Bowling Scoring - Petraglia Scoring System

Sometimes referred to as golf, the Petraglia Scoring System counts a player’s total number of shots rather than total pinfall.

Unlike traditional scoring, a bowler throws as many shots as it takes to knock down all 10 pins in a frame.

For example, if you throw a strike in your first frame, your score is 1. If you throw a spare in your second frame (two shots), your score for that frame is 2, bringing your total score to 3.

This system can punish you quickly if you miss your spare shots. Say you throw your first ball and leave the 7-10 split. You throw your second ball and hit the 7, but leave the 10. You throw your third ball and miss the 10 completely. Finally, on your fourth ball, you hit the ten, registering a score of 4 for that frame.

The Petraglia system can go on forever, in theory, and rewards bowlers for strikes and spares, as does traditional scoring.
In this system, the perfect score possible is 10, as there are no fill balls in the tenth frame.

How to Choose the Right Bowling Ball

Bowling with the right ball will dramatically improve your scores and consistency. For beginners, finding the right ball is often a daunting task, so you may want to consult your local pro shop or bowling-center operator for help.

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
Here's How:

Find your ideal ball weight. Some say your ball should be approximately 10% of your body weight, up to the maximum 16 pounds. Most pro bowlers use 16-pound balls, although more than you think use 15-pounders. Another method is to add one or two pounds to the weight of the house ball you normally use. A heavier ball drilled specifically to your hand will seem to weigh about the same as a house ball two pounds lighter.

Even with these guidelines, you should never use a ball too heavy just because you feel you should. The real ideal ball weight is the heaviest ball you can comfortably throw.

Determine your ideal cover stock. The cover stock is the material on the outer surface of the ball, and is very important in determining how your ball will react to the lane conditions. There are four types of cover stocks: polyester (more commonly referred to as plastic), urethane, reactive resin, and particle. To figure out which is best for your game, see the tips below with detailed information on each cover stock.

Choose your ball. Once you know the weight and cover stock you need, you can find a large number of balls online, or you can ask your local pro shop. There are differences in each category, but a conversation with a pro-shop operator or some online research should be enough to get you the right ball for your game.

You can find a good plastic ball for $50 or even less. Reactive-resin balls start around $100 and go up from there, though some, as well as particle balls, may cost several hundred dollars.

Get it drilled to fit your hand. You can find pre-drilled bowling balls, but if you’re going to use one of those, you might as well save your money and use a house ball. A ball drilled specifically to your hand gives you more control and also significantly decreases the risk of injury. Take your ball to a pro shop and have an expert measure your hand and drill your ball. Some stores will include free drilling with the purchase of a ball, but in other cases, you shouldn’t expect to pay more than $30 for drilling—and it’s worth it.

Be patient. When you first hold (and release) a ball drilled to your hand, you might be afraid it doesn’t fit. This is because the house balls you’re used to don’t fit. With a little practice, your new ball will prove to be infinitely more comfortable and controllable than a pre-drilled house ball.

Tips:

Plastic cover stocks are the way to go if you normally throw the ball straight and want to continue to do so. Almost every house ball has a plastic cover stock. This is the least expensive category, but also the least versatile.

Urethane and reactive-resin cover stocks are perfect if you throw a hook or would like to start throwing a hook. These cover stocks will grip the lane better than a plastic ball, thus hooking into the pins. Urethane balls take a gradual path to the pins, hooking throughout the whole lane. Most bowlers prefer reactive resin to urethane, as the ball will cut through the oil without hooking too much, and will pick up friction at the end of the lane, hooking aggressively into the pins (this is called backend) and creating more strike potential.

Particle cover stocks are essentially a hybrid of urethane and reactive resin. They have the consistent grip of urethane and the massive backend of reactive resin. Best used on oily lanes, particle balls are mainly used by experienced bowlers who know how to control the ball and react to different lane conditions.

How to Hook a Bowling Ball

You don’t need a ball specifically drilled to your hand to hook your shot, but it makes it much easier. For maximum ease, get a ball with a reactive-resin cover stock, and have it drilled so you can use the fingertip grip.

