This is really in the nature of a poll, but all sport and game talk seems to end up in Cafe Society, so I’m putting it here.
At any rate, we had a departmental bowling outing last week, and it was my second time bowling in my adult life. Besides another company outing a couple of years ago, we used to go as a family when I was a kid. My highest score as a kid was 153, and that was unusual, as normally I was lucky to break 100.
When I bowled with my colleagues a couple of years ago, I don’t remember what scores I made.
But last week, bowling two games, I shot about 130 for the first and 171 for the second game. The second game was awesome; except for about three frames, every frame was a strike or spare. It seemed that I could do little wrong once I hit my stride and remembered to keep my wrist straight.
I’m kind of intrigued, but am hesitant to take it up as a regular thing because it’s so hard on the left hammy.
My 10 year old son is a bowler. I have no idea why, I have tried so hard to steer him in the right direction;).
Anyway, a year ago his average was in the mid 90s. He currently has a lesson each month with a retired pro bowler. His average is now 165 or so. He bowls in a kids’ league each Saturday. I refuse to bowl with him; it is just embarrassing to get beaten by a little kid.
When I was about 16 I bowled every Friday night for a few months and my highest score was 174. I think I was averaging around 130.
I have a hard time bowling though because the “Large” ball is slightly too small for my fingers, while the “X Large” is definitely too big. Thus, I invariably end up hurting at least one of my fingers, usually halfway through the first game. If I have enough liquid courage in me to bowl more 2 games I’ll be sore for at least a week.
Anyway, to answer your question, 171 is pretty good. I always forget how bowling scores work when I haven’t done it for awhile, but it’s not rocket science. Those high 200+ scores are acheived by getting bonuses from consecutive strikes/spares.
Bowling is all about consistency…getting those consectutive strikes and spares really adds up. It’s surprisingly easy to roll under 100 if you can’t convert spares (the really tricky part of bowling) and only get a couple of scattered strikes. Its also really important to get a strike or spare in the 10th frame so you can get the “bonus roll”.
Growing up in Wisconsin, I did my share of bowling (even did a unit of it in high school gym!) but never got any good at it, despite stretches where I did it pretty regularly. Breaking a 100 was a relief…getting anything above 125 was a cause for celebration. I’d say that you’ve got some natural talent for the game…though “going pro” might be a stretch…
Par for the pros in tenpin bowling is generally considered to be 200, or at least it was before these new-fangled particle resin balls (that hook when you blink your eyes) came on the market. I don’t know if they recalculated it. So, 171, especially in this case, is quite good.
Now, as I understand, you’d be a local hero if you got that score in candlepin or even duckpin.
Just for, you know, statistical purposes, I’ll mention that for about a two-year period I was rolling every couple weeks, and my average came to about 120. My highest game ever was, I think, a 176. So yeah, I’m a bit jealous if the OP can keep up that average.
My average is 109. Up three pins from last year…wooo hooo. Hey, it’s my second year! I am the most consistant bowler on our team and I always make my average and usually go over it by 10-15 pins. I won’t tell you about the two weeks I spent under 100. I couldn’t buy a spare, not even on Ebay.The bowling Goddesses were smiting me.
My best game has been 174. I have no idea how I did that. Out of body experience, I think.
My team captain’s average is something like 190.
We just had not one, but two 300 games at our alley a few weeks back. One woman and one guy. It was fucking awesome. Two perfect games in one night. What are the odds?
I would like to state that my average would probably be higher when we were setting it, but my balance was still a little off because of my ear problem.
My average is around the '90s, and I bowl once a week. Granted, I take no lessons, and don’t really care about my score – it’s just the act of bowling (and the ensuing exercise) that I’m after.
Compared to your typical weekly league bowler, it’s pretty good.
If you’re one of those who just go to the alley once in a while, that’s a really nice score.
I’ve been a weekly league bowler for more than 20 years now, and my average isn’t much higher than that–178 this year. There are eight or ten guys with better averages in my league, and a whole bunch with worse.
The key here, though, is that your 171 was a big improvement compared to what you were used to, so it’s a good game. Don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to yourself.
171 is a good score but not a great score. For someone who never/rarely bowls 171 is great. I bowled in league for about 10 years. When I started my average was around 120-130. Even when my average was 130 I would occasionally break 200, but bowling is about consistency. By the time I stopped my average was around 160. A good league bowler will have an average in the 170-200 range. A pro probably averages around 230 or so.
I quit bowling when I started college because it was too expensive for my tender budget. A league generally costs between 10-15 dollars a week. Generally the majority of this money goes to pay the bowling alley. Some of it goes towards your membership dues for the bowling league you’re a member of. Some of it goes towards awards at the end of the season. In my league (for minors) we used that money to buy trophies. In my dad’s league they paid straight cash to the first 3 places, with the 1st place team taking home the most. You don’t have to be a great bowler to join a league, make sure you sign up for a handicap league which evens the playing field. If you don’t want to deal with loose women distracting your bowling I’d reccomend a men’s league, although coed leagues are fun too.
I highly reccomend joining a bowling league if you’re not too high strung to hang out with beer drinking, cigarette smoking, blue collar folks. Plan on buying shoes and a ball!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. You will never be consistent unless you use the same ball every single time you bowl. In addition you’ll be paying the pro shop a minimal fee to custom drill this ball for your hand. Most bowling alley shoes are a few years old, stretched out, and generally not comfortable. You can get a bowling ball and shoes for around 200 bucks, and its worth every penny. They probably could last you 10 years or more. With your own ball and shoes you will avoid all the blisters that derail most amatuer bowlers.
I’d say if you enjoy pool, golf, or darts you’ll probably enjoy bowling as its a very similar type of sport. Not too intense, mostly about consistency, plus you can drink while you play.
171 for someone who doesn’t bowl isn’t bad. I used to bowl a lot and held a 192 average for a year. I used to bowl with friends at “Midnight Madness” events and most of them would have been thrilled to get a 171.
171 for a non regular bowler is great. It requires getting some strikes and spares in there, which should be a good thing.
In league play, with a handicap, you usually want to do close to or above your average, which is considered a good game for you personally.
For me personally, the score doesn’t matter. I just try to not leave any open frames. So a 170 from all 7-spares is good, because while my strike ball was off, I kept it together and made the pickups. If I start off with 3 strikes and end with a 170, that’s probably bad because I screwed up later frames. It also goes without saying that it’s embarassing and very bad to throw a gutter ball, unless I’m trying for the 10 pin by itself.
Were I a pro, I’d probably be pissed at anything under 200, and disappointed with under 220.
I was on the bowling team in high school, and I turned out ok, I think. Don’t worry about it too much.
Yes, cause lord knows throwing a sixteen pound ball up to 22 times in a row takes no muscle at all.
Tell you what…come roll some games with Max Carnage and me. We usually roll 4 games in about forty minutes. I actually did 5 in thirty minutes last night. See if your muscles aren’t a bit strained. Especially, in the OP’s case, someone that’s not used to doing it.
As for the OP, 171 is a nice score. I’m averaging 177 in my league, and I’m usually happy with a 171. Well, not happy, but not pissed. At least it’s somewhat close to my average.
