Bowling Tournament Games

Bowling is among the most popular participation sports in America, as just about anyone can give it a try. Many bowlers who become more involved in the sport and see their scores start to increase begin to compete in leagues and tournaments. Tournaments are competitions held between individuals and teams that have specific rules and amounts of games. There are plenty of different tournament ideas and games for bowlers to choose from and bowling center proprietors to try.

  1. Standard

    • Many standard bowling tournament games feature three different competitions: singles, doubles and team events. Singles events pit individual bowlers against each other for three games, while doubles events partner two bowlers together to compete against other pairs for three games. Team events typically challenge groups of four or five bowlers to best other teams over the course of three games.

    No-Tap

    • Another common tournament game is called No-Tap. No-Tap games award bowlers with strikes who knock down at least nine pins on their first ball of a frame. While knocking down all 10 pins still counts as a strike, it is not required. No-Tap tournaments are a fun way to get higher scores than normal, though the scores are not sanctioned by the USBC (United States Bowling Congress).

    Marathons

    • While most tournaments require bowlers to bowl three games at a time, marathon tournaments ask for more. Bowling lane conditions often change as more shots are thrown on them, so it becomes more difficult to adjust the more games are bowled. Marathons consist of at least eight games consecutively and they challenge bowlers to make the changes necessary to score well as the lane oil shifts around.

    Baker

    • Baker tournaments are unique because they are always bowled as a team and every member must work together on the same bowling game. Baker tournament teams consist of five bowlers. The five bowlers then alternate each frame until the game is complete. Because every team member is involved, it can be difficult to bowl a high score in the Baker tournament format.

    Forty Frame Game

    • The Forty Frame Game is a unique bowling tournament game held three times annually in Toledo, Ohio. Rather than split up the tournament into multiple standard or varied games, the Forty Frame Game is a single game with forty frames that require different outcomes to succeed. If each frame is completed perfectly, the highest possible score is 1305, rather than the usual 300. The three Forty Frame Game tournaments are also held at the locations of the USBC National Men's and Women's tournaments.