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Bowling is atarget sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls aball towardpins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references tobowling are to pin bowling, specificallytenpin bowling, played in theUnited Kingdom andCommonwealth countries.Bowling can also refer to target bowling, such aslawn bowls. Bowling is played by 120 million people in more than 90 countries, including 70 million people in theUnited States alone.[1]
In pin bowling, players knock overpins on a long smooth surface called alane. Lanes have a wood or synthetic surface with protective lubricating oil applied in different oil patterns that affectball motion. Astrike is achieved when all the pins are knocked down on the first roll, and aspare is achieved if all remaining pins are knocked over on a second roll. The most common variation of pin bowling istenpin; other variations includecandlepin,duckpin,nine-pin (kegel), andfive-pin. The historical gameskittles is the forerunner of modern pin bowling.
In target bowling, the aim is usually to get a ball as close to amark as possible. The surface in target bowling may be grass, gravel, or synthetic.[2]Lawn bowls,bocce,carpet bowls,pétanque, andboules may have both indoor and outdoor varieties.Curling may be considered target bowling, but on ice.
Bowling is split into two general classes: pin bowling and target bowling.
Five main variations are played inNorth America, with tenpin being the most played but others being practiced in the eastern U.S. and in parts ofCanada:[3]
Target bowling is usually played outdoors on a specially prepared lawn or natural terrain, including bare earth or sand. Depending on the particular game, players may either roll or throw a ball in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point or target ball within the bowling arena. Examples include LawnBowls,Bocce, andPétanque.Curling could be considered target bowling.
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The earliest known forms of bowling date back toancient Egypt,[5] with wall drawings depicting bowling being found in a royal Egyptian tomb dated to 3200 BCE and miniature pins and balls in an Egyptian child's grave about 3200 BCE. Remnants of bowling balls were found among artifacts in ancient Egypt going back to theEgyptian protodynastic period in 3200 BCE.[6] What is thought to be a child's game involvingporphyry (stone) balls, a miniaturetrilithon, and ninebreccia-veinedalabaster vase-shaped figures—thought to resemble the more modern game ofskittles—was found inNaqada, Egypt, in 1895.[4]
Balls were made using the husks of grains, covered in a material such as leather, and bound with string. Other balls made of porcelain have also been found, indicating that these were rolled along the ground rather than thrown due to their size and weight.[6] Some of these resemble the modern-day jack used in target bowl games. Bowling games of different forms are also noted byHerodotus as an invention of theLydians inAsia Minor.[7]
About 2,000 years ago, in theRoman Empire, a similar game evolved between Roman legionaries entailing the tossing of stone objects as close as possible to other stone objects, which eventually evolved into Italianbocce, or outdoor bowling.[8]
Around AD 400, bowling began in Germany as a religious ritual to cleanse oneself from sin by rolling a rock into a club (kegel) representing the heathen, resulting in bowlers being called keglers.[9]
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In 1299, the oldest-surviving known bowling green for target style bowling was built: Master's Close (now the Old Bowling Green of the Southampton Bowling Club) inSouthampton, England, which is still in use.[10]
In 1325, laws were passed inBerlin andCologne that limited bets on lawn bowling to five shillings.[9]
In 1366, the first official mention of bowling inEngland was made, when KingEdward III banned it as a distraction to archery practice.[11]
In the 15th–17th centuries, lawn bowling spread from Germany into Austria, Switzerland, and the Low Countries, with playing surfaces made of cinders or baked clay.[9]
In 1455, lawn bowling lanes inLondon were first roofed-over, turning bowling into an all-weather game.[9] In Germany, they were called kegelbahns and were often attached to taverns and guest houses.
