Make Group Bowling Fun: Rules, Tips, and Different Ways to Bowl With Others
Bowling is a great game due to its diverse nature. It can be a highly competitive matchup against others or just a fun time with your friends where no one cares about the score. However, after you’ve bowled many times, it’s common to want to mix it up a bit and try some fun new ways to bowl. Bowlers all over the world have come up with different cool ways to make their time in the alley even more fun. These range from official rule systems in league games to silly ways to bowl with your friends.
If you’re just bowling with your friends during open bowling time, you can really choose whatever rules you want. You can have everyone compete against each other for the best overall score, or you can pair up with a friend and have their combined score compared to another duo’s. Also, if you’re just in it to have a good time, you might not even care to look at the scores.
The only time the rules really matter is if you join a league. If you choose this path, there are endless variations, and your bowling center will make it very clear to you what rules exist. The most common format is to have your team’s total score against a team of opponents, with each bowler receiving a handicap added to his score based on his average score. This is designed to level the playing field and give everyone a fair chance to win. A better bowler would have fewer “handicap” pins added to his score, and a beginning bowler would have more pins added.
Recreational bowlers have come up with other great rules for gang bowling. A popular one is to agree that the lowest score wins and try to get the bowlers to hit the fewest pins. For this to work, it’s good to count a gutterball as a strike so players can’t throw it into the gutter and win.
You can also have each bowler use their non-dominant hand to bowl. Some bowlers like to experiment with different styles of releasing the ball, such as the “granny” style. However, if you’re going to attempt something like this, make sure you’re safe and don’t disturb the staff in the alley.
When you’re looking to have fun bowling, the sky is the limit!