Bowling is a fairly simple game. There are 10 pins and you knock them down on two balls per frame. Here is some basic information about the pins.

Layout and Numbering

There are 10 pins in a single rack (after all, this is ten-pin bowling we are talking about, right?). Each pin is exactly 1 ft from the ones nearest it (center to center) and they are set in a triangle form. The rack (the set of 10 pins) looks kind of like this (see below) and the pins are called by number:

||||||||||||(1)||||||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
||||||||(3)|||||(2)||||||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
||||(6)|||||(5)|||||(4)||||
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(10)||||(9)|||||(8)|||||(7)

So when a bowler mentions the 1 - 3 pocket or the 7 - 10 split you now know what they are talking about (look at that, you learned something new already!).

Specifications

Pins are 4.75 inches wide at their widest point and 15 inches tall. They weigh 3 pounds(lbs), 6 ounces(oz). In 1998 pins weighing 3 lbs, 10 oz were approved (these are the gold pins that the pros use sometimes). These specifications are set and maintained by the USBC (see Chapter 2).

The object of the game is to knock down these pins with two ball per frame, see my article Bowling - The Basics (The Game) for more information on that.

Keep bowling and having fun!

Mike Kolar
http://www.BowlersEverything.com