How Bowling Scoring Works: How to Count Strikes and Spares
A bowling score isn't just the number of pins you knock down added up. Strikes and spares earn a bonus from the next balls you roll, which is why the running total on the screen suddenly jumps or stays blank for a while. This guide walks through the basic rules for frames 1 to 10, how strike and spare bonuses are counted, a full game scored frame by frame, why the running total goes blank, and the most common scoring mistakes.
The basic rules of bowling scoring
A game of bowling has 10 frames. In frames 1 to 9, you get up to two balls per frame to knock down as many of the 10 pins as possible. If nothing special happens, your score for the frame is the total pins knocked down by the first and second balls. Seven and two make 9 points, and the sum of all 10 frames is your score for the game.
- Strike (X): knocking down all 10 pins with the first ball. The frame ends with that ball; there is no second ball
- Spare (/): knocking down all the pins left after the first ball with the second ball
- Open frame: a frame where 10 pins aren't all down after two balls. The pins knocked down are the score
- Only the 10th frame is special: a strike or spare earns you a third ball
Bowling scores feel a little complicated because strike and spare frames earn a “bonus.” Once you understand how the bonus works, you can work out the running total in your head, even on a handwritten score sheet.
A strike is “10 + the next two balls,” a spare is “10 + the next ball”
The score for a strike or spare frame is that frame's 10 pins plus the pins from the balls rolled afterward. For a strike you add the next two balls; for a spare, the next one.
| Frame result | Score for that frame | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Strike (X) | 10 + pins from the next two balls | If the next balls are 7 and 2: 10 + 7 + 2 = 19 |
| Spare (/) | 10 + pins from the next ball | If the next first ball is 9: 10 + 9 = 19 |
| Open | Total pins from the two balls | 7 and 2: 9 |
| 10th frame | Total pins from the balls rolled (up to three) | X, 7, /: 20 |
The key point is that the bonus is counted by the next balls, not the next frame. If a strike is followed by another strike, the next two balls are “the first ball of the next frame (10 pins)” and “the first ball of the frame after that.” Scores for consecutive strikes are worked out in detail in the article on doubles and turkeys.
Scoring a full game frame by frame (a 167-point example)
Let's score, one frame at a time, a game written on a score sheet as “X 7/ 9- X -8 8/ -6 X X X81”. X means a strike, / a spare, and - zero pins (for how the symbols are written, see the article on filling in a score sheet).
| Frame | Marks | Calculation | Score | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | X | 10 + next two balls (7 + 3) | 20 | 20 |
| 2 | 7 / | 10 + next ball (9) | 19 | 39 |
| 3 | 9 - | 9 + 0 | 9 | 48 |
| 4 | X | 10 + next two balls (0 + 8) | 18 | 66 |
| 5 | - 8 | 0 + 8 | 8 | 74 |
| 6 | 8 / | 10 + next ball (0) | 10 | 84 |
| 7 | - 6 | 0 + 6 | 6 | 90 |
| 8 | X | 10 + next two balls (10 + 10) | 30 | 120 |
| 9 | X | 10 + next two balls (10 + 8) | 28 | 148 |
| 10 | X 8 1 | 10 + 8 + 1 | 19 | 167 |
The next two balls after the strike in frame 1 are frame 2's “7” and the “3 pins” of the second ball that made the spare. The spare mark / means “knocked down all the rest,” so in pins it's 10 − 7 = 3. The spare in frame 6 is followed by a miss (0 pins) on frame 7's first ball, so it stays at 10 with no bonus.
In frame 8, the next two balls are frame 9's strike and the strike on frame 10's first ball, so it's 10 + 10 + 10 = 30. Frame 9's next two balls are frame 10's X and 8, so it's 28. The 10th frame adds no outside bonus; you simply total its three balls.
Why the running total goes blank after a strike or spare
On bowling alley screens and handwritten score sheets, the running total for a strike frame stays blank for a while because the bonus balls haven't been rolled yet, so that frame's score isn't decided.
- Spare frame: the score is decided once the next ball is rolled
- Strike frame: the score is decided once the next two balls are rolled
- During a run of strikes: until the first strike's score is decided, all running totals after it stay blank too
- Open frame: decided as soon as the second ball is rolled (but if the previous frame is blank, the running total can't be written yet)
Because the running total is added up frame by frame from the start, a single undecided frame means none of the later totals can be written. For example, if you roll “X X 7/ 7 2”, frame 1 is 10 + 10 + 7 = 27, frame 2 is 10 + 7 + 3 = 20, the spare in frame 3 is 10 + 7 = 17, and frame 4 is 9, giving running totals of 27, 47, 64, 73. Until the / in frame 3 is rolled, not even frame 1's total is decided.
Common scoring mistakes and how to check
- 1
Adding two balls to a spare bonus
A spare's bonus is only the next ball. Even if the next frame is 7 and 2, you add only the 7, so the spare frame scores 17.
- 2
Counting a strike bonus as “the next frame's total”
If the next frame is also a strike, it ends after one ball. In that case, the second bonus ball comes from the first ball of the frame after that.
- 3
Forgetting to convert / to pins
The second ball of a spare is “10 − first-ball pins.” If a strike is followed by 6/, the bonus is 6 + 4 = 10, and the strike frame scores 20.
- 4
Adding an extra bonus to the 10th frame
The third ball in the 10th frame is the bonus within the 10th frame. X, X, X is 30, with nothing more added.
If you're unsure whether a total you worked out by hand is right, enter the marks into the Bowling Score Calculator all at once, like “X 7/ 9- …”. It shows the running total and the calculation breakdown for each frame, so you can compare them one frame at a time.
FAQ
- How many points is a strike in bowling?
- A strike frame is “10 points + the pins from the next two balls.” If the next two balls are 7 and 2, it's 19; if the next is another strike and the ball after that knocks down 8, it's 28; three strikes in a row make 30. The score isn't decided until the next two balls are rolled.
- Is a spare bonus the total of the next frame?
- No, just the next ball. If you roll 7 and 2 after a spare, the spare frame is 10 + 7 = 17, and the 2 from the second ball isn't added.
- What is the highest possible score in bowling?
- 300 (a perfect game), achieved by rolling 12 strikes in a row. Frames 1 to 9 are each 10 + 10 + 10 = 30, and the 10th frame is X, X, X for 30, so 30 × 10 frames = 300.
- How many points are a gutter ball or a foul?
- Both count as zero pins. With a foul (stepping over the foul line when bowling), any pins knocked down still count as zero. If the previous frame was a strike or spare, its bonus is also calculated with zero pins.
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