Instructions for Scoring in Bowling

At first glance, scoring in bowling seems very complicated and difficult. Once you know the scoring rules, however, learning to do the scoring will become second nature. Most people are confused about how to score strikes and spares in bowling. A strike is when you knock down all 10 pins in one throw, and a spare is when you knock down all 10 pins in two throws on the same turn. There are bonuses added on to your score for both a strike and a spare, and once you know how these bonuses are calculated you will have no trouble scoring.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write in the number of pins you knocked down in each frame. For example, if you knocked down a total of eight pins in the first frame, you would put an 8 in the score box.

    • 2

      Give yourself 10 points for a strike. As a bonus, you also get the value of your next frame added on. For example, if you shot a strike and then a 6 and a 3 on your next two shots, you would give yourself 19 for the frame where you got the strike, then just a 9 for the next frame. If you bowl back to back strikes, you would give yourself 20 points for the frame plus the value of the next two shots. Therefore, if you rolled back to back strikes, then a 4 and a 3 your score for the frame would be 27 (10+10+4+3). In a perfect game, you roll strikes in all the frames and also the two bonus balls at the end to get 300. (10 frames x max score of 30 per frame)

    • 3

      Give yourself 10 points for a spare, then add the value of your next throw to get your bonus for that frame. For example, if you shot a spare, then on your next turn a 2 and a 5, you would give yourself 12 for the spare frame, and then a 7 for the next frame. If you rolled a strike, a spare, and then a 2 and a 5, you would give yourself 30 for the frame where you rolled a strike (strike and spare added together= 30) and 17 for the next frame (10 + 5+ 2).

    • 4

      Give yourself a 30 if you throw three strikes in the final frame. The final frame gives you bonus throws if you strike or spare over your two final shots. If you got a spare and then a strike on your bonus shot, you would get a 20. If you shot a spare and then a 6, you would get a 16.

    • 5

      Add up all the frames to get your final score.