Encyclopedia of Sport: Every sport from around the world
Topend Sports Logo

Tenpin Bowling

Ten-pin or tenpin bowling, which is commonly referred to as “bowling,” is a sport in which a player rolls a bowling ball on a wooden or synthetic lane to knock down pins. There have been many claims as to where bowling originated, some say it originated in Egypt and some say in Germany.



The wooden lane should be around 105 centimeters wide and 18 meters long. There is a foul line near the bowler, if the bowler crosses the line, it is considered a foul. Each bowler can have one shot at a new rack of ten pins, that is, if the bowler is foul in the first frame.

The bowlers can have 10 frames to knock down the pins. The bowlers are allowed two rolls from frames 1 to 9. The last frame, the tenth, frame, can have up to three rolls.

tenpin bowling alley tenpin bowling alley

For scoring, there are three kinds of marks: a strike, when all the ten pins are down during the first ball; spare when all the pins are knocked down by the second ball; and open, when there are still pins standing after the second ball. A bowler can have 10 points when he or she achieves a strike.

Other names for bowling are regular bowling and big-ball bowling. Five-pin bowling, candlepin bowling, and duckpin bowling are other variants of bowling.



Some Bowling Variations

Related Pages

send us a comment Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.

Sport Extra

Check out the 800+ sports in the Encyclopedia of Every Sport. Well not every sport, as there is a list of unusual sports, extinct sports and newly created sports. How to get on these lists? See What is a sport? We also have sports winners lists, and about major sports events and a summary of every year.

 → How to Cite