bowling

1. 1. A game played by rolling a ball down a wooden alley in order to knock down a triangular group of ten pins. Also called tenpins.
   2. A similar game, such as duckpins or ninepins.
2. Lawn bowling.
3. The playing of one of these games.

For more information on bowling, visit Britannica.com.

Bowling, whether tenpin bowling with a large, heavy bowl or lawn bowls played with a lighter, wooden bowl, is not a great stamina builder, but it can increase flexibility of arms and shoulders, strengthen legs, and improve coordination. The act of delivering a bowl involves a back swing, forward swing, release, and follow through. These movements involve the coordinated action of muscles in the back, shoulders, arms, and legs. During the delivery, the back may be bent forward and twisted. This imposes considerable mechanical stress on the discs, ligaments, and muscles of the lower back. Consequently, bowling is not recommended for people with persistent lower back problems, and all bowlers are advised to warm up. Gentle mobility and stretching exercises help to reduce the risk of injury.

According to archaeological evidence, ancient Egyptians played a game similar to bowling in 3200 B.C. The game was popular in medieval Europe, and American colonists bowled in the streets of Jamestown, but the modern tenpin game developed with the German immigrant community in America in the mid-nineteenth century. Most bowling alleys were located in saloon basements, and the game's association with drunkenness, violence, and gambling quickly earned it an unsavory reputation.

Prohibition severed the direct connection between saloons and bowling, but the game still struggled with its image problem. The "pin boys" who cleared and reset pins and returned balls after each roll were a public-relations disaster. The dangerous and demanding work paid very little, and in general, only vagrants and young teenagers would take the job. Child welfare advocates condemned bowling alleys as Sweatshops teeming with immoral influences.

The invention of the automatic pinsetter in 1951 had a great impact on the game. No longer reliant on unpredictable labor, alley proprietors saw an opportunity to expand their market beyond league bowlers, and they advertised the game as good clean family fun. Glitzy recreation centers with cheerful names such as "Bowl-ODrome" and "Victory Bowling" opened in shopping plazas throughout the country. Many featured Laundromats and nurseries to serve the family needs of suburban consumers, and a few even banned alcohol to encourage parents to think of the lanes as a safe place for their kids. Now packaged as "the people's country clubs," bowling alleys grew increasingly extravagant. Chicago's Holiday Bowl Recreation maintained sixty-four lanes, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and tennis courts. In 1958, the Professional Bowlers Association, which organizes about twenty tournaments each year, was created to capitalize on the success of television broadcasts. By the late 1960s, however, the bowling boom was over.

Still, the game remains one of America's most popular pastimes, and it has become a powerful if contested cultural symbol. Many artists and writers use bowling, especially the sweat-stained embroidered bowling shirt, to represent suburban conservatism and provincialism. But Robert Putnam's influential book Bowling Alone, which laments the decline of "social capital" in the United States, employs bowling as a metaphor for a less crassly individualistic era.

Bibliography

Hurley, Andrew. Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks: Chasing the American Dream in the Postwar Consumer Culture. New York: Basic Books, 2001.

Luby, Mort Jr. "The History of Bowling." Bowlers Journal 70, no. 11 (1983): 102–159.

Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000.

—Jeremy Derfner

For other uses, see Bowling (disambiguation).

A ten-pin bowler releases the ball.

Bowling is a game in which players attempt to score points by rolling a bowling ball along a flat surface, usually a wooden or synthetic surface, either into objects called pins or to get close to a target ball.^[1] There are many forms of bowling, with one of the most recent being ten-pin bowling and the earliest dating back to ancient Egypt. Other places where bowling was first seen were ancient Finland and Yemen,^[2] and in 300 A.D. in Germany.^[3][4] The first standardized rules were established in New York City, on September 9, 1895.^[5] Today, bowling is enjoyed by 95 million people in more than ninety countries worldwide ^[6] and continues to grow through entertainment mediums such as video games for home consoles and hand held devices.^[7]

Contents 1 Health benefits 2 Bowling safety 3 Types of pins 4 Outdoor variations 5 Competitions 5.1 Major tournaments 5.2 Multi-sport events 6 See also 7 References

Health benefits

Bowling is an anaerobic type of physical exercise, similar to walking with free weights. Bowling helps in burning calories and works muscle groups not usually exercised. The flexing and stretching in bowling works tendons, joints, ligaments, and muscles in the arms and promotes weight loss. Apart from the physical benefits it also has psycho-social benefits, strengthening friendships or creating new ones in groups.^[8][9]