Bowling Scoring

Most bowling alleys are equipped with machines that take care of the scoring for you, but you should still know how the bowling scoring system works. Otherwise, the scores the machine gives you will seem arbitrary and confusing.

Bowling-Scoring Basics
One game of bowling consists of 10 frames, with a minimum score of zero and a maximum of 300. Each frame consists of two chances to knock down ten pins. Instead of “points” in football or “runs” in baseball, we use “pins” in bowling.

Strikes and Spares
Knocking down all ten pins on your first ball is called a strike, denoted by an X on the score sheet. If it takes two shots to knock down all ten pins, it’s called a spare, denoted by a /.

Open Frames
If, after two shots, at least one pin is still standing, it’s called an open frame. Whereas open frames are taken at face value, strikes and spares can be worth more—but not less—than face value.

How to Score a Strike
A strike is worth 10, plus the value of your next two rolls.

At minimum, your score for a frame in which you throw a strike will be 10 (10+0+0). At best, your next two shots will be strikes, and the frame will be worth 30 (10+10+10).

Say you throw a strike in the first frame. Technically, you don't have a score yet. You need to throw two more balls to figure out your total score for the frame. In the second frame, you throw a 6 on your first ball and a 2 on your second ball. Your score for the first frame will be 18 (10+6+2).

How to Score a Spare
A spare is worth 10, plus the value of your next roll.

Say you throw a spare in your first frame. Then, in your first ball of the second frame, you throw a 7. Your score for the first frame will be 17 (10+7).

The maximum score for a frame in which you get a spare is 20 (a spare followed by a strike), and the minimum is 10 (a spare followed by a gutter ball).

How to Score an Open Frame
If you don't get a strike or a spare in a frame, your score is the total number of pins you knock down. If you knock down five pins on your first ball and two on your second, your score for that frame is 7.

Putting Everything Together
Many people understand the basics but get confused when trying to add everything up. Your total score is nothing more than the sum of each individual frame. If you treat each frame individually, it's much easier to comprehend the scoring system.

Breaking Down a Sample Score

Frame: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Result: X 7/ 7 2 9/ X X X 2 3 6/ 7/3
Frame Score: 20 17 9 20 30 22 15 5 17 13
Running Total: 20 37 46 66 96 118 133 138 155 168

How to Calculate Your Bowling Average

Bowling averages are essential in league play, especially handicap leagues, since your average is needed to determine your handicap. The United States Bowling Congress doesn't officially recognize an average until you've bowled 12 games, but you can calculate your average based on any number of games.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: A few minutes
Here's How:

Bowl. To calculate an average, you need some scores.
Add your scores. Say you bowl three games of 150, 181 and 136. Add those scores.

150 + 181 + 136 = 466

Divide by the number of games. In this example, you bowled three games, so you divide 466 by 3.

466 ÷ 3 = 155 1/3

Round down. Bowling scores are typically rounded down, ignoring anything on the right side of the decimal point. In this case, your average is 155.

Fingertip Grip

The fingertip bowling grip is used by most pro bowlers and the majority of serious recreational bowlers. For an experienced and frequent bowler, this grip allows the most control over the ball and also comes with the lowest risk of injury. If you want to get better at bowling, adopting this grip is a good step.

In order to use this grip properly, you need to get your ball drilled specifically to your hand, along with properly sized finger inserts. Otherwise, the chances of injury rise and your scores will drop.

Bowling Strikes - How to Find Your "Strike Ball"

If you're like any other bowler in the world, you want to throw a strike on every shot. But, if you're like any other bowler in the world, you know it's a lot harder to do than to say.

Finding your "strike ball," meaning your shot you can consistently throw and with which you have good results, is very important as it's the basis for adjustments, spares and improving your game overall.

To find your strike ball, you need to find your starting position. Begin by lining up your left shoe with the middle dot on the approach. Place your right foot wherever is comfortable for you and your bowling style. For left-handed bowlers, do the same, but with the opposite feet.