Keeping score in a game of bowling may seem complicated, but it really comes down to adding up the number of pins each player knocks over. Each frame, a player has two chances to knock down ten pins. A game consists of ten frames, and the player with the highest score at the end of the tenth frame wins.
If you’re bowling in an alley without a scoring computer, they’ll probably give you a paper score sheet. Before beginning to play, record the name of each player in the corresponding area of the record. Pins knocked over on a player’s first attempt are counted and recorded. The mechanical pinsetter then removes the upright pins, cleans up the knocked-down pins, and then returns the remaining pins.
The player then makes their second attempt, and any additional pins that are knocked over are counted and added to the first. The score from both attempts is added first, and then to any previous scores, to calculate the execution score for the frame. Most score sheets have a small area in each frame to record the number of pins knocked down on each of the first and second downs. The cumulative total is then written in the largest area of the record.
For example:
If a player knocks down six pins on their first try and then two pins on their second try, they have rolled an 8 in the first frame. In the second square, if that player knocks down seven pins on his first try and one pin on his second try, his total score is now 16.
Players earn bonus points when they knock down all ten pins in one frame, either by bowling a strike or a spare. The number of bonus points depends not only on whether a strike or spare was bowled, but also on the player’s performance with the next 1-2 balls.
You score a strike when you knock down all ten pins on the first ball in the frame. To record a strike, mark an X for that frame; your score will be the ten pins of the strike plus any pins knocked over in two balls from the next frame. (Delays the recording of that frame’s score until the next one is complete.)
After a strike, the next frame is to be scored as usual. If the player throws a second strike, the scoring shall be carried over to the next frame. Pins knocked over with that ball are added to the 10 for each strike.
A player who knocks down all 10 pins with their second ball qualifies as a spare wheel.
To record a spare, check a/ in that box. The frame score is the 10 pins knocked over plus the number of pins knocked over on the first ball of the next frame. Bowling scores accumulate on each frame until 10 frames are completed. If, in the tenth frame, a player throws a strike or a spare, he is allowed bonus balls to determine his score.
Once each player has finished all ten frames, the resulting highest score determines the winner.