Bowling safety

Like any other physical activity, warming up helps to prevent injuries. Checking the soles of shoes for sticky objects helps to avoid falls. Since bowling balls are heavy with varying weight ranges, to avoid back and wrist injury they should be picked up with both hands. It’s recommended to bend one’s knees while picking up bowling balls to avoid back injuries. The bowling ball return mechanism has a driven wheel, and bowlers should keep their hands clear of it. ^[10][11]

Types of pins

Four main variations are found in North America, varying especially in New England and parts of Canada.

tenpin 

largest and heaviest pins, bowled with a large ball, and the most popular size in North America

candlepin 

tall, thin, and bowled with a handheld ball

duckpin 

short, squat, and bowled with a handheld ball

fivepin 

tall, between duckpins and candlepins in diameter with a rubber girdle, bowled with a handheld ball, mostly found in Canada

Outdoor variations

A bowls tournament in Berrigan, New South Wales, Australia.

The second category of bowling is usually played outdoors on a lawn. At outdoor bowling, the players throw a ball, which is sometimes eccentrically weighted, in an attempt to put it closest to a designated point or slot in the bowling arena. Included in the outdoor category:

• Lawn bowls
• Bocce
• Pétanque
• Irish road bowling
• Cherokee marbles

Competitions

Four-lane candlepin bowling alley in Windsor, Vermont, USA, about 1910

Major tournaments

• AMF World Cup
• Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championships
• PBA World Championship
• World Ranking Masters
• World Tenpin Masters
• WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships

Multi-sport events

• Asian Games
• Asian Youth Games
• Pan American Games
• Southeast Asian Games
• Special Olympics World Games
• Olympic Games - there are debates if 10-pin bowling should be part of the Olympic Games
• World Games

See also

• FIQ, the top international bowling organization
• Ten-pin bowling
• Nine-pin bowling
• Five-pin bowling
• Duckpin bowling
• Candlepin bowling
• Cherokee marbles
• Skittles — the sport from which "alley" based bowling originated
• Skee ball — a game that plays similar to bowling
• Pin shooting — a pistol shooting sport
• Pinsetter
• Automatic scorer
• New Zealand Indoor Bowls
• U.S. intercollegiate bowling champions

References

1. ^ United States Bowling Conference
2. ^ Official Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee
3. ^ ububu.com^{[dead link]}
4. ^ bowlingmuseum.com
5. ^ Springdale USBC Site
6. ^ Fit4FunKids site
7. ^ AMF Bowling Pinbusters! for Nokia N-Gage
8. ^ Aging and In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana - What health benefits does bowling offer?
9. ^ Calorie-counter.net - How to Lose Weight by Bowling
10. ^ BellaOnline - Personal Bowling Safety
11. ^ Pinboy's Guide To Better Bowling

v • d • e Bowling Ten-pin · Nine-pin · Five-pin · Skittles · Candlepin · Duckpin · Feather · Lawn · Bocce · Pétanque · Kubb · Mölkky · Irish road bowling · Basque bowling · Kegel · Turkey · Boccia · Curling (Wheelchair) ·

v • d • e Interdependent team sports Sport · Governing bodies · Sportspeople · National sport Basket codes Basketball (Wheelchair) · Korfball · Netball (Indoor) · Slamball Football codes Association football (Beach, Futsal, Indoor, Street, Paralympic) · Australian football (9-a-side, Rec footy, Metro footy) · Gaelic football (Ladies') · Powerchair football Gridiron codes American football (Eight-man, Flag, Indoor, Nine-man, Six-man, Sprint, Touch) · Arena football · Canadian football Hybrid codes Austus · International rules football · Samoa Rules · Universal football · Volata Medieval football codes Caid, Calcio Fiorentino, Camping, Cnapan, Cornish hurling, Cuju, Harpastum, Kemari, La soule, Mob football, Royal Shrovetide, Uppies and Downies Rugby codes Rugby union (Sevens, Tag, Touch, Mini, American Flag, Tens) · Rugby league (Sevens, Nines, Tag, Touch, Wheelchair) · Beach Handball codes Handball · Beach handball · Field handball · Goalball · Torball Safe haven codes Baseball · Brännboll · British baseball · Cricket (Test, Limited Overs, Indoor, Twenty20) · Danish longball · Kickball · Lapta · Oină · Over-the-line · Pesäpallo · Rounders