Bowling Glossary (Page 5 of 5)

1- History & Object
2- The Essentials (Scoring, Etc.)
3- Formats (Open, League, Etc.)
4- Alley diagram
5- Glossary of Bowling Terms

Address: The position of the bowler just before approaching the lane to bowl the ball.

Bagger: Term used for consecutive strikes (i.e. “four-bagger,” “five-bagger,” etc.).

Brooklyn: A strike that crosses to the wrong side of the headpin (left side for right-handed bowler).

Double: Term for two consecutive strikes.

Follow through: Motion at the end of the bowl after the ball is released.

Frame: Unit measuring the number of turns a bowler has in a game. There are 10 frames in a bowling game and bowlers get two throws, or attempts, to knock over the pins during each frame.

Gutter-ball: A ball that goes into the gutter and scores 0 point.

Handicap: Recreational leagues often add points to a bowler’s average score to provide for fair competition between teams.

Head pin: The #1 pin that is in the front position.

Lanes: The building that houses the 25-100+ lanes. Sometimes called the alley. Also refers to the actual bowling surface.

League: Many bowlers join leagues that play regularly. Leagues usually have teams of 4 people. Each week, one team faces a new opponent and the team with the highest total score wins. Some leagues use handicaps to level competition.

Match Play: Competition in which a bowler faces his opponent head-to-head and the higher scoring bowler advances to the next round and the lower scoring bowler is eliminated. Rounds continue until only one undefeated bowler remains.

Open frame: A turn in which the bowler fails to get a strike or spare.

Perfect game: Maximum possible score of 300 achieved by throwing 12 consecutive strikes.

Pocket: Hitting the front pin dead center often results in a split. Therefore, the best place for a right-handed player to hit the pins is just to the right of the headpin, known as the “pocket.”

Spare: Knocking down the remaining pins on the second throw.

Split: A difficult shot left on the second throw in which there is a gap between the remaining pins. Splits are named for their pin position (see diagram), with the 7-10 split being the most difficult shot in the game.

Strike: Knocking over all 10 pins on the first throw.

Turkey: Three consecutive strikes.

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