Popular Bowling Terms You Should Stick in Your Mental Glossary

Bowling balls may seem simple to the common eye, but they are much more than solid spheres with finger holes in them. The balls are designed to perform on various surfaces, and to compliment the style and strength of each individual bowler.Popular Bowling Terms You Should Stick in Your Mental Glossary

If you’re a newbie bowler, sometimes hitting the alley can be a little intimidating. It can seem like everyone has been bowling longer than you have. Also, in many places, the bowling alley has its own little community talking its own language and lingo that may sound like Greek when you’re the new kid on the block. So can you start to fit in? Take a little time to learn some common bowling terms, and soon no one will be able to tell you didn’t know your break point from your foul line a few weeks ago.

The words you should concentrate on learning first are the words associated with the equipment and basic scoring. Most people know what a strike is – knocking down all the pins – but some people may not know that a strike can only happen on your first ball. Knocking all the pins down with your second ball, whether you hit any balls the first time or not, is known as a spare. When you approach the lane to make your shot, the line at which you must stop and throw your ball is the foul line – step over that, and your shot will be disqualified. If your ball rolls off the lane on either side, it will be in the gutter and called a gutter ball. If your ball moves from side to side when it hits the pins and knocks some down on each side, it is called a hurricane. If it goes directly down the middle and knocks down those pins, leaving pins on each side, it is called a split.

You should also familiarize with the words for a few common bowling techniques. Straight bowling is the “point and shoot”, straight down the center lane style of bowling that most beginners rely on. Hook balls are balls that thrown so that they arc out and then hook back in to knock down certain pins. Hook balls are the primary balls thrown when bowlers want to aim at a specific target. Axis tilt refers to how much vertical spin you put on the ball, and axis rotation refers to how much horizontal spin you put on the ball. Axis tilt and axis rotation all influence how, when, and where a hook ball makes its turn. The point where the hook ball does begin to turn towards its target is known as the break point.

If you’re getting into league bowling, there are a few league related terms you should take note of. The anchor on any bowling team is the player who bowls last; usually the best player. The first person who plays is called the lead man. The foundation frame is the last frame of a match, and a box is any single frame. If everyone fails to get a strike in any particular frame, the frame is called an open frame. If someone talks on your team tells you to hit the barmaid, they’re talking about the pin behind another pin. Slow balls are known as creepers, and if you roll a gutter ball, it might be also called a poodle. ABC stands for the American Bowling Conference – the people who make the rules.

Like most sports, bowling has tons of slang, and some of it is regional, so getting to know all the little ins and outs of bowling lingo will take some time. Get to know these basic terms, however and you won’t sound like the odd man out at the bowling alley. Pretty soon you’ll be telling the keglers (bowlers) to watch their chicken wings (elbows) when throwing their apple (bowling ball).