The Agony of Bowling
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Today, the sport of bowling is rapidly becoming a major venue in America and other countries around the world. Many bowling alleys seem to have appeared overnight, while many were around when your grandparents were children. However, two things have always, or almost always, remained constant about the AMF style of bowling which seems to be spreading around the world. These two things, both a trauma in themselves, are the scoring and the bowling ball.
The scoring seems simple enough at first glance, but has been known to confuse many even with years of experience. Here are the rules:
There are 10 pins at the end of a 50-foot long lane. There are gutters on both sides of the lane. The objective of the game is to knock down as many of the 10 pins as possible with two throws of a round, 6 to 16 pound object, the bowling ball. Every two throws is a frame, and there are 10 frames. The highest possible score is 300 in a game.
"But how is this possible?" one might ask. There's only 10 frames, you can only get 10 per frame, you should only be able to get 100! Well, the complications go deeper. If you knock all 10 down in the first shot of a frame, it is a strike, and the next 2 throws, not frames, are added to that score. If you knock all 10 pins down in two shots, your next one throw is added to the score of that frame. So, if you got a strike, then a six and a spare, and then a 5 for your first 3 frames, you would end up with a 35. If still not clear on this matter, rinse and repeat. Finally, in your 10th frame, you can get three strikes. This is due to the fact that without three available shots, you could only get a high score of 280. You can get either three strikes in a row, resulting in a "turkey;" you can also get a spare and one shot, or if you fail to knock down all ten pins, you only get 2 throws in that frame, like very other.
This is only half of the mystery, however. The other half resides in that foreign object needed to take down the 10 pins: The bowling ball. A round ball of any color, approximately 3 quarters the size of an American Soccer ball, which weighs anywere from 6 to 16 pounds. The younger and less experienced bowlers prefer to use a light ball to throw fast down the alley, but it does usually result in lower scores due to the fact that it bounces off of the pins. A heavier bowling ball can knock down any and all pins, but it is much difficult to handle without straining yourself too much if you are younger, and is also sometimes more difficult to control, due to the amount of mass in the ball.
If you somehow manage to use a heavier ball, and usually get scores of over 190 pins, you can consider yourself above average. The amount of concentration needed to clear out the rest of what's happening around you, to pay attention to how many steps you take, the mark you're throwing at, to not get ahead of the ball, to foolow through with it, and do so correctly and continually on most every shot required to do exceptional at this sport is higher than most any other, except for the occasional game of american soccer, which has been rumored as the most difficult game ever created. For more information on bowling in the UK, go to this guide entry for information about Ten Pin Bowling in Leeds, UK: http://www.h2g2.com/A227918
For more information on soccer, and the strange rules around many of its variations, including football, this entry may be more suited toward your needs: http://www.h2g2.com/A138368
The scoring seems simple enough at first glance, but has been known to confuse many even with years of experience. Here are the rules:
There are 10 pins at the end of a 50-foot long lane. There are gutters on both sides of the lane. The objective of the game is to knock down as many of the 10 pins as possible with two throws of a round, 6 to 16 pound object, the bowling ball. Every two throws is a frame, and there are 10 frames. The highest possible score is 300 in a game.
"But how is this possible?" one might ask. There's only 10 frames, you can only get 10 per frame, you should only be able to get 100! Well, the complications go deeper. If you knock all 10 down in the first shot of a frame, it is a strike, and the next 2 throws, not frames, are added to that score. If you knock all 10 pins down in two shots, your next one throw is added to the score of that frame. So, if you got a strike, then a six and a spare, and then a 5 for your first 3 frames, you would end up with a 35. If still not clear on this matter, rinse and repeat. Finally, in your 10th frame, you can get three strikes. This is due to the fact that without three available shots, you could only get a high score of 280. You can get either three strikes in a row, resulting in a "turkey;" you can also get a spare and one shot, or if you fail to knock down all ten pins, you only get 2 throws in that frame, like very other.
This is only half of the mystery, however. The other half resides in that foreign object needed to take down the 10 pins: The bowling ball. A round ball of any color, approximately 3 quarters the size of an American Soccer ball, which weighs anywere from 6 to 16 pounds. The younger and less experienced bowlers prefer to use a light ball to throw fast down the alley, but it does usually result in lower scores due to the fact that it bounces off of the pins. A heavier bowling ball can knock down any and all pins, but it is much difficult to handle without straining yourself too much if you are younger, and is also sometimes more difficult to control, due to the amount of mass in the ball.
If you somehow manage to use a heavier ball, and usually get scores of over 190 pins, you can consider yourself above average. The amount of concentration needed to clear out the rest of what's happening around you, to pay attention to how many steps you take, the mark you're throwing at, to not get ahead of the ball, to foolow through with it, and do so correctly and continually on most every shot required to do exceptional at this sport is higher than most any other, except for the occasional game of american soccer, which has been rumored as the most difficult game ever created. For more information on bowling in the UK, go to this guide entry for information about Ten Pin Bowling in Leeds, UK: http://www.h2g2.com/A227918
For more information on soccer, and the strange rules around many of its variations, including football, this entry may be more suited toward your needs: http://www.h2g2.com/A138368
