When a bowler in the lane directly to your left or right is ready to bowl, or in the process of bowling, wait until he or she is finished before stepping up to your starting position.
When two bowlers in adjoining lanes are ready to bowl at the same time, the bowler on the right has the right of way.
While noise is expected in bowling, deliberately making noise to distract another bowler is not acceptable behavior.
Bowlers should avoid using profanity.
If you use a house ball, please return it to the shelf when you are finished. It is not fair to those who bowl after you to have to put them away for you.
Avoid stepping into the bowlers' seating area with street shoes on. Beverages should be kept on the tables in the spectator area to avoid spilling liquids in the bowlers' area. Proper bowling technique depends on the bowler's ability to slide when releasing the ball. If liquids or dirt contaminate the bowling surfaces, injuries could result.
Using another bowler's equipment without permission is not acceptable. Some bowlers have a large investment in their equipment and would not appreciate another person using it.
Be ready to bowl when it is your turn to avoid holding up the game for others.
Do not stand behind other bowlers as they are bowling. This is not only dangerous if the ball is accidentally thrown backwards, but it is distracting to the bowler as well. Also, in alleys without automatic scoring the person writing down scores cannot see the pins to count them.
Avoid lofting the ball (throwing it out further onto the lane than necessary). This can damage both the ball and the lane and you risk injuring yourself.
Allow the ball on the lane that shares your ball return to drop into the pit at the end of the alley before you throw your ball. This will help avoid balls getting jammed at the base of the ball return.
Bowlers receive 1 point for every pin knocked down by the bowling ball. Pins that are hit or dropped by the pinsetter do not count and must be set back in place. No points are received when the ball drops into the gutter prior to hitting any pins (such as when the ball bounces back out of the gutter). Pins hit before the ball drops into the gutter count as long as the ball has not fully landed in the bottom of the gutter.
When all the pins are knocked down on the first shot, it is called a strike. Strikes equal ten points plus the sum of the pins hit in the next two shots. The highest total score possible for a strike is 30 points. There is a possible 12 strikes in each game for a total of 300 points for a single game.
When only some of the pins are knocked down on the first shot, the bowler is allowed a second shot. If there are still pins remaining, this is called an open frame and is only worth the number of pins actually hit that frame. If the remaining pins are knocked down, this is referred to as a spare. This is calculated as 10 points plus the number of pins hit in the next shot. The highest score possible for a spare is 20 points. The highest possible game if only spares are bowled is 190 (191 if the third ball in the tenth frame is a strike).
There is a possible three shots in the tenth frame. In order to bowl the third shot, the bowler must get either a strike or a spare in either the first or second shot.
If a bowler bowls out of turn, the score does not count.
If a bowler steps over the foul line, that shot does not count and cannot be repeated.
If pins are missing from the set before the first shot, the setter must be reset to obtain a full set.
To obtain a total game score for a team, add the each bowler's score for each game, add those totals together then add the total handicap for each bowler to that score.
