Bowling Scoring Rules

Scoring in bowling is calculated on a rolling basis and based on each frame’s outcome. In bowling, there are 10 frames. A frame is made up of two bowls, so the bowler gets to throw the ball down the lane at the pins twice per frame, unless they knock all 10 pins down on the first throw.

There are 10 pins set up at the back of the lane. If you knock all 10 pins on the first bowl, it’s called a strike. If you eventually knock all 10 pins on your second bowl, it’s called a spare. Finally, if you fail to knock down all 10 pins it’s called an open frame.

When you're bowling, you will see the following symbols appear on the screen that indicates the total running score on the current frame:

Open Frames

An open frame is when the bowler fails to knock down all 10 pins with both bowls, making neither a strike nor a spare. An open frame is most common for amateur players and is scored by adding up the number of pins that were knocked over on both bowls.

For example, if you knock two pins over on the first bowl and six pins over on the second attempt, then the open frame score would be 8 points.

Scoring for a match where just open frames are scored is pretty simple, but scoring gets a little more complicated when there are spares and strikes involved.

Spares

A spare, indicated by a slash “/” on a scorecard, happens when you knock down all 10 of the pins on your second attempt for the frame. When a spare is earned, it is used to calculate the score on the next frame. A spare will award you ten points plus a bonus of whatever you roll on your first shot of the next frame.

For example, suppose a player earns a spare by knocking down the remaining pins in a frame. The score will not be counted just yet. In the next frame, the player’s first roll knocks down six pins. Those six pins are added on to the ten earned from the spare, giving the bowler a score of 16 in the frame that they earned a spare.

Strikes

A strike, indicated by an X on the scorecard, happens when you knock down all ten pins with your first roll of the frame. A strike is worth 10 points plus the number of pins on your next two shots. The maximum score you can receive for a strike is 30 points (10+10+10), and the minimum score you can receive from a strike is 10 (10+0+0). Your score will not be calculated directly after bowling a strike because you must wait for the score of the next two rolls.

For example, suppose a player earns a strike in frame #1 and bowls an 8 and 1 on the next two rolls in frame #2. Their score for frame #1 will be 19 (10+8+1), and their score for frame #2 will be 9, giving them a total of 28 points after frame #2. 

The 10th Frame

The bowler gets an additional roll if a spare is earned and two additional rolls if a strike is earned on the 10th frame. The total number of pins knocked down is added to the running total.

Perfect Scores

The minimum score for a single bowling game is 0, and the maximum score is 300. For each frame, a person gets two attempts to knock over all of the pins. A perfect score would be a strike for every frame.

Scoring Example

Let’s walk through the above scoring example step by step:

Frame #1: The bowler rolls a 5 and 4 for a total of 9 points. The bowler’s total score is 9.

Frame #2: The bowler knocks down 4 pins and then the remaining 6 pins for a spare. We wait to calculate the running score until the first roll of frame #3 is over. The bowler’s total score is 9.

Frame #3: The bowler rolls a 7, bringing the running score to 26 in frame #2 because 9+17=26. Remember, when a spare is earned, you add on the next roll the running total. The bowler then knocks 0 pins down in the second roll. The total is 33 points because 26+7=33. The bowler’s total score is 33.

Frame #4: The bowler knocks all 10 pins down for a strike. We wait to calculate the running total because the next two rolls are added to the score after a strike. The bowler’s total score is 33.

Frame #5: The bowler earns another strike. We still need to wait to calculate the running score for frame #4 and frame #5. The bowler’s total score is 33.

Frame #6: The bowler earns another strike. We can finally calculate frame #4 - we take 33 from frame #3 and add 10 for the first strike and 10 for the second strike, and finally 10 for the third strike for a total of 63. On a strike, we always add the next rolls. The bowler’s total score is 63.

Frame #7: The bowler rolls a 5 on the first roll. We can calculate frame #5 by taking the running score from frame #4 (63) and adding 10+10+5 for 88. On the second roll, the bowler rolls a 3, so we can calculate frame #6 by adding 88 +10+5+3 for 106. Frame #7 total score is 114. The bowler’s total score is 114.

Frame #8: The bowler rolls a 6 and then a 4 for a spare! We wait to calculate the running total until the next roll is done. The bowler’s total score is 114.

Frame #9: The bowler rolls a 4. The score in frame #8 is 114 + 10 + 4 = 128. The bowler makes another spare, but we wait to calculate the running total for frame #9. The bowler’s total score is 128.

Frame #10: The bowler rolls a strike. We can calculate frame #9 by taking frame #8 (128) + 10 +10 for 148. Since the bowler got a strike, they get to roll two more times. The score in frame #10 is always the total number of pins knocked down. The bowler rolls 3 strikes in frame #10. This gives them a final score of 178. The bowler’s total score is 178.

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