Bowling is a sport or leisure activity in which a player rolls or throws a bowling ball towards a target.

It is
one of the major forms of throwing sports.

The earliest known forms of bowling date back to ancient Egypt.[6] Remnants of balls used at the time
were found among artifacts in ancient Egypt going back to the Egyptian protodynastic period in 3200
BC [7] Balls were made using the husks of grains, covered in material such as leather, and bound with
string. Other balls made of porcelain have also been found, indicating that these were rolled along the
ground rather than thrown due to their size and weight.[7] Some of these resemble the modern day jack
used in target bowl games. Bowling games of different forms are also noted by Herodotus as an
invention of the Lydians in Asia Minor.[8]

About 2,000 years ago, in the Roman Empire, a similar game evolved between Roman legionaries
entailing the tossing of stone objects as close as possible to other stone objects, which eventually
evolved into Italian Bocce, or outdoor bowling.[9]

About 400 AD, bowling began in Germany as a religious ritual to cleanse oneself from sin by rolling a
rock into a club (kegel) representing the heathen, causing bowlers to be called keglers.[10]

Bowling is one of the most popular sports in the world. In bowling, players
attempt to score the most points by rolling a ball along a flat surface in order
to knock down objects called pins. There are several types of bowling games,
but the official, and most popular, bowling game is ten-pin bowling.
There are several types of bowling but the most popular (and also the official)
one is the ten-pin bowling. In this type, ten pins are set up at the end of a 60-
foot lane. They are ten knocked down by a ball made usually of polyester or
polyurethane. There are usually two players competing against each other in
three sets, with each set having ten rounds.
In ten-pin bowling, players use a 16-pound, 8.5-inch diameter bowling ball to
knock over ten pins at the end of a 60-foot long bowling lane. Usually, two
players would compete against each other in three sets, with 10 rounds on
each set.
Bowling players have the following equipment:

Bowling balls - A round ball made from rubber, urethane, plastic, reactive resin, or a combination of
these materials. Ten-pin bowling balls have three drilled holes in them - one for the ring and middle
finger, and one for the thumb.

Bowling bags - Carries and protects one or more bowling balls.

Bowling accessories - Non-slip grip cream, grip sacks, bowling ball maintenance tools, hand and wrist
grip supports, towels, gloves, bowling ball cleaning equipment and supplies

Bowling shoes - Narrow shoes with a very smooth sole

Bowling clothes - Bowling games usually take place in air-conditioned bowling centers. Casual attire can
be worn.

Compared to bowling players, bowling center operators have different bowling equipment. Their most
important concern in a bowling center is the bowling alleys. A bowling alley has different parts and
equipment that require operation and maintenance.

These are the equipment required in bowling alleys:

Bowling lane - A long plane where a bowling ball rolls towards the pins. Long wooden boards are joined
together to form a 75-foot long and 3.5-foot wide lane. The wooden plane is very smooth. It requires
maintenance by cleaning and polishing.

Bowling machine - A device that places and rearranges the pins.

Bowling ball retriever - A device that retrieves the ball after every shot, and returns it, via a tunnel, to
the player at the other end of the alley.

Players' area - At the end of the tunnel is a ball-sorting mechanism. A hand blow dryer may also be
installed at the bowling ball sorter. A computer and display monitors show players the game points. The
players would have seats and a table. A rack with extra bowling balls would usually be placed beside the
seats.

Rules of the game

The Standing Area or Approach:

This is the area where you will select your bowling ball, line yourself up and throw. The approach area is
approximately 15 feet long and ends at the foul line. The foul line is a solid dark line where
the"lane" begins. The approach is marked with approach dots or line up points that are used to
increase the accuracy of your throw. It is important to remember when releasing the ball to not let your
feet cross over the foul line which seperates the approach area and the lane.

The Lane:

The lane is a straight narrow surface that is 60 feet long and approximately 41.5 inches wide. It is
usually created with wood or a synthetic material. At the end of the lane are the bowling pins. The lane
also has one gutter on each side of it. If your ball goes into any side of these gutters it is deemed to be a
"gutter ball."

