Whether you are out on the alleys for a weekend of fun with your friends and family or want to pursue it full-time, bowling is a game that requires strategy, precision, practice, and confidence.
So, whether you have a good time on the lane wholly depends on how you handle every aspect of the game.
An important aspect is scoring. Did you know that scoring can differ greatly with each roll, especially when you are making strikes or picking up spares?
At first glance, bowling scoring can be quite complicated. If you don’t understand how it works, the entire game will woosh by without you realizing what happened.
You may have even won, but do not know why. So let me help you figure out how bowling scores work. It’s quite simple once you get the hang of it.
How Do You Score in Bowling?
A single game of bowling consists of ten frames – in each frame, you have two chances to knock down as many pins as possible.
There is the possibility of getting one or two more balls in the last frame under special circumstances, but we’ll get to that shortly.
In bowling, you get points for knocking down pins, that is, one point for each pin. If you manage to get a strike, which is knocking down all ten pins, you get 10 points.
You also get 10 points if you get a spare, which is knocking down some pins on the first chance and the rest on the second chance.
But the scoring is a bit more complicated than just this.
Scoring Symbols
Scoring symbols are what show up on the scoreboard when you bowl. We will take a look at the symbols and what they mean in terms of scoring.
Strike
As mentioned before, the strike is when you knock down all pins at once. On the scoreboard, the strike is shown with an “X” sign.
If you get a strike, you are immediately moved to the next frame, where you can take another shot at hitting down as many pins as possible. So your score for the frame you got the strike in would be 10 plus whatever number of pins you get.
However, the strike can also affect the scores for the next frame, especially if you get another strike.
Spare
Spare is when you get all ten pins in two tries within the frame. You get ten points for a spare plus whatever point you get on your first roll on the following frame. You will see it on the scoreboard as the “/” sign.
Miss or Open
Miss is when you don’t hit any pins for a try. It is symbolized with a “-” or a “0”. If you miss the pins on your first try but hit some pins on the second try, it is called open.
Frame by Frame Scoring Walkthrough
Now, I will walk you through an entire game. Get your most comfortable bowling shoes, and let’s head out onto the lanes.
1st Frame
Let’s say on your first try of your first frame, you knock down eight pins. Then on the second try, you get lucky and knock down the remaining two, so you get a total of 10 points.
However, your score won’t end there for the frame. Because both a strike and a spare will mean that you are immediately moved to the next frame’s first try.
So, let’s say you knock down seven pins on this try. This means that the total of your first frame would be 17.
2nd Frame
On the second frame’s second ball, you also end up getting the spare by knocking down the remaining three pins. So you get your 10 points, but now you are also awarded with the first try of your third frame.
Unfortunately, you only knock down three, so for your second frame, you get 13 points, and your total score thus far becomes 30 points.
Third Frame
On the second ball for the third frame, you only get six pins. This will mean the total score you get for this frame is the three pins plus the six you knocked down on your second ball, so the score would be 9 points for the frame, and 39 points in total.
Fourth Frame
The four-frame becomes a total success as you achieve a strike. So you receive 10 points. but when you are carried to your fifth frame, you sadly get a bad ball on the first try and only knock down two pins.
This is a mistake worth making after a strike because if you get the spare, your total for the fourth frame would be quite high.
So let’s say on the second try you knock down all the remaining pins and get the spare, your score for the fourth frame would be: 10 for the strike and 10 for the spare. So you get 20 for the frame and the total is 59 points.
Fifth Frame
Let’s say you get another strike for the sixth frame. So, for your fifth frame, you get the ten from the spare and the ten from the strike, and a total of 20 points, which will make your total score 79 points.
Sixth Frame
If your stroke of luck continues for the seventh frame, and you get another strike, it will mean that your score for the sixth frame can only be calculated after your first try on the eighth frame.
Let’s say you manage to knock down eight pins for the first ball of your eighth frame.
Your total for the sixth frame would be 10 for the strike within the frame, 10 for the strike on the seventh frame, and 8 for the first ball on the eighth frame. This equals 28 points for the sixth frame, so your total is 107 points.
Seventh Frame
Let’s say you don’t hit the remaining two pins on the second ball of your eighth frame and you get a miss. This will make the total for your eighth frame 18; 10 from the strike on the seventh frame plus the 8 points. And your overall total would be 125 points.
Eighth Frame
You will only get 8 points for your eighth frame, and your total will be 133 points.
Ninth Frame
If you manage to get a strike on your ninth frame, you will have to wait until you get your two balls from the tenth frame.
Let’s say you knock down eight pins on the first ball and achieve the spare on the second ball. Your points for your ninth frame would be 10 for the strike and 10 for the spare, so a 20 would raise your total to 153 points.
Tenth Frame
If you get a spare on your last ball, you get one more shot. If you get a strike, you will get two more shots. Here, you have gotten a spare, so one more shot where you successfully manage to knock down nine more pins.
So, you get a 10 for the spare and a 9 for the last ball, and the points you get in your tenth frame is 19, raising your overall score to 172.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it. I hope this helps you to understand the complicated scoring system of bowling.
Once you get the hang of it, you will be a scoring genius, able to use the beauty of this scoring method to your advantage – discovering all the clever ways to achieve the best possible points for yourself. No one will be able to beat you!