In 1463, a public feast was held inFrankfurt, Germany, with a venison dinner followed by lawn bowling.[9]
English KingHenry VIII was an avid bowler. In 1511, he banned bowling for the lower classes and imposed a levy for private lanes to limit them to the wealthy.[12] AnotherEnglish law, passed in 1541 (repealed in 1845), prohibited workers from bowling except atChristmas, and then only in their master's home and in his presence. In 1530, he acquiredWhitehall Palace in central London as his new residence, having it extensively rebuilt complete with outdoor bowling lanes, indoor tennis court, jousting tiltyard, and cockfighting pit.
Protestant Reformation founderMartin Luther set the number of pins (which varied from 3 to 17) at nine.[citation needed] He had a bowling lane built next to his home for his children, sometimes rolling a ball himself.[9]
On 29 July 1588, English Vice-Admiral SirFrancis Drake allegedly was playing bowls atPlymouth Hoe when the arrival of theSpanish Armada was announced; he replied, "We have time enough to finish the game and beat the Spaniards too."[15]
In 1609,Dutch East India Company explorerHenry Hudson discoveredHudson Bay, bringing Dutch colonization toNew Amsterdam (later New York); Hudson's men brought some form of lawn bowling with them.[9]
In 1617, English KingJames I publishedDeclaration of Sports, banning bowling on Sundays but permitting dancing and archery for those first attending an Anglican service, outraging Puritans; it was reissued in 1633 by his successorCharles I, then ordered publicly burned in 1643 by the Puritan Parliament.
In 1670, Dutchmen liked to bowl at the Old King's Arms Tavern near modern-day 2nd and Broadway in New York City.[16]
In 1733,Bowling Green in New York City was built on the site of a Dutch cattle market and parade ground, becoming the city's oldest public park to survive to modern times.
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A circa 1810 painting ofIpswich, England shows a man bowling with a triangular formation of ten pins, before that variant of the sport is believed to have appeared in the United States.[17] An1828 auction notice, also in Ipswich, explicitly mentions "ten-pin and skittle grounds".[21]
In 1819, New York writerWashington Irving made the first mention of ninepin bowling in American literature in his story "Rip Van Winkle".
Newspaper articles and advertisements at least as early as 1820[18] refer to "ten pin alleys", usually in the context of a side attraction to a main business or property[22][23][24][25] as distinguished from dedicated "bowling alley" establishments as presently understood.
By the late 1830s, New York's Knickerbocker Hotel housed abowling alley with three lanes.[14][26]
In 1846, the oldest surviving bowling lanes in theUnited States were built as part ofRoseland Cottage, the summer estate of Henry Chandler Bowen (1831–1896) inWoodstock, Connecticut. The lanes, now part of Historic New England's Roseland Cottage House Museum contain Gothic Revival architectural elements in keeping with the style of the entire estate.[27]
In 1848, theRevolutions of 1848 resulted in accelerated German immigration to the U.S., reaching 5 million by 1900, bringing their love of beer and bowling with them; by the late 19th century they made New York City a center of bowling.
In 1848, theScottish Bowling Association for lawn bowling was founded in Scotland by 200 clubs; it was dissolved then refounded in 1892.
In 1864,Glasgow cotton merchant William Wallace Mitchell (1803–1884) publishedManual of Bowls Playing, which became a standard reference for lawn bowling in Scotland.[28]
In 1875, the National Bowling Association (NBA) was founded by 27 local clubs in New York City to standardize rules for tenpin bowling, setting the ball size and the distance between the foul line and the pins, but failing to agree on other rules; it was superseded in 1895 by theAmerican Bowling Congress.[29]
In 1880, Justin White ofWorcester, Massachusetts, inventedCandlepin Bowling.
In the 1880s,Brunswick Corporation (founded 1845) ofChicago, Illinois, maker of billiard tables began making bowling balls, pins, and wooden lanes to sell to taverns installing bowling alleys.
