Bowling 101 for Dummies! The Complete Guide to Have You Bowling like a Pro!

Vanmaster5 · Aug 21, 2010

Many people go out bowling with friends to have some fun. None of your friends know how to bowl, but they had fun. Wouldn't it'd be nice if you knew how to bowl, and showoff to some of your friends? We'll this is the complete guide to show you how to bowl like a pro.

First steps in bowling is how to hold a bowling ball. Place the bowling ball in a position where if the holes were connected, it would make an upside-down triangle. Make sure you have your middle finger in the top left hole and the ring finger in the top right hole. The bottom hole is for the thumb. Once your fingers are in the holes, flip it upright so the bowling ball is pushing on your fingers, and put your other hand below the bowling ball to give your other hand support so the bowling ball doesn't crush your fingers. The picture shows what one should look like when holding the ball.

The next step to learn in bowling is how to bowl the ball as well as using correct footwork. This guide will show you how to do a stroking form, which relys on smooth ball placement on the lane instead of relying on kinetic energy for the pins to fall over. When preparing to bowl the ball, make sure your feet are together and pointing ahead. Take a couple of breaths to calm yourself down before bowling the ball. When the bowling process comes in, feetwork and hand movement must be precise or the ball will not be precise.

When starting the bowling process, (demonstrating from a right handed person's perspective) take a one foot step forward with the right foot, and at the same time, the hand without the fingers in the ball will move away, and the hand with the fingers in the ball will start to swing back. When the arm with the hand swinging back is parallel with your leg then take a large step with the left foot and make sure it is about one foot infront of the right foot. Swing the right arm all the way back and laws of physics will prevent the ball from falling because its being swung back.

Now the last step is to follow through. While the right arm is all the way swung back. Push forward with the right arm and make the right leg form a 45 degree angle behind the left leg, at the same time, start to bend over with your back so the ball will glide down the bowling lane. Release the ball where you are aiming it to and the left hand should finish being swung back naturally.

The release should look something like this.

After learning how to bowl, you must have to learn the scoring of bowling. One game of bowling consists of 10 frames, there is a minimum score of 0 and a maximum of 300. Each frame, excluding the 10th frame, gives an opportunity of 2 rolls in order to knock down all 10 pins. A strike is when all pins are knocked over on the first bowl of a frame. A spare means all pins are knocked down in 2 bowls of a frame. A strike in the scorecard is represented as an "X" and a spare is represented as a "/". If a bowler does not get a spare or strike, the two bowls of the frame are added up with the other frames for the total score.

A Gutterball is when the bowler lands the ball on the outer parts of the lane where there is a little gutter-like ditch. The bowl for a ball that lands in the gutter-like ditch is valued at 0 for that bowl.

Scoring for strikes and spares are different then just adding the number of pins knocked down. For scoring a strike, it's worth 10 points plus the value of your next two rolls. Say you throw a strike in the first frame. Technically, you don't have a score yet. You need to throw two more balls to figure out your total score for the frame. So a strike could be worth 30 points at highest.
Example: If you got a strike in the 3rd frame and the 4th frame you bowled a 4 and 5. The 5th frame you bowled a 3 and 1. That comes out to be 10 (the strike) + 4 (the first bowl of the 4th frame) + 5 (the second bowl the 4th frame) + 3 (the first bowl of the 5th frame) + 1 (the second bowl of the 5th frame). So the strike in frame 3 would be worth 23.
For scoring a spare, it's worth 10 points plus the value of your next roll.
If you bowl a spare in your first frame. Then, in your first ball of the second frame, you throw a 5. Your score for the first frame will be 15 (10+5). One can score 20 on a spare if one bowls a spare followed by a strike.

That last part that needs to be known about scoring is the 10th frame. It's different then all the other frames. In the 10th frame, a bowler gets two rolls to get a spare or strike. If the bowler gets a spare or strike within the two rolls of the 10th frame, the bowler will get a 3rd roll, meaning a bowler can get a spare and strike in the 10th frame or even three strikes!

This concludes "Bowling 101 for Dummies! The Complete Guide to Have You Bowling like a Pro!" and I hope you're going to be bowling on that lane like a pro following my steps to perfection.