Test Your Bowling Knowledge Trivia Quiz

Answer: false

No, no, no. A handicap in bowling is where they add a certain number of pins to your average to help make bowling fair for everyone. The number of pins added depends on what determined scale your league has decided to use. For example: say the handicap for a league is 100% of 220. You would then take 220, subtract your average from it and multiply that number by 100%. So if your average happened to be 150, your handicap would be 70. 220-150=70 and 70 multiplied by 100% is 70. I actually had someone ask me one time why I was bowling on a handicap league when I clearly had no physical signs of being handicapped.

This person, however, didn't know much about bowling. So, I guess you can't fault one for thinking a handicap league had to do with being handicapped.

Answer: false

This is only true if you bowl on a sanctioned league. I originally thought this was true for all leagues but I had been mistaken.

Answer: 12

It takes 12 strikes in a row for a perfect 300 game. There's 10 frames in a single game and in the tenth frame you can bowl a maximum of three balls. This adds up to 12. 9 strikes(frames 1-9) plus 3 strikes(frame 10).

Answer: No tap

It has been said that if you hit the pocket and only knock down 9 pins, you have been tapped. So, no tap means you can knock down any 9 pins and still get a strike counted score. You don't have to hit the pocket for a no tap strike though. Just wanted to clear that up because sometimes I can even confuse myself with some of my explanations.

Answer: open frame

Nothing interesting to say about open frames except most bowlers much rather have marked frames. Marked frames would include any strikes or spares. All others are considered open frames.

Answer: 10

There are 10 frames to bowl in a single game. If you score a strike in the 10th you bowl two more frames.

Answer: 21

If no strikes are thrown in frames 1-9, that's a total of 18 balls thrown (maximum amount of balls thrown per frame in frames 1-9 are 2). In the tenth frame, you can roll a total of three balls if you don't open on the first two balls thrown. That's a maximum total of 21 balls released in a game.

Answer: a turkey

This was a really easy one but I had to add it because most all bowlers love to get turkeys.

Answer: Women's International Bowling Congress

All women league bowlers who bowled on a sanctioned league were members of this. The WIBC later merged with the United States Bowling Congress.

Answer: divide total pinfall by 3

If one's scores happened to be 203, 193, and 173, then their average would be 189. 203 plus 193 plus 173 equals 569 total knocked down pins or total pinfall. Therefore, 569 total pinfall divided by 3 (total number of games played) equals 189. This is just the same basic math used for calculating most any kind of an average.

Answer: true

Yes, this is true. If one did knock down any or even all pins, the pins still have to be reset to a full pin lineup. The score will then accumulate on whatever one gets on their second ball thrown. If one knocks down all of the pins on their second ball, this will then be scored as a spare and not a strike. So, be careful near that foul line!

Answer: Wait until the bowler has released their ball and has returned off of the approach line

This is still a common problem in bowling. I hate to admit it, but even us league bowlers don't always follow this rule. Most of us, however, do wait until the bowler has released the ball but we don't always wait until they're off of the approach line.

Answer: no

It's not ok because shoes worn outdoors can cause damage to the approach lines. There are shoe covers you can buy for going outdoors or for being anywhere except on the approach line. They are highly recommended but I've only seen very few bowlers who actually use them.

Answer: strike ball and spare ball

A lot of bowlers will start a frame with a ball they most commonly get strikes with. If they don't get a strike, they will then use a ball that helps them better with picking up spares. So then, these are commonly known as a strike ball and spare ball.

Answer: turtlepin

Tenpin is the game I've been referring to throughout this quiz. The other two, I actually learned about from the internet. Candlepin bowling uses a much smaller ball than tenpin (about a 22-inch diameter difference) and has no finger holes. It has cylinder-shaped pins and there's three balls per frame.

It's mostly played in New England and eastern Canada. Duckpin bowling is most similar to candlepin except the pins resemble those used in tenpin, only much shorter. This game is primarily played in mid-Atlantic states. If you are interested in seeing what the balls and pins look like for these games, I got my info from family.go.com. From their homepage, just type bowling into the search bar, and then from that page click on "What's Your Game?" Well, I hope you enjoyed my quiz and I also hope you bowled a perfect game.