during the whole frame).
Had Jim failed to make the spare, he would have not been given another shot, resulting in only 9 points. And if Jim had hit a strike in attempt #1, he would have been allowed 2 more shots.