How to Calculate Bowling Scores

Bowling is a fun game that kids and adults can play alike. It makes for some great birthday parties and family outings. If you are new to the sport of bowling you may not be sure how to keep score. Keeping score is really easy once you understand how. There are a few steps you can follow and you will be keeping your own score in no time.

Things You'll Need

  • Score card
  • Pencil
  • Calculator, if needed
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Instructions

    • 1

      Understand your score card. There are ten frames in a game of bowling. Each player gets to bowl twice in each frame so there are two spots on each frame at the top for you to write how many pins you knock down. The first time the player bowls the score gets put in the top left hand corner. The second bowl gets written in the top right hand corner which is a little box. Then you have a space underneath the two numbers to write the total score.

    • 2

      Write the total score for each frame by adding the top two figures. If a person knocked down four pins on their first try and two more the second you would place a 6 in the bottom area. Then if you move on to another frame you add your two top numbers to the number in the previous frames box to get the total score. So if you have a 5 and a 1 at the top of frame 2, you would add that to the 6 you had gotten as your total in frame one. Your new total would be 12 and it would go under the 5 and 1. Repeat this for all 10 frames.

    • 3

      Adding a spare gives you credit for one number twice. A spare is when you knock down a certain number of pins on your first try (4) and then you get the rest of them on your second try (6). You indicate a spare by putting the 4 in the top left hand corner and then draw a / in the top right hand corner. You can't get your score until the next frame because a spare allows you to count the next amount of pins you knock down. Say you get a spare on frame 1 (that's 10 points) and in frame 2 you knock down 3 pins on your first try. Then your total score for frame 1 would be 13.

    • 4

      Adding a strike gives you a chance to count the whole next frame twice. A strike is when you knock down all the pins on your first try. You mark this by placing an X in the upper right hand corner box. Say you get a strike in frame 1 and you bowl a 4 and a 2 in frame 2. Then your score for frame 1 would be 16 (10 + 4 + 2) and your score for frame 2 would be 22 (16 + 4 + 2).

    • 5

      Calculate your last frame--frame 10--by giving the bowler an extra try if they get a strike or a spare. If you bowl a strike on frame 10 and a 5 on your extra try you would add 15 points to your total from frame 9. The same goes with a spare.