Tenpin bowling

[3] An approximately 15-foot (5 m) long approach area used by the bowler to impart speed and apply rotation to the ball ends in a foul line.

Oil is applied to approximately the first two-thirds of the lane's length to allow a "skid" area for the ball before it encounters friction and hooks.

The oil is applied in different lengths and layout patterns, especially in professional and tournament play, to add complexity and regulate challenge in the sport.

[9] Most new players roll the ball straight, while more experienced bowlers may roll a hook that involves making the ball start out straight but then curve toward a target, to increase the likelihood of striking: USBC research[9] has shown that shots most likely to strike enter the pocket at an angle of entry that is achievable only with a hook.

[9] The 2008 study concluded that an impact with the ball centered at "board 17.5" causes pin scatter that maximizes likelihood of striking.

[33] A fingertip grip, involving insertion of fingers only to the first knuckle, enables greater revolution rates and resultant hook potential.

[41] Modern tenpin bowling derives mainly from the German Kegelspiel, or kegeling, which used nine pins set in a diamond formation.

[46] An 1841 Connecticut law banned ninepin bowling because of its perceived association with gambling and crime, and people were said to circumvent the prohibition by adding a tenth pin.

In the mid-1800s, various alternatives to free-standing pins received U.S. patents to solve perceived problems in pinsetting and ball return, aiming to avoid the need for human pinsetters to perform these functions.

One scheme (1851) involved pins with spherical bases that when hit by a ball merely fell over, in place, to be rotated back to a vertical position.

[43] Gottfried Schmidt invented the first mechanical pinsetter in his garage in 1936, one implementation of which was publicly exhibited in 1946 before AMF placed a production model into service in 1952.

[68] ABC bylaws had included a "white-males-only" clause since its inception in the 1890s, but numerous lobbying efforts and legal actions after World War II by civil rights and labor organizations led to a reversal of this policy in 1950.

[73] Various countries developed the sport to some extent, and the Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ; now World Bowling) was formed in 1952 to coordinate international amateur competition.

[73] A firmer establishment of the sport began in the U.K. in 1960 in London (Stamford Hill) in January 1960,[74] and the British Tenpin Bowling Association (BTBA) was formed the following year.

[73] After initial faddish growth in the U.K., however, the sport did not thrive as it did in the U.S., and by the 1970s many British bowling alleys were converted to serve competing pastimes, such as bingo.

[70] In the 1960s and early 1970s, top bowling professionals made twice as much money as NFL football stars, received million-dollar endorsement contracts, and were treated as international celebrities.

[81] Outside elite and professional bowling, participation in leagues—traditionally the more profitable end of the business—declined from a 1980 peak (8 million), compelling alleys to further diversify into entertainment amenities.

[68] As busier, two-earner households became more common in the 1980s to make league participation more difficult, the number of spectator sports and competing leisure time opportunities (jogging, tennis, skiing) grew.

[79] In 1995, the National Bowling Stadium (Reno, Nevada) was constructed at a cost of $47.5 million, but the PBA Pro Bowlers Tour TV program was canceled in 1997 after a 35-year run.

[88] In 2000, three former tech industry executives bought a debt-laden PBA—which saw its 36-year television contract with ABC Sports end in 1997—and turned it from a non-profit league into a for-profit organization, and invested heavily in marketing.

[86][96] Some offered laser tag, indoor playgrounds, go-karting, climbing walls, arcade games, skating rinks, gourmet restaurants, and nightclub-style bowling lounges.

[96] In the early 2020s, U.S. bowlers experienced a surge in fees attributed by experts to consolidation of big chains, facilities upgrades, and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic when bowling alleys were deemed "non-essential businesses".

In bowling, we are trying to deliver a heavy 14 or 15 pound bowling ball over the foul line at about an average speed of 16 or 17 miles per hour, apply a rotational force to the ball in order to gain an effective hook motion, hit a one inch sighting target on the lane, and accurately impact the pocket 60 feet away while smashing down about 36 pounds of lumber.