On 9 September 1895, the modern standardized rules for tenpin bowling were established inNew York City by the new American Bowling Congress (ABC) (later the United States Bowling Congress), who changed the scoring system from a maximum 200 points for 20 balls to a maximum 300 points for 12 balls, and set the maximum ball weight at 16 lb (7.3 kg), and pin distance at 12 in (30 cm). The first ABC champion (1906–1921) was Jimmy Smith (1885–1948).[30] In 1927 Mrs.Floretta "Doty" McCutcheon (1888–1967) defeated Smith in an exhibition match, founding a school that taught 500,000 women how to bowl.[31][32][33] In 1993 women were allowed to join the ABC. In 2005 the ABC merged with the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) et al. to become the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).
In the early 1890s,Duckpin bowling was invented inBoston, Massachusetts, spreading toBaltimore, Maryland about 1899.
In 1903, theEnglish Bowling Association was founded by cricketerW. G. Grace. On 1 January 2008, it merged with the English Women's Bowling Association to become Bowls England.
In 1903, D. Peifer of Chicago, Illinois, invented a handicap method for bowling.[34]
In 1905,Rubber Duckpin bowling was invented by Willam Wuerthele ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, catching on inQuebec, Canada.
The ABC initially used bowling balls made ofLignum vitae hardwood from theCaribbean, which were eventually supplanted by the "Evertrue" rubber bowling ball, and theBrunswick "Mineralite" rubber ball[35] by 1905.[36]Columbia Industries, founded in 1960, was the first manufacturer to successfully use polyester resin ("plastic") in bowling balls.[37] In 1980, urethane-shell bowling balls were introduced by Ebonite.
Rules for target bowls evolved separately in each of the other countries that adopted the predominantly British game. In 1905, the International Bowling Board was formed;[38] its constitution adopted the laws of the Scottish Bowling Association, with variations allowed at the individual country level.[39]
In September 1907, theVictorian Ladies' Bowling Association was founded inMelbourne, Victoria, Australia, becoming the world's first women's lawn bowling association.
In 1908, the now-oldest survivingbowling alley for the tenpin sport was opened in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the basement of theHoller House tavern, containing the oldestsanctioned lanes in the United States.
In 1909, the first tenpin bowling alley in Europe was installed in Sweden, but the game failed to catch on in the rest of Europe until after World War II. Meanwhile, tenpin bowling caught on in Great Britain after hundreds of bowling lanes were installed on U.S. military bases during World War II.[9]
In 1913, the monthlyBowlers Journal was founded in Chicago, Illinois, continuing to publish to the present day.
In late 1916, theWomen's International Bowling Congress (originally the Woman's National Bowling Association) was founded inSaint Louis, Missouri, merging with the United States Bowling Congress in 2005.
In 1920–1933Prohibition in the U.S. caused bowling alleys to disassociate from saloons, turning bowling into a family game and encouraging women bowlers.[33]
On 2 October 1921, the annual Petersen Open Bowling Tournament (a.k.a. The Pete) was first held in Chicago, Illinois, becoming bowling's richest tournament of the day. In 1998, it was taken over by AMF.[40]
In 1926, the International Bowling Association (IBA) was formed by the United States, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, and Finland, holding four world championships by 1936.[9]
On 21 March 1934, the National Bowling Writers Association was founded inPeoria, Illinois, by four bowling journalists; it changed its name in 1953 to the Bowling Writers Association of America.[41]
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In August 1939, the National Negro Bowling Association was founded inDetroit, Michigan, dropping Negro from the title in 1944 and opening membership to all races. It reached 30,000 members in 2007.[42]
In 1942, the Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA) held its first BPAA All-Star tournament.
In 1947, theAustralian Women's Bowling Council was founded. It held the first Australian women's national lawn bowling championship inSydney in 1949, which was won by Mrs. R. Cranley ofQueensland.
On 18 April 1948, the Professional Women Bowling Writers (PWBW) was founded inDallas, Texas, admitting men in 1975. On 1 January 2007, it merged with the Bowling Writers Association of America.[43]
In 1950, following extensive lobbying by civil rights groups in the wake of the 1947 integration ofMajor League Baseball, the American Bowling Congress opened its membership to African Americans and other minorities.[44] The WIBC followed suit the following year.[42]
About 1950, the Golden Age of Tenpin Bowling began, in which professional bowlers made salaries rivaling those of baseball, football, and hockey players; this ended in the late 1970s.
