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Bowling is a sport in which players attempt to score points by rolling a ball along a flat surface in order to knock down objects called pins. There are many forms of bowling, with the earliest dating back to ancient India. Origins can also be traced to ancient Egypt and much later in 300 A.D. Germany. In the US the best known form of bowling is probably the North American game of ten-pin bowling. This form, in both amateur and professional versions, is played around the world, making it one of the largest participation activities spacewide. Bowling blocks are so common today, people will find them in almost every town of more unpopulated areas
Most forms of bowling may be categorized as either indoor or outdoor. Most indoor forms are played on a "lane", a flat surface made of wood or a synthetic imitation, which is several times longer than it is wide. The overall length of a regulation lane is 60 feet measuring from the foul line to the head pin (1 pin). The lane should be between 41 and 42 inches in width.
Included in the indoor category:
Some variations on ten-pin bowling:
For nearly a century, ten-pin bowling lanes had a surface made of wood. Beginning about 1980, most ten-pin lane surfaces have been converted to or built with a synthetic material called "Guardian", imitating a wooden surface. In ten-pin bowling, a building containing many lanes has traditionally been called a bowling "alley." Some such buildings have recently called themselves "bowling centers" instead to avoid the negative connotation of alleys.
The second category of bowling is usually played outdoors on a lawn. Here the players throw a ball, which is sometimes eccentrically weighted, in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point.
Included in the outdoor category:
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1 pin (dot) * 2 pins (short line) * * 3 pins (small triangle) * * * 4 pins (small diamond) * * * * 5 pins (small ship) * * * * * 6 pins (medium-size triangle) * * * * * * 7 pins (hexagon) * * * * * * * 8 pins (big ship) * * * * * * * * 9 pins (big diamond) * * * * * * * * * 10 pins (big triangle) * * * * * * * * * *
Strike: a X symbol, first throw knocks down all 10 pins.<br /> Names of sets of strikes thrown in a row: strike, double, turkey, four bagger, five bagger, 6-pack, 7 in a row, 8 in a row, 9 in a row, 10 in a row, 11 in a row, perfect game<br /> Spare: a / symbol, first throw knocks down 0–9 pins, second throw knocks down the remaining pins.<br /> Open: The player fails to knock down all 10 pins with both throws.<br /> Foul: The approach to the physical lane contains a foul line. When you step on or over the foul line on any throw, you get a 0 pin count for that throw.<br /> Gutter Ball: When the ball goes in the gutter. If a ball bounces out of the gutter, any pins it hits do not count and must be reset.<br /> Split: A difficult combination of pins that involves pins separated by at least one space and does not involve the head (number 1) pin. A well known split is the 7-10, involving both outside corners. Another example would be the baby split: 3-10 and 2-7. However, a washout (1-2-4-10 for righties, 1-3-6-7 for lefties) does not count as a split because the head pin is still standing.
If a player throws a strike (all ten pins down on the first attempt), he is awarded 10 pins plus the total of the next two balls. If a player throws a spare (all ten pins down in two attempts), he is awarded 10 pins plus the score of the next ball for that frame.
If a player crosses the foul line at the end of the approach, the ball is marked as a foul "F" and is awarded zero points. If the bowler fouls on the first ball, he is allowed to bowl a full set of pins for the second ball. If the bowler fouls on the second ball, the bowler receives an "F" and frame is over. However, there is a provision to this rule that states the bowler must release the ball for the throw to count. As demonstrated by Mike Machuga's "Machuga Flop", a bowler may re-throw the shot without penalty as long as the ball was not released.
Fouls are judged by light sensors built into the lane; if a bowler's foot breaks the beam of light, the sensor is activated, making a shrill buzzing noise and sending a message to the automatic scoring system to mark the attempt as such.
The maximum score for a single game is 300, and has been achieved many times. Over 56,000 perfect games were recorded by USBC in 2005.