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.

Play

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 two shots, play passes to the next competitor.

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The ten pins are usually automatically set by machine into a triangle with four pins in the back row, then three, then two, and finally one in the front at the center of the lane. The pins are numbered one through ten, starting with one in front, and ending with ten in the back to the right. This serves to ease communication; one could say that the 4 and 7 pins were left standing. 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 would 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. Alternatively, the pin may wobble furiously and the automatic pin machine picks up the pin as it wobbles. Again, it is not scored.

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There are generally two primary styles of rolling the ball down the lane. Most newer players play by throwing the ball straight, hopefully into the 1-3 pocket for right-handed bowlers or the 1-2 pocket for left-handed bowlers. More experienced bowlers usually develop a hook, in which their ball heads straight down the edge of the lane near the gutter for some distance with some spin which makes its path curve into the pocket. To produce a hook the player needs to let go of the ball with his thumb first, then the middle and ring finger release almost simultaneously. This gives the bowling ball its spin needed for the hook. If the player is left-handed, an ideal position of the thumb after letting go of the ball is "1 o'clock", meaning that the thumb has gone from 12 to 1, as looking at a clock. Thus, the ideal situation for right-handed players is 11 o'clock. Of course there are innumerable variations in style and technique. Some extremely young or amateur players who have difficulty connecting with the pins otherwise employ a granny-style technique, using both hands and swinging the ball forward from in between their legs. This kind of style has the bowler start right up against the foul line, where more conventional styles use either a four or five step approach.

Related Topics:
Right-handed - Left-handed

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