In 1951, the firstABC Masters tournament was held, becoming one of the four majors by 2000.
In 1952, theFédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) was founded inHamburg, West Germany, to coordinate international amateur competition in nine-pin and tenpin bowling. In 1954, the first FIQ World Bowling Championships were held inHelsinki, Finland. In 1979, theInternational Olympic Committee recognized it as the official world governing body for bowling. Its name changed to World Bowling in 2014 andInternational Bowling Federation in 2020.
In 1952,American Machine and Foundry (AMF) ofBrooklyn, New York, began marketing automaticPinsetter machines.[45] This eliminated the need for pinboys[45] and caused bowling to rocket in popularity, making the 1950s the Decade of the Bowler.
In 1953, Grazio Castellano of Brooklyn, New York, was the first to roll aperfect game on live television. This occurred on October 4, 1953, during an Eastern All-Star league session in Newark, New Jersey.[46]
In 1954,Steve Nagy (1913–1966) became the first person to bowl a perfect 300 game while filmed.[47][48] The PBA later named its sportsmanship award after him.
In 1958, theProfessional Bowlers Association (PBA) was founded inAkron, Ohio by 33 prominent bowlers (includingDon Carter,Dick Weber,Dick Hoover,Buzz Fazio,Billy Welu,Carmen Salvino andGlenn Allison) after they listened to a presentation by sports agentEddie Elias. The PBA eventually reached about 4,300 members in 14 countries worldwide. In 1975,Earl Anthony became the first PBA member with $100,000 yearly earnings, and the first to reach $1,000,000 total earnings in 1982. In 2000, it was purchased by former executives ofMicrosoft, who moved the PBA headquarters toSeattle, Washington.
On 28 November 1960, the firstPBA Championship inMemphis, Tennessee was won byDon Carter. It was renamed the PBA World Championship in 2002, and now awarded the Earl Anthony Trophy to the winner.
In 1960, theProfessional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) was founded as the first professional women's bowling association; it went defunct in 2003.
In 1960, theNational Bowling League (NBL) was founded to compete with the PBA. It attracted name players such asBilly Welu andBuzz Fazio, but failed to sign top starDon Carter. The league's failure to get a TV contract caused it to fold following its first championship in 1962.
On 26 May 1961 theBritish Tenpin Bowling Association (BTBA) was formed. Their first General Secretary was Maurice Glazer.
On 27 January 1962,[49]ABC Television aired its firstSaturday afternoon broadcast of a PBA Tour event, the Empire State Open held at Redwood Lanes inAlbany, New York,[50] beginning a partnership between ABC and the PBA that lasted through 1997. The Saturday afternoon bowling telecasts garnered very good ratings through the early 1980s, until the cable television-fueled explosion of sports viewing choices caused ratings to decline.
In 1962, the firstPBA Tournament of Champions was held; it became an annual event in 1965, and was sponsored byFirestone Tire from 1965 through 1993.
In 1962, the American Wheelchair Bowling Association (AWBA) was founded inLouisville, Kentucky, by Richard F. Carlson.[53]
On 28 June 1963, The first British made tenpin was by H Massil and sons who received the permit no.1 from theBritish Tenpin Bowling Association (BTBA)[54]
Between 3 and 10 November 1963, the Fifth FIQ World Bowling Championships inMexico City, Mexico, were attended by 132 men and 45 women (first time) from 19 nations. It featured the debut of Team USA, which won seven of the eight gold medals.[55]
On 25 November 1963,Sports Illustrated published the article "A Guy Named Smith Is Striking It Rich", revealing that PBA stars made more money than other professional sports stars, for "with more than $1 million in prizes to shoot for, the nation's top professional bowlers are rolling in money."[56] This was short-lived, however, for although the number of bowling alleys in the U.S. zoomed from 65,000 in 1957 to 160,000 in 1962, the U.S. bowling industry boom hit a brick wall in 1963. This was compensated, however, by a new boom in Europe and Japan, making 10-pin bowling an international sport.[57]
In 1964, "Mr. Bowling"Don Carter became the first athlete to sign a $1 million endorsement contract: a multi-year deal withEbonite International.
