How to Measure the Placement of Bowling Pins

A bowling pin is set 12 inches apart from adjacent pins.

In 10-pin bowling, the pins themselves, known as the pin rack, are set up on the pin deck. Each of the pins is individually numbered from 1 to 10, starting at the front and moving toward the back right. The distance between pins is measured from the center of one pin to the center of the next. Each pin is 12 inches apart from any adjacent pins.

Things You'll Need

• Masking tape
• Pen
• Ruler

Instructions

1. Place a small piece of masking tape down on the floor. Label it number one. This will be the spot for your first pin.

2. Measure 12 inches diagonally at a 45-degree angle and place another piece of tape for the number two pin. Measure 12 inches horizontally to the right of this spot and place the third tape mark. Each of these three spots should be 12 inches apart from the other two marks.

3. Measure 12 inches diagonally at a 45-degree angle from the second spot and place another piece of tape for the number four pin. Measure 12 inches horizontally from that spot and place the fifth tape mark. Place the sixth tape mark 12 inches to the right of the fifth. The 2, 4 and 5 marks should all be equidistant from each other, as should the 3, 5 and 6 marks.

4. Measure 12 inches diagonally at a 45-degree angle from the fourth spot and place the seventh tape mark. Repeat the procedure in Steps 2 and 3 to place the eighth, ninth and tenth marks to the right of the seventh.

References

• University of Bowling: Anatomy of a Bowling Lane
• BowlingBall.com: How to Identify Bowling Pin Formations