The Basics of Ten Pin Bowling
This article will teach you the basics of bowling.
The equipment needed to play bowling:
Ten Pins: Pins measure approximately 4.75 inches wide at the widest point and 15 inches tall. They weigh between 3 pounds 4 ounces and 3 pounds 10 ounces.
Bowling Ball: Bowling balls are made from a variety of materials, from rubber to plastic, reactive resin, and a combination of these materials, as well as other materials. Most bowling balls used in tenpin bowling have 3 holes drilled, one for the thumb, middle, and ring. Of course, there is no regulation that a bowling ball cannot have up to five holes, one for each finger. Bowling balls cannot weigh more than 16 pounds.
Lane – In ten-pin bowling, a bowling lane is 60 feet from the head pin to the free throw line. The lane width is 3.5 feet.
Gutters: Once the ball is in the gutter, there is no chance you can knock over any pins. The channels allow the ball to roll safely to the end and then start its return journey on the ball return. Some bowling alleys have “bumpers” that can be inflated and placed in the gutters, making it impossible to get a gutter ball. These are great for kids to learn.
Other important bowling terms:
Strike – A strike is what you are looking for. It’s called a strike when you hit all ten pins on the first ball (each player gets two turns to roll the ball down the lane and knock down as many pins as possible). For a strike, a player gets 10 points, plus a bonus. Of course, the exact bonus depends on what that person scores with the next two balls (so if the next two balls were sewer balls, there is no bonus).
Double – What it is called when a bowler gets two strikes in a row.
Turkey – Three consecutive strikes.
· Four-bagger – Four consecutive hits.
Spare: A player gets a spare when, at the end of the second ball, all ten pins have been knocked over. A spare gives a bowler ten points plus a bonus to the points scored with the next ball.
Pinsetter: The machine that places the pins in their perfect triangular formation. Before the machine existed, there was a human pinsetter.
In the United States, we call skittles “bowling”. In other places, such as the UK, people refer to ten-pin bowling as “ten-pin bowling”, i.e., lest it be confused with five-pin bowling (which is played in Canada), lawn bowling and other types of bowling.