Main Body
3. Scoring
Strikes
Keeping in mind that you want to roll the ball over the 2nd arrow (strike target) on your side of the lane, some adjustments in your left-to-right starting position may be necessary to find the strike position. This will require you to take notice of where your ball strikes the pins and adjust your feet left-to-right accordingly.
The suggested rule is that if you “miss right (at the pins), move right” and if you “miss left, move left.” For instance, if you roll the ball over the 2nd arrow as you intended, but the ball strikes the pins to the right of the pocket, you will want to move your feet slightly to the right on your next frame. Essentially what you are doing is “pivoting” the ball path around the 2nd arrow. If the ball strikes the pins to the left of the pocket, then you will want to move your feet slightly to the left on the next frame.
These adjustments will take some practice in order to find the location that puts the ball in the pocket and results in a strike. Remember to aim for the 2nd arrow, in order to achieve consistency no matter what adjustments you make.
Spares
Keeping in mind that each bowling lane is 39 boards wide, there is a simple system to follow that will aid you in picking up one-pin spares. Use the strike position you identified in the previous section as a reference.
The key pins on the left side are the 2-pin, the 4-pin, and the 7-pin. To pick up a spare of the 2-pin, simply move your feet 3 boards to the right of your strike position (identified using the steps in the previous section) and roll the ball over the strike target (the 2nd arrow). For the 4-pin, move 6 boards to the right of your strike position and for the 7-pin, move 9 boards over. An easy way to remember this system is to remember the formula “3-6-9”.
For spares on the right side, you will want to adjust your target area slightly and aim between the 2nd and 3rd arrows. This moves you comfortably away from the gutter and will give you a bigger target. The key pins on the right side are the 3-pin, the 6-pin, and the 10-pin. To pick up a spare of the 3-pin, simply move your feet 3 boards to the left of your strike position and roll the ball between the 2nd and 3rd arrows. For the 6-pin, move your feet six boards to the left, and for the 10-pin, move 9 boards to the left, rolling the ball between the 2nd and 3rd arrows. This system can also be remembered using the same “3-6-9” formula.
For spares involving two pins or more, a good strategy is to try and hit the key pin closest to you. This strategy can vary depending on the pins standing.
Keeping Score
Although bowling centers provide automatic scoring, it is important that bowlers understand how to manually keep score. Scoring is kept using a running score—in other words, you add the total pins for each frame to the total from the previous frames. For frames where a spare or strike is not achieved (referred to as an “open frame”), scoring for that frame is simply the total number of pins knocked down.
When you bowl a spare, the value for that frame will be 10 plus the total pins knocked down on the next roll. For instance, after bowling a spare in the third frame, you knock down 7 pins on the first roll in the fourth frame—you will then add 17 to your running total in the third frame.
When you bowl a strike, the value for that frame will be 10 plus the total pins knocked down on the next two rolls. That is why you get 30 when you bowl three strikes in a row, and also why a perfect game equals 300—a score of 30 is achieved for each of the 10 frames.
Scoring in the 10th frame is slightly different if you roll a spare or a strike. Since a spare is 10 plus the next roll, you get an extra roll if you score a spare in the 10th frame. If you bowl a strike with your first roll in the 10th frame, you get two more rolls so you can complete the score since a strike is 10 plus the next two rolls.
Click the following link to use the Bowling Genius Calculator and understand how to keep your score: https://www.bowlinggenius.com