[129] Bowling leagues vary in format, including demographic specialization (male, female, mixed, senior, youth), number of bowlers per team (usually 3–5), number of games per series (usually 3), day and time of scheduled sessions, starting dates and duration of league seasons, scoring (scratch versus handicap), and systems for bestowing awards and prizes.

[12] Among the factors allowing higher scores were technological advances in coverstock and core design[12] combined with improved lane surfaces and accommodative oil patterns.

[13] Moreover, changes in lane surface technology, as well as the introduction of voids into pins to make them lighter and more top-heavy, helped to raise average scores as early as the 1970s.

[168] Still, the USBC has encountered enduring issues concerning how to maintain "average integrity" (fair handicapping) across leagues using oil patterns of differing difficulty.

[66] The Pro Bowlers Tour garnered excellent ratings in the 1960s and early 1970s, as a lead-in to ABC's Wide World of Sports.

[175] The decline in coverage has also been attributed to the perception that bowling is less an athletic sport (not being in the Olympic Games)[3] and more of a recreational pastime (such as for children's birthday parties).

[179] Particular television broadcasts include: In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Professor Albus Dumbledore is a fan of ten-pin bowling.

True scale diagram: In tenpin bowling lanes, the nearest pin is 60 feet from the foul line—more than 17 times the lane's 41.5-inch width. [ 4 ] The optical illusion of foreshortening that a bowler experiences when standing on the approach causes pins to appear closer together and bowling ball angles of entry to appear more dramatic than they are in fact. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]
True scale diagram: A straight path, even one starting from the extreme outside corner of the lane, results in an angle of entry of at most 1.45°. Larger entry angles (shown in diagram) are achievable when hooking (curving) the ball. Larger entry angles have been shown to be generally more favorable for achieving strikes. [ 9 ] [ 10 ]
Simplified representation of the skid, hook, and roll phases of bowling ball motion. [ 14 ] Technological advances since the early 1990s in ball design have allowed dramatically increased hook potential and strike frequency, without requiring additional skill on the part of bowlers. [ 12 ] (Horizontal scale is compressed.)
The "UFO" or "helicopter" release: the thumb faces the body, while the middle and ring fingers face the pins.
Though the second bowler's scratch score 183 is higher than the first bowler's scratch score 181, the first bowler's higher handicap (58 vs. 53) causes his total 239 to exceed the second bowler's total 236.
Actual text from one of Gottfried Schmidt's patents, this one from an application filed in 1936 and describing how his "bowling pin setting apparatus" can pick up and replace pins even if they were off their proper spots [ 65 ]
The Ronettes and New York disc jockey Murray the K using bowling as a promotional device in 1962, during the "golden age of bowling" [ 67 ]
A bowling alley in Berlin (1981) with early electronic displays
Example of a modern bowling alley (2010)
To attract a broader range of patrons, many bowling centers offer "cosmic bowling" (shown) and host other special events.
Poster for the first national bowling competition sanctioned by the American Bowling Congress. Highest per-game average scores: individual competition (216), doubles (200), five-man teams (181). [ 108 ] A protest was filed against the highest-scoring doubles team, alleging use of a ball that was a quarter-inch larger in circumference than permitted. [ 109 ]
Conceptual diagram of a large bowling tournament. Entrants not eliminated in qualifying rounds go on to compete in match play, which determines seeding (initial ranking) for the final matches. [ 113 ]
A USBC "300 game" gold ring
The number of sanctioned perfect (300) games per league bowler has increased substantially since the 1990s. Freeman and Hatfield posit that the increase in perfect games is due to factors such as the introduction of reactive resin coverstocks, asymmetric ball cores, synthetic lane surfaces, and precision lane oiling machines.
Automatic lane oiling machines can be programmed to lay down oil patterns of different levels of difficulty. " Typical house shots " enable higher scores than the more challenging " sport shots ".
The inventor of this 1870 patent claims to have "invented a new and useful adaptation of the old and favorite Game of Ten-Pins ... rendered available for parlor or indoor use". [ 194 ]