History & Rules of Bowling

Everybody loves to knock things over. Now what if I said you could knock over some pins make a game out of it? Would you be interested? This game would be called bowling. Bowling isn’t always as easy as it seems. Before you can know how to play, it may be a good idea to know some background of the game.

Bowling was first played by the Germans in the third century. Every German peasant had a kegal, which was a small club. They carried it for protection. They would place it on the ground and roll a stone to try and knock it over. If a peasant knocked the kegal over, they would be considered free of sin. Eventually as more people caught on to this sport, they would use a wooden ball and more than one pin. This was played as a sport and not a religious practice. Later on in history, people were betting on bowling matches and they set a limit on the amount they could bet. Over time, bowling spread into many other countries and moved indoors. Lanes were created which were made of wood or sun-baked clay.

Bowling later moved over to the Americas. It was called ninepins. In 1841, Connecticut banned ninepins because of the gambling associated with the game. Many people believe that a tenth pin was added to get around this law, but no one knows for sure. A town near New York prohibited ten pin bowling because it also led to gambling. Pins used during this time were really tall and slender, but in 1850 the heavier and bottle shaped pins as we know them today were added to make scores higher. This way strikes and spares were paramount for the best bowlers.

Now that we understand a little about the history of bowling, we can move on to the rules. In the game of bowling you must roll a ball down a 78 foot alley and try to hit the pins at the end. On both sides of this alley is a dip that the ball can fall into which is called the gutter. Rolling the ball into the gutter will result in the ball rolling past the pins so none of them get knocked down. This is most commonly known as a gutter ball. The pins at the end of