Bowlzee

Throughout the years, since the introduction of bowling, it has become more and more popular and an exciting indoor sport for many people. It has attracted people from all over the world gaining its reputation as a sport that is fun played and enjoy. Its existence probably began during the time of the ancient Egyptians, as equipment resembling that used in bowling was found in some Egyptian tombs.  These discoveries (that could date back as far as the 1700’s) signify the popularity of a game similar to bowling. The game probably was played by rolling at stone at other objects. Historians also record that evidence of a similar game was found in the eastern part of Polynesia.

The modern sport of bowling is believed to have originated in Germany during the third century. It was known as a religious ritual where peasants brought their own “Kegel” – a tool that served as their defense against rebels and oppressors. To test their faith, priests challenged these people to knock down their “Kegel” by rolling a stone at it. When this was attempted, many believed that they would be forgiven of their sins.

As time evolved, bowling has developed as a sport. The Italians have their own modern version of the sport where the stones used to knock down the “Kegel” were replaced by a true ball. It all started in the thirteenth century and at that time they called the sport “bowls”. England and the Netherlands modernized the game in the 1300’s and it became known as “ninepins” and was enjoyed by the royalty.

It was during the middle of the 18th century that the game’s popularity expanded. The royalties eventually banned the game because it was used for gambling and revolutionaries were using it to gather in the bowling alley to plot their actions.

In New York City, there were about 400 bowling alleys established in the 1850s. The popularity grew because of gambling and mafia activities held in the alleys. In the 1880’s the city brought back its attraction to the populace by organizing leagues and tournaments for employees who worked for the large companies in the city.

Today it is still one of the most popular indoor sports in the country. It is a sport where a person can have fun with his friends and family. Because of the popularity of this game, it is being considered as a standard sport in the upcoming Olympics.

Although not an overly physical game, bowling still requires your body to move in ways that are not considered normal. The very nature of swinging the arm with a weight of the ball at the end and the sliding motion as you move towards the alley puts a considerable amount of stress on your muscles and joints.

It is good practice to do some warm-up exercises before bowling. This will make sure that your muscles are sufficiently warmed up and your joints loose enough for the activities you’re about to perform.

Below are some pointers on how to get started even before you pick up that ball.

- Neck and head. Tuck your head down towards your chest until you feel a slight pull on the back of your neck. Hold this for about 8 counts then reverse the direction, tilting your head back. Do this for the left and right side of your neck as well.

Shoulders Place your right arm across your chest, slightly bending it at the elbow, which should be turned away from your body. You should be able to feel the pull at the shoulder joint and sustain it for eight counts. Do the same for the other arm.

Arms Take one arm and raise it above your head. Then bend it at the elbow, while your opposite arm holds it in place. The pull should be felt in the muscles at the back of your arm. Do the same for the opposite arm with eight counts each.

Back Hold out both arms in front of you with palms facing outward, link your fingers together and make a pushing action away from your body. You should be able to feel the pull on the muscles in your back, particularly the ones just below your shoulders.

Legs Place one leg in front of the other and rest both hands on the thigh. Lunge into the front leg, feeling a pull in the calf of the other leg. Keep your back straight when doing this. Hold for eight counts and then switch.

Ankles Standing up straight, place your hands on your hips (or hold on to something for balance) and raise one leg up, bending at the knee. Point your toes to the floor, and then rotate your foot to loosen up the ankles. Do this for about eight counts clockwise and then another eight in the opposite direction. Repeat for the other foot.

An adequate warm up routine will help ensure you that your body will not feel as much stress from your game. You will see results not only during the game, but also well after you’re done playing.

Score rules are the basic rules in bowling. They determine who won the game or how they got their scores. There are guidelines that need to be followed in scoring a bowling game.

There are frames that are used in scoring the number of pins that were knocked down during the delivery. The frame is shaped in a square with a little square box in the upper right corner of the square. When a strike is scored, no marking or counts are made in the boxes. However, the pins that were knocked down on the first delivery are scored in the box next to the small square. The pins knocked down on the second delivery are listed on the smaller box inside the square.

A strike occurs when all 10 pins are knocked down on the first delivery. The square is then marked with the letter “x” on the upper right corner of the box. The score is then made by counting 10 for the strike and adding it to the number of pins knocked down on the next two deliveries.

Two strikes made consecutively are scored as a “double”. The score for the first strike is then 20 and the number of pins knocked down on the first delivery before the second strike. Strikes that are made on three successive attempts are called a “turkey” and they are scored as triple. The score of the initial strike is 30. The maximum score that a player can get is 300. To do this, he needs to make 12 strikes consecutively.

There is also a spare, which is scored when the pins that were left standing after the first delivery were knocked down on the second delivery. Both deliveries should fall in the same frame. A spare is then marked with a “” in the smaller square on the upper right corner of the frame. The count for every spare is scored 10 added to the number of pins knocked down after the next delivery.

An open frame occurs when a player was unable to knock down all of the 10 pins after the two deliveries. A split may happen when the head pin was knocked down but there were lower pins that remained standing creating two separate set of pins.

Scoring may be hard to understand especially if the player is a beginner. It would be easier for him to enjoy the game first before understanding the scoring guidelines. After frequent visits to the bowling lanes, he will eventually learn to understand the scoring rules of bowling.

Bowling pins are necessary for the game of bowling as they are the objects that are to be aimed at, hit, and knocked down – the target. The bowling ball knocks down pins to produce the score. The scoring may vary depending on whether the person is playing ten-pin bowling or five-pin bowling.

The commonly used pins are 4.75 inches in their width and they stand 15 inches in height. Their standard weight is 3lb. 6oz. but there are also pins that are now allowed (beginning in 1998) that weighs 3lb. and 10oz.

Bowling pins are made by gluing blocks of hard maple wood together. Makers of bowling pins use these blocks to create the pin shape by using a lathe. The formed shape will then be coated with hard layers of plastic material and are painted white to produce a finished product that is shiny and pleasing to the eye.

The ABC (American Bowling Congress) is an institution that specifies how the pins are to be made – according to their set standards. They are also the one responsible for checking the bowling alleys and the bowling lanes for compliance. Some venues may not have strict regulations or enforcement of pin shapes and sizes or the pin setting machine. These irregularities (if any) would affect every delivery of the ball as well as the scoring.

There are three types of pins that are commonly used in bowling. The first type is the Vulcan Vultex 2. This type of pin is popular with many bowling venues. They like its structure and that it is made with a molding that has a surlyn coating and it looks hard and heavy duty product. Although it can be one of the best pins to buy, the company that produces it eventually sold its rights to Brunswick.

The second type of pin is the Brunswick PBA gold pin. It weighs 3 lbs. 10 oz. and is much heavier than a regular pin. It features a colored PBA logo because these pins are standardized and are used only in tournaments set by the PBA. They also have pins that have logos on the bottom of the pin that may be used in a regular bowling game.

The third type of pin is the Wimsom pin. Brunswick has incorporated its production to the Brunswick “Max”, with a trade mark logo on it. The cheap price of this pin surpassed the sales of the Canadian rock maple pins which are mostly exported to several Asian countries.