Bowling Terminology

Series Summary

Bowling is an ancient game that is a professional and amateur sport in today’s culture. Believed to have originated in Germany, the main object of bowling is to knock down as many pins as possible with a weighted bowling ball. American ten-pin bowling is the most common type of bowling among competitors and pros. There are many other types of indoor and outdoor bowling including nine-pin skittles, candlepin bowling, cocked-hat bowling, Bocce, and lawn bowls. In most forms of bowling, the bowler rolls the bowling ball towards the pins down a lane that is guarded by a gutter on either side. Each frame of scoring allows the player two balls or two tries to knock down the pins. If the player knocks down all the pins in the first try, it is called a strike. If the player knocks down all of the pins in any frame with the use of both balls, this is called a spare. Even if someone has never bowled before, it's very easy to learn. In this free video series, a semi-professional bowler will teach you everything there is to know about bowling, starting with the terminology and moving onto types of bowling balls, accessories, bowling alleys and scoring. Next, you'll learn the proper attire, the approach, improving your game, and how much it costs to go bowling. With these tips, you'll be able to step out onto the lanes and roll a few strikes with the best of them!

Video Transcript

"In the next clip we're going to talk about terminology. There's a strike, where all the pins go down at once. On the second ball, you may have one pin left up on the second ball, you make it, that's a spare. There's a split, very difficult to make a split, if you do it everybody cheers for you. There's a 300 game, which is perfect twelve strikes in a row. 200 and over is a good bowler,175 is a average bowler, but it takes no time at all to learn this game. I give you one year, you'll be at least 150 after the first year. Just listen to the instructions we give you carefully, do what we tell you, and I promise you in one year, 150 average. Some other terms that we often say while bowling in a league is "good shot", "consistent shot", "slow down", which you have to slow down to get a good shot, "keep your balance". Some people throw backup ball, which goes the opposite way. You throw a hook, which all the professionals bowl with a hook. Or you could throw a straight ball, a lot of beginnings bowl with a straight ball. But we're going to teach you how to bowl with the hook. The slide is very important, consistency is very important. Do the same thing all the time, every shot, practice, practice, practice, and like my father says "just hit your mark and pray"!"