Bowling

Bowling is a popular form of recreation and an exciting sport. Every year, millions of people visit bowling alleys and roll bails to try to knock down the 10 pins. 
Bowling refers to a series of sports or leisure activities in which a player rolls or throws a bowling ball towards a target. It is one of the major forms of throwing sports. In pin bowling variations, the target is usually to knock over pins at the end of a lane.

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Bowling Facts
Ten-pin Bowling

Professional Bowling Association

Bowling is one of the oldest and most popular indoor sports. Although essentially an American sport, it is be­coming increasingly popular in other countries, particu­larly Canada, Japan, and the Latin-American states.

In bowling, the bowler rolls balls along a highly pol­ished wooden lane to try to knock down 10 pins.

Scoring. A bowling game consists of 10 frames. Each bowler rolls the ball twice in each frame, unless a strike is scored. A strike occurs when the bowler knocks down all 10 pins with the first ball. It counts as 10 points plus the total number of pins the bowler knocks down with the next two balls that are bowled. With a strike, the scorer marks an X in the small square in the corner of the larger square on the score sheet. A spare occurs when the bowler knocks down all 10 pins with two balls in the same frame. It counts as 10 points plus the num­ber of pins the bowler knocks down with the first ball bowled in the next frame. The scorer marks a diagonal line (/) through the small square for a spare. When a bowler fails to make a strike or spare, only the pins knocked down count, and no scoring is carried over to the next frame. If the bowler fails to knock down all the pins with the two balls in one frame, the scorer marks a dash (—) or the word "open" in the small square.

A bowler must roll 12 consecutive strikes to score 300, a perfect game. This includes one strike for each of the 10 frames, plus one strike for each of the two extra, or bonus, chances that a bowler receives for scoring a strike in the 10th frame.

The ball is made of hard rubber or plastic. Balls used in leagues should not be more than 27 inches (69 centi­metres) in circumference, and should weigh from 6 to 16 pounds (2.7 to 7.3 kilograms). Younger bowlers may use lighter balls. Most bowlers use a three-finger grip (thumb, middle finger, and ring finger), but some use a two-finger grip (thumb and middle finger).

The lane is 62 feet 10 inches (19.17 metres) long, and 41 to 42 inches (1.04 to 1.07 metres) wide. The ap­proach area, at the bowler's end of the lane, is at least 15 feet (4.6 metres) long. A foul line separates the approach area from the lane. Shallow, hollowed grooves called gutters run along either side of the lane. A gutter is 9 inches (23 centimetres) wide. Poorly aimed balls roll into a gutter.

The pins are made of maple, with a plastic coating. Each pin stands 15 inches (38 centimetres) high and weighs between 3 pounds 6 ounces and 3 pounds 12 ounces (1.5 and 1.7 kilograms). The pins stand on spots in a 36-inch (91-centimetre) sided triangle. The centre of each spot is 12 inches (30 centimetres) from the centre of the neighbouring spots. The pins are numbered from 1 to 10, starting with the No. 1 (head) pin and counting row by row, from left to right. The No. 1 pin stands 60 feet (18 metres) from the foul line at the far end of the lane.

History. While the earliest evidence of bowling dates back to ancient Egypt, modern forms of the game can be traced back to the Middle Ages. In England, a 9-pin ver­sion of the game appeared as early as the 1100's, in the Netherlands, people played a similar game called Dutch pins, and they took this with them when they emigrated to the New World during the 1600's.

Bowling became increasingly popular in the United States during the 1800's and the mid-1900"s it had be­come an accepted form of family recreation. Organized professional bowling began in the United States in 1959. Today, the International Bowling Federation (Federation Internationale des Quilleurs, or FIQ, founded in 1951) sponsors a worldwide tournament for amateur bowlers every four years.

Bowlplaying is an Irish game played with an iron on a road. Starting from a marked point, each pla_ye u a ball and throws it along the road as far as possible. After the ball comes to rest at a particular place, the player throws it again from that place. The game continues till the players reach a marked finishing point The winner is the player who reaches the finish in the least number of throws. The game's national body is An Bol-Chumann. It organizes annual national championships.
Bowls is a game in which the players roll wooden rubber, or composition balls at a smaller, target bail. Bowls is traditionally played out of doors on a smooth, grass plot called a green. The two versions of the game are called flat green bowls and crown green bowls.

Fiat green bowls. A standard bowling green is a level square plot. It consists of six to eight rinks (alleys) 18 to 19 feet (5.5 to 5.8 metres) wide. Up to eight matches can be played at the same time. The game may also be played indoors on an artificial surface.

The bowls (balls) vary in size from 4 5/8 to 5 1/4 inches (11.7 to 13.3 centimetres) in diameter and weigh no more than 3 1/2 pounds (1.6 kilograms). They are not round. One side of a bowl is larger than the other, and this shape causes the bowl to roll in a curving line. The players control the amount of curve by the manner and speed of their delivery of the bowl. They bowl from a rubber or plastic mat at each end of the rink. The target ball, called the jack, is round, white, and has a diameter of about 2 1/2 inches (6.4 centimetres). The jack weighs about 10 ounces (280 grams).

The game may be played by singles, pairs, triples, or fours teams of one to four players). The players try to roll their bowls as close as possible to the jack Players also try to knock an opponent's bowl away from the jack or to knock the jack away from an opponent's bowl.

The first bowler, called the lead, rolls the jack to the far end of the rink. The lead then delivers the first bowl as directed by the team's skip (captain). Then the lead of the other team bowls. Opposing players alternate turns until each player has delivered the permitted number of bowls. The skip bowls last. Each player uses four bowls in singles and pairs, three in triples, and two in fours. A team scores one point for each bowl lying closer to the jack than the nearest bowl of the opposing team.

After both sides have delivered all bowls from one end of the rink, they have completed an end (innings). They play the next end from the other end of the rink. Games of pairs, triples, and fours consist of a certain number of ends, usually 12 or 14. A singles game is usu­ally played until one player has scored 18 or 21 points. Tournament games may be longer.

Flat green bowls dates back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It has flourished in England since the 1100s. Today, about 20 countries have flat green bowls associa­tions. These organizations sponsor annual tournaments.

Crown green bowls is played mainly in the Mid­lands and the north of England, on an outdoor green that measures at least 25 yards (24 metres) square and slopes up to a central area raised on average 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimetres). Most matches are singles, and each player has two bowls. The first player to score 21 points wins. There are no limits to the size, weight, or bias of the bowls. The jack, unlike that in the flat green game, is also biased. The green is not divided into rinks and each new end is started within one metre of where the jack was last placed.