How to Play Bowling
Bowling is a fun individual sport that is now played around the world. Whether you are cosmic bowling with black lights and party music, or you are playing on a league or just with friends, the rules for bowling are the same. Many people do not always play by the rules while bowling because they just want to go out and have fun.
Whether you bowl for fun, on a league or while playing on your Wii, it is good to know the rules so that you can play properly. These rules were not only designed for sportly play but also to keep a person from hurting themselves as bowling is a sport.
- Rent or purchase bowling shoes. Street shoes are not allowed on the bowling floor because you can "stick" and hurt your ankles, if not trip and fall on your face. Your regular shoe size should be the same for a pair of bowling shoes.
- Find a ball that doesn't hurt your arm. Select one off the shelf and place your fingers in the holes. The holes should not be too tight that your fingers do not slip out easily. With ball in hand, pull your arm back and pretend to throw the ball three times. If you can do this with great ease, your ball is too light. If your arm begins to hurt, then the ball is too heavy. Keep doing this with different ball weights until you find one that works for you.
- Learn the stance now that you have a ball and shoes. The stance is important because it helps you keep balance while throwing the ball. To do the stance, stand at the foul line; the dotted line in front of the lane. Spread your legs slightly apart while bending the knees slightly. Move your foot on the opposite side you are holding the ball slightly back to keep balance. Let your arm holding the ball lay straight down your side. Tilt your back slightly forward for the best support.
- Delivering and releasing the ball is the next thing to learn. Find your mark in the lane using the arrows on the floor, not by looking at the pins. If you are right handed, aim for the arrow just right to the center. Swing your arm back then forward to release the ball. Only release the ball when your arm is directly in front of you.
- Keeping score is the last thing to learn. There are ten frames or turns in every game of bowling. An "X" means that you got a strike, you knocked down all ten pins in one shot. A "/" means that you got a spare; you knocked down all the pins in two shots. A "-" means that no pins were hit. An "F" means that a part of the bowler’s body was over the foul line when they took their turn. When calculating the score, a strike is worth 10 points plus the totals of the next two turns. A spare is also worth 10 points plus the total of the next turn only. Any other turn is worth one point per pin. If you bowled a seven the first turn and a two in the next turn on one frame, you had a total of nine points which would be displayed in bold in the bottom of the box.