You will notice that there is a difference between the lane and the approach area. The lanes are treated
with an oil so that the bowling ball will glide over it's surface. A lane will be coated with at least 18
milliliter (ml), or as much as 30 ml of oil. It is important to remember not to touch any part of the lane
with your feet. The lane is very slippery and crossing it is considered a foul. Any pins knocked
down during a foul will not count towards your score.

The Pins:

There are ten pins at the end of the lane. A pin must weigh between 3 pounds, 6 ounces and 3 pounds,
10 ounces. It also has to be 15 inches tall. The first pin is called the head pin. The spots at where the
pins sit are numbered, but not the pins themselves. The pins are set up in four rows with one pin in the
first row, two in the second, three in the third, and four in the fourth. They are numbered 1 through
10. The goal is to knock
down all the pins at one
time.

The Bowling Ball:

A bowling ball can be

no more then 27 inches
in circumference and
must weigh between 10
and 16 pounds. The ball
is solid and has two or
three fingers holes.

Bowling Shoes:

Special shoes are

required for
bowling. Tennis shoes are not authorized on a bowling lane because they will damage the
floor. Bowling shoes consist of a specific sole depending on if you are right handed or left handed. One
shoe will have a sliding sole and the other a breaking sole. If you are a right handed bowler your left
shoe will be a slider sole and your right shoe a breaking sole. It is opposite for left hand bowlers.

The Game:

Bowling is played with 10 scoring frames. Each frame is one turn, but you get two throws in each
frame. The number of pins knocked down with both throws is added to your total score. Please refer to
our scoring page to see how scoring works. At the end of the game the player who has the most points
wins. We have listed some common bowling terms here to help you understand the rules of the game.

The most common broken rule in bowling is the foul line. Remember, crossing the foul line will not only
disqualify your throw, but you could risk injury from a fall.

Fouls

When a player crosses the foul line and touches the lane during the bowling, a foul is awarded to the
player. In case of a foul, even if some pins are knocked down, those are not counted. A foul will be
counted as a ball with zero score. If the player knocks down all pins in the second chance after the foul,
it will be considered as a spare.

If less than 10 pins are knocked down in the second chance after a foul, it will be considered as an error.
In case of a player scoring a foul in the second chance of a frame, only the score that has been scored in
the first chance will be considered as the total score for that specific frame.

If a player scores a foul in the first chance of the 10th frame and then knocks down all 10 pins in the
second chance, it will be considered as a spare and he/she will be given a third chance to play. The spare
will be calculated from the last two balls. In case of a foul in the third ball of the 10th frame, only the
scores of the first two balls of the 10th frame will be considered while totalling the score.

Based on the game rules, no appeal is allowed once the automatic machine signals for a foul or the
judge declares a foul. If the automatic machine stops working, a human judge will be appointed by the
officials to check the fouls. In league games, opponent captains can act as a judge or can appoint anyone
else to check the fouls.

Dead Ball

In case of a dead ball, the chance is not counted and the player is given another chance to bowl. Cases
where a ball is considered dead are −

 While delivering the ball, if the player notices that some of the pins are missing from the set-up.

 If a human pin setter interferes and removes any of the pins before player has rolled the ball or
before the ball reaches the pins.

 If a player bowls on the wrong lane out of turn.

 If a player gets interfered with any pinsetter, moving objects or by any spectator before the
rolling or during the delivery, he can ask for a re-spot of the pins.

 When the ball comes in contact with any foreign obstacle.

While playing, a player has to follow some basic bowling etiquettes like stop lofting excessively on the
lane and refraining from using abusive languages or obscene gestures during the game. Wet shoes are
not allowed as it damages the playing area. Players should be ready before their approach and shouldn’t
delay the game while getting the set-up.

