Bowling is a game in which players attempt to score points by rolling a ball along a flat surface to knock down objects called pins. There are many forms of bowling, with the earliest dating back to ancient Egypt. The best known form of bowling is probably the American game of ten-pin bowling. This form, in both amateur and professional versions, is played around the world, making it one of the largest participation activities worldwide.

History

Historians have discovered forms of bowling as early as 3200 BC in Egypt, though some argue that it originated later in Germany around 300 AD. The first written reference to bowling was in reference to King Edward III of England banning his troops from playing the game in the 14th century. European settlers brought forms of the game to the United States in the colonial era.

The first standardized rules were established in New York City, on September 9, 1895. In that year, the American Bowling Congress (ABC) was formed. The female equivalent, the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) was founded later, in 1917. Later, the Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA) became the sanctioning body for junior bowling.

Originally, pinspotters manually set up pins. However, in 1952, the first automatic pinsetters were commercially produced, greatly speeding up the game and allowing its popularity to blossom.

Since bowling was an indoor sport without extreme movements, several early television shows featured bowling, including "Championship Bowling," "Make That Spare," "Bowling For Dollars," and "Celebrity Bowling."

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) was founded in 1958 by Eddie Elias. While the first season only featured three events, the tour blossomed, especially after joining the ABC's Saturday afternoon time slot in 1961. Through the years, professional bowling on ABC typically outdrew college basketball, even in its final days on the network in the late 1990s. The PBA continues to showcase the best bowlers in the world, with telecasts currently on ESPN.

In 2005, the ABC, WIBC, and YABA merged to form the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) to serve as the single sanctioning body for all American bowling.

The United Kingdom, the second largest ten-pin bowling advocate, is home to the British Tenpin Bowling Association (BTBA), which was formed on 26th May 1961. Although the PBA is a world-wide organisation with many professional British ten-pin bowling players, the UK still has its version of the association with the Premier Tenpin Bowling Club (PTBC).

Forms

Most forms of bowling may be categorized as either indoor or outdoor. Most indoor forms are played on a "lane", a flat surface made of wood or a synthetic imitation, which is several times longer than it is wide.

Included in the indoor category:

• Ten-pin bowling, which evolved from ninepin bowling in the 19th Century.
• Five-pin bowling, played in Canada.
• Nine-pin skittles
• Candlepin bowling, played in eastern Canada and New England, is a variation of ten-pin bowling.
• Duckpin bowling, commonly found in the mid-Atlantic and southern New England United States and eastern Canada, is a variation of ten-pin bowling involving small, squat pins, sometimes with rubber at their widest points (rubber band duckpin bowling).
• Feather Bowling (Belgian trough bowling) originated in Belgium. It is also popular in Detroit, as the Cadieux Cafe is the only United States venue where the game is available.
• Six-Pin Bowling, a kids version of bowling, bowing set is usually bought at a toy store. There are no official tournaments, scoring systems, and venues for this game since it's just for kids.
• No-tap bowling, identical to Ten-pin bowling, with one major exception: a bowler knocking over nine pins counts the same as a strike.

For nearly a century, ten-pin bowling lanes had a surface made of wood. Beginning about 1980, most ten-pin lane surfaces have been converted to or built with a synthetic material imitating a wooden surface. In ten-pin bowling, a building containing many lanes has traditionally been called a bowling "alley" but in more recent times, to upgrade the image of the sport, bowling "center" is preferred.

Brunswick Bowling & Billiards is the leading full-line designer and producer of bowling products and operates 106 Bowling Centers in the United States, Canada and Europe.

The second category of bowling is usually played outdoors on a lawn. Here the players throw a ball, which is sometimes eccentrically weighted, in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point.

Included in the outdoor category:

• Lawn bowls
• Bocce
• Pétanque

See also

• Bowling ball
• Skittles — the sport from which "alley" based Bowling originated
• Skee ball — a game that plays similar to bowling
• Pin shooting — a pistol shooting game using bowling pins.
• Professional Bowlers Association — ten-pin bowling's professional organization.
• Premier Tenpin Bowling Club — another professional ten-pin bowling organization.

External links

• BowlersHQ: Information on Bowling Balls, Bowling Bags, Bowling Shoes and Accessories
• Bowling Distributor: Worldwide Bowling Products, Wholesale, Balls, Bags, Shoes, Lane Parts
• Bumper Bowling: Top Manufacturer of Bumper Bowling System, Lane Maintenance Products
• Kegel: Top Manufacturer of Lane Maintenance Products
• The Foundation: A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to Saving the Sport of Bowling
• Kegel Training Center: World's Greatest Bowling Training Center
• The Kegel - A historical game related to bowling
• International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame
• The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA)
• The United States Bowling Congress (USBC)
• Little Bowling Games
• Bowling Tips
• British Tenpin Bowling Association (BTBA)
• Official BTBA Forum
• The Scottish Tenpin Bowling Association (STBA)
• Lets Bowl Bowling Alley Directory
• history of the game
• Bowler Kim Adler Website