How to keep score in bowling, step by step
- Write each ball in the small boxes of its frame: X for a strike, / for a spare, - for a miss, otherwise the number of pins.
- Open frame: add the pins of both balls to the running total and write it in the big box.
- Spare: the frame is worth 10 plus your next ball. Leave the total open until that ball is thrown.
- Strike: the frame is worth 10 plus your next two balls. Leave the total open until both are thrown.
- Tenth frame: a strike earns two more balls, a spare one more. Add every pin of the tenth to the total, and the game is done.
An example: a strike, then 7 and a spare, then 9 and a miss. Frame one is 10 + 7 + 3 = 20. Frame two is 20 + 10 + 9 = 39. Frame three is 39 + 9 = 48.
How bowling is scored
A game has ten frames, and in each frame you get two balls to knock down all ten pins. An open frame scores the pins you knocked down. A spare (/) is all ten in two balls: 10 plus the pins of your next ball. A strike (X) is all ten with the first ball: 10 plus the pins of your next two balls.
That is why a frame's total sometimes stays empty for a while: after a strike, the sheet waits for two more balls.
The tenth frame
A strike in the tenth frame earns two more balls, a spare one more. Those fill balls only count for the tenth frame itself. Twelve strikes in a row is a perfect game: 300.
Fouls
Cross the foul line and the ball counts as zero, and the pins it knocked down are set back. Knock all ten down with your next ball and it is a spare. Tap F in the calculator for a foul.