This is an example of one complete game:

Scoring

There are several symbols used when keeping score: an "X" signifies a "strike" in which all ten pins
have been knocked down by the first roll of the ball in a frame; a "/" signifies a "spare" in which the
remainder of the pins left standing after the first roll are knocked down on the second roll in a frame; a
"-" indicates that no pins were knocked down on that roll, called a "miss"; an"F" indicates a "foul" where
a part of the bowler's body went past the foul line, which marks the boundry of the approach (the part
of the lane where we walk and release the ball) and the lane itself, where the oil is placed and the ball
rolls towards the pins; and a "O" around a number indicates that the pins left standing after the first roll
are in a formation known as a "split." Some scorers, such as ours, use an "S" in front of the number to
indicate a split. Splits occur when the headpin (the foremost pin) is knocked down, and there is a gap of
at least one pin between all the others left standing. The terms "wide" and "washout" are used to
define this situation except that the headpin was left standing. Sometimes, a "W" is used to indicate
this situation, but that has generally gone out of use.

For the most part, you keep score by adding the number of pins knocked down in each
frame. Special bonuses are awarded for strikes and spares. When a strike is bowled, the bowler is
awarded the score of 10 (for knocking down all ten pins), plus he gets to add the total of his next two
rolls to that frame. For a spare, the bowler gets the 10, plus the total number of pins knocked down on
the next roll only. In the examples above, you can see that the bowler rolled a strike in the 1st frame, so
he gets 10 for that frame, plus gets to add whatever he knocks down on his next two rolls. In 2nd frame,
he knocked down seven pins on his first roll, indicated by the number 7. On his second roll, he knocked
down the remaining three pins standing, so he gets a spare in that frame, and adds 10 more pins to his
score in the 1st frame, indicated by the number 20. He also gets the bonus for the spare, so must wait
to roll another ball before adding the score for the 2nd frame. His first roll of the 3rd frame knocks
down all but one pin, so he gets to add 19 pins to his total score in the 2nd frame, making the score for
two frames 39. The bowler misses the pin on his second roll, so only gets a total of 9 for the 3rd frame,
and that is immediately added to the total score, which becomes 48 for the first three frames.

In the 4th frame, the bowler gets another strike, so no total is added until he rolls the ball two
more times. In the 5th frame, on the first roll, the ball goes into the gutter, so a miss is scored, but no
total is added yet until he rolls the second ball in which he knocks down 8 of the pins. He gets a score of
18 for the 4th frame and 8 for the 5th frame, making his total score at the halfway point 74.

In the 6th frame, the bowler converts a split, then his foot crosses the foul line on the first roll of the
7th frame. Even though he knocked some pins down on that roll, an "F" is marked, and zero taken
because of the violation, giving the bowler only the original total of 10 for the 6th frame, making his
total score at that point 84. He knocks down 6 pins in the second roll of the 7th frame, giving him a total
score of 90 through seven complete frames.

In the 8th and 9th frames, the bowler gets a strike each, also called a "double." Because the bowler
has yet to roll two balls following the strike in the 8th frame, no total score is made yet. In the first ball
of the 10th frame, the bowler gets another strike, making three consecutive strikes which is also called a
"turkey." The bowler also gets the maximum score possible for a single frame of bowling in the 8th
frame, which is 30 pins, and that is added to the 90 for a total score of 120 in eight frames. Because the
bowler knocked down all ten pins in one of his two available rolls for the 10th frame, he will get a bonus
third roll for that frame. He knocks down eight pins on the second roll, making his total for the 9th
frame 28, which is added to his total score of 120, giving him 148 for nine frames. On the bonus ball, he
only gets one of the pins left standing, so he adds the 10 for the strike on his first roll to the 8 on his
second roll with the 1 of his bonus third roll for a total of 19 pins in the 10th frame. That 19 is then
added to his current total score of 148, giving the bowler a final score of 167 for the game.
If the bowler didn't get a strike or spare in the 10th frame, as shown here, no bonus roll is awarded and
the score would look like this (with seven pins knocked down on the first roll, and all but one knocked
down on the second roll).

The Perfect Game

Every serious bowler aspires to bowl what is called the perfect game, as one of his or her goals. As
mentioned above, the maximum score for a single frame is 30 pins -- 10 for the pins actually knocked
down in that frame when a strike is rolled, plus 10 pins for the first roll that follows (which would have
to be a strike), and another 10 pins for the second roll (which would also have to be a strike). Times this
by the 10 frames in a game of bowling and you get the perfect game -- a 300. As you can see above, it is
achieved by rolling 12 consecutive strikes in a single game.