In bowling games, the players or sometimes-called bowlers, roll ball toward ten pins. The pins are usually made from wood or plastic, arranged in triangular formation, with the headpin 60 feet from a foul line. The bowling ball is made from various materials like but not limited to; rubber, plastic, urethanes. Bowling games consist of ten runs each game, called frames. The bowlers would try to knock down all ten pins. The scores are kept on a sheet or video screen which list the bowler’s names, the frames, the number of pins knocked down with each ball, and the final scores.
During the first nine frames, the bowler rolls one or two balls. If the bowler knocked down all the ten pins with the first throw of ball, the bowler rolled a strike, the best roll possible. An X is recorded on the scoresheet or screen, and then the bowler will receive ten points from the ten pins being knocked down plus a bonus of the number of pins the bowler is going to knock down in the next two bowls. So, the maximum possible score in a strike frame is 30. But, if there are still pins standing after the first throw of a frame, the bowler takes another shot. By knocking down all the remaining pins, the result is a spare. A slash (/) is recorded on the scoresheet or screen, and the player will receive ten points plus a bonus of the number of pins knocked down with the next throw. The maximum score in a spare frame is 20. The computation is, the spare’s ten points followed by another ten if the next frame is a strike.
If the bowler failed to knock down all the ten pins in both throws, the points with which the bowler will get is only the total number of pins knocked down. If a bowler failed to knock down even one pin, a dash (-) will be recorded on the scoresheet.
Players who rolls spares but strikes during the tenth and last frame will receive bonus. Bowlers who roll a spare will get an extra ball, and the number of pins knocked is added to the score. Bowlers who roll a strike will get two more balls to try and to be added to their earlier scores. The other terminologies in bowling games are turkey, which means three strikes in a row, and a split, which means a wide gap between the remaining pins after a throw.
A player can get a top score of 300 or called a perfect game, by registering a strike in each frame and on the last two extra balls. Perfect bowling games rarely happen. Most of the professional bowlers only average more than 230, and amateurs have a hard time making even 100.