In 1964,Marion Ladewig, a nine-time winner of the Bowling Writers Association of America's Female Bowler of the Year Award, became the first Superior Performance inductee into the WIBC Hall of Fame.
In 1965, theAMF Bowling World Cup was established by the FIQ.
On 27 January 1967, theJapan Professional Bowling Association (JPBA) was founded inTokyo, Japan.
In 1971, the BPAA All-Star tournament was renamed theBPAA U.S. Open, and officially became one of the PBA's major tournaments.
In 1978, National Negro Bowling Association pioneer J. Elmer Reed (1903–1983) became the first African-American to be inducted into the ABC Hall of Fame.[58]
On 16 December 1979, Willie Willis won the Brunswick National Resident Pro Tournament inCharlotte, North Carolina, becoming the first African-American bowling champion in the PBA in a non-touring event. In 1980, he became the first African-American in the Firestone Tournament of Champions, placing 13th.[59]
On 27 February 1982,Earl Anthony won the Toledo Trust PBA National Championship, becoming the first bowler to reach $1 million in career earnings.
In 1982, the Young American Bowling Alliance was formed from a merger of the American Junior Bowling Congress, the Youth Bowling Association, and the collegiate divisions of the ABC and WIBC.[60]
In 1982, the1982 Commonwealth Games inBrisbane, Australia, added women's bowls to the events.
On 1 July 1982, former PBA proGlenn Allison rolled the first900 series (three consecutive 300 games in a three-game set) to ever be submitted to the ABC for award consideration. The ABC, however, refused to certify the score, citing non-complying lane conditions.[61]
On 22 November 1986,George Branham III (born 1962) became the first African-American to win a PBA national touring event: the Brunswick Memorial World Open in Chicago, Illinois.
On 18 September 1988, the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul, South Korea, featured tenpin bowling as a demonstration sport.
On 2 August 1991, inHavana, Cuba, tenpin bowling became an international medal-level sport for the first time at the1991 Pan American Games, andcontinues to this day.
In the 1992–1993 season, the ABC introducedresin bowling balls, causing perfect 300 scores to increase by 20%.[62]
In 1995, the firstBest Bowler ESPY Award was presented.
In 1995, theNational Bowling Stadium opened inReno, Nevada, becoming known as the Taj Mahal of Tenpins.
On 2 February 1997, Jeremy Sonnenfeld (born 1975) bowled the first officially sanctioned 900 series of three straight perfect 300 games at Sun Valley Lanes inLincoln, Nebraska, becoming known as "Mr. 900".[63]
In 1998, theWorld Tenpin Masters 10-pin bowling tournament was established.
In 2000, theWeber Cup, named afterDick Weber, was established as 10-pin bowling's equivalent to golf'sRyder Cup, with Team USA playing Team Europe in a three-day match.
On 31 March 2004, Missy Bellinder (born 1981) (later changing her name to Parkin) became the first female member of the PBA.[65] The PBA had opened up its membership to women following the 2003 demise of the PWBA. One year later,Liz Johnson became the first woman to make the televised final round of a PBA Tour event.[66]
In 2004, the Brunswick Euro Challenge was founded for amateur and pro 10-pin bowling players from Europe, Asia, and the U.S.[67]
On 24 January 2010,Kelly Kulick (born 1977) became the first woman to win the PBA Tournament of Champions and the first woman to win a PBA national tour event.[68]
In November 2012, after league bowling dropped from 80% to 20% of their business,AMF Bowling Centers ofRichmond, Virginia filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time (first in 2001), merging in 2013 with upscale New York-based bowling center operatorBowlmor (which did not support league bowling) in an attempt to turn league bowling around, growing from 276 centers in 2013 to 315 in 2015.
