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Step 1
Get your group or date, pack a pair of socks, and get ready for a good time.
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Step 2
Head to Highland Lanes, located at 8909 Burnet Road in North Austin. Although they open at 9:30 a.m. every day, the more lively times to go are after 5 p.m. and on weekends. They are open until midnight Sunday through Thursday, and until 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
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Step 3
Rent a lane (or two, depending on how many people are with you) and a pair of those infamously horrid bowling shoes. Be assured, Highland Lanes does sanitize them after each use, but you still might want to bring a spare pair of socks to wear. Lane rentals are by the hour: weekdays before 5 p.m. are $16 an hour, and weekdays after 5 p.m., weekends and holidays are $20 an hour. Shoe rentals are $2.50 for all ages, anytime.
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Step 4
Choose a bowling ball that fits your finger size and is a comfortable weight. Choose a ball that feels slightly heavier than feels comfortable. It will give you more control over the direction the ball goes and the spin, or lack thereof. For newbies, the idea of the game is to knock down as many pins as possible to get the highest score.
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Step 5
Be prepared to laugh, as the slippery lanes and shoes can provide for much entertainment. When releasing the ball, try to focus on the arrows in the center of the lane and find a method and style that works best for you. “There’s no right or wrong way to play the game,” says Sue Barry, manager of Highland Lanes. “You can do it with your right hand, your left hand, and through the sheer repetition of going through the motions, your skills will improve every time. Just have fun and enjoy yourself.”
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Step 6
Take a break from the lanes if you get hungry (or thirsty) at the full-service café and bar.
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Step 7
Have fun! And don’t forget to wash your hands after you’re done, or use some Purell hand sanitizer. The shoes may be sanitized, but the balls, well, let’s not think about that…
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Step 1
There are 10 frames in each game. You have two chances to knock down all 10 pins in each frame.
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Step 2
Getting all 10 pins down with one ball is not as easy as it seems! If one or more pins are still standing after your first try, you get a second chance to knock all the pins down, called your "spare." If you knock all the remaining pins down on the second shot, you have made your spare, which will be marked on the score sheet with a backslash (“/). Highland Lanes has a computerized system that will keep track for you.
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Step 3
When the player knocks down all 10 pins on the first try, it is called a strike, marked on the score sheet with an "X." Obviously you get the most points for a strike. Multiple and consecutive strikes will raise your score dramatically.
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Step 4
Both spares and strikes enable you to get a bonus ball in the tenth frame. So, let’s assume you throw 9 strikes in the first 9 frames and, if you get another two in the tenth, the bonus ball means the most strikes you can have in one game is 12. This is called a “perfect” game.
