A Canadian Tradition

A bowling ball is a sports equipment used to hit the bowling pins in the game of bowling. The different types of bowling ball are five pin bowling, nine pin bowling, ten pin bowling, duck pin bowling and candle pin bowling. These bowlings have a different structure and game rules.

History of Five Pin Bowling

In 1909, Thomas F. Ryan invented a game called the five pin bowling. This was at his Toronto bowling club, Ontario. The five pin bowling game was birthed from customers’ reviews of the 10 pin bowling. His customers had complained that the 10 pin bowling was heavy and difficult to play. He had to cut five ten pins down to about 75% of their size. These new balls were able to fit into the hand of the player.

Game Description

The five balls bowling has no finger holes, unlike the 10 ball bowling. At the end of the lane, five pins are arranged in a V. These pins have different scoring points.

The center pin gives five points when knocked down, the pins on the other side give three points each while the outermost pins give two points each. The total points in a frame is fifteen

When a player strikes down all the five pins with the first ball, he gets 15 points and the score achieved by his first two balls of the next frame. If he knocks down the pins with two balls he gets a spare which means the first ball of the next frame counts double.

If the bowler strikes twice in succession, the points are recorded as double. When a double has been bowled, the first strike is given 30 points plus the value of the pins bowled with the first ball of the frame following the second strike.

For three successive strikes within a game, the score points are tripled. The bowler is credited with 45 points in the frame where the first strike was made.

In 5 pins bowling, a perfect score is 450. This requires 12 consecutive strikes bowled in the same game without fouling. 15 to 30 games are sanctioned by C5PBA annually.

From the origin of the game, the pins counted from left to right as 4 – 2 – 1 – 3 – 5 points. In 1952 President of the Canadian Bowling proposed that the scoring system should be counted from 2 – 3 – 5 – 3 – 2. This was accepted in west Canada in 1952, Ontario in 1953 and in 1954 for the rest of Canada

The counter pin rule was abolished in 1967 by the Canadian Bowling Congress. But this rule change took effect in eastern Canada in 1968 but the Western Canada 5-pin Bowling Association didn’t accept the change till 1972.

Differences between Five Pin and Ten Pin Bowling

With 5 pin bowling, even children can enjoy the bowling game with ease.

Five pin bowling was invented for easy handling of the bowling. Unlike the 10 pin bowling that is heavy to carry. A five pin bowling is easy to learn and provides an opportunity to apply the strategy.

In 10 pin bowling all the pins are valued the same points while in 5 pin bowling, the pins have varying points. So if a bowler missed a stick of a pin he can compensate for the points when he strikes another pin. This allows players to minimize their losses after a mistake by aiming for a higher scoring group of pins. This isn’t obtainable in 10 pin bowling.