In 2013, the PBA League was founded, composed of eight permanent five-person teams, with an annual draft.[69]
In 2015, the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) was revived after a 12-year hiatus.[70]
A study of professional and master tenpin bowlers found that average scores declined less than 10% from age 20 to age 70.[71] This decline in a sport focusing on skill and technique is considerably smaller than that of events dominated by muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance or agility—which are known to decrease about 10%per decade.[71]
Bowling balls vary, depending on the type of bowling. Tenpin balls are about 8.59 inches (21.8 cm) in diameter, typically have three holes, and weigh from 6 to 16 lb (2.7 to 7.3 kg). The size and spacing of the finger holes on non-customized balls are generally smaller on lighter balls to accommodate smaller hands. Modern resin covers (surfaces) available since the early 1990s enhance a ball's hook (curve) potential, and the shape of the balls' cores (pictured) permit fine-tuning of desired ball paths. In contrast, traditional plastic balls are suitable for straighter shots. Duckpin and candlepin balls fit in the palm of the hand, and have no holes.
Bowling pins are the target of the bowling ball inpin bowling variations. The size and shape of pins vary but are generally cylindrical and widens where the ball strikes the pin. Tenpin bowling pins are the largest and heaviest, weighing 3 lb 6 oz (1.5 kg). Duckpins are shorter and squatter than standard tenpins and candlepins are the tallest at15+3⁄4 in (40 cm), but only2+15⁄16 in (7.5 cm) wide and 2 lb 8 oz (1.1 kg) in weight.
Bowling pins are constructed by gluing blocks of rockmaple wood into the approximate shape, and then turning on alathe. After the lathe shapes the pin, it is coated with aplastic material, painted, and covered with a glossy finish. Because of the scarcity of suitable wood, bowling pins can be made from approved synthetics. Currently there are synthetic pins sanctioned for play in five-pin, duckpin, and candlepin. There is one synthetic tenpin model approved by the USBC. When hit by the ball, synthetic pins usually sound different from wooden pins.
TheUSBC indicated that, effective 1 August 2023, it is certifying string pinsetters and string pin bowling as an independent category of equipment and competition separate from conventional free-fallpinsetters.[72] USBC lab data indicated strike percentage on string pin bowling is 7.1% lower, causing the USBC to plan additional testing to determine whether a scoring conversion should be created between the categories.[72] String pinsetters are less expensive and easier to maintain, motivating bowling centers to phase them in.[73]
The sole of the non-sliding shoe is generally made of rubber for traction, while the sole of the sliding shoe is made of a smooth material allowing a smooth slide into the release. Bowling shoes can be bought, and may be rented from bowling centers. Wet or dirty soles may not slide properly and could damage the approach surface.[74]
A standard game of tenpin bowling consists of 10 frames, with a maximum of two rolls in each of the first nine frames and three in the tenth. A strike occurs when the bowler knocks down all 10 pins on the first roll; if this occurs in any of the first nine frames, the frame ends immediately without a second roll being taken. A spare occurs if the bowler leaves any pins standing after the first roll, then knocks them all down on the second. In any given frame, the bowler scores one point for every pin knocked down; a spare or strike awards one extra point for each pin knocked down on the next one or two rolls, respectively.[75] In the tenth frame, the bowler gets one extra roll for making a spare, or two for a strike. The highest possible score for a single game is 300, achieved by rolling 12 consecutive strikes (a "perfect game").
Technological innovation has made bowling accessible to members of the disabled community.
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Notes
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bowling".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.| Artistic and dance sports | |
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| Ball sports | |
| Martial arts | |
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| Past official sports | |
| Invitational sports (never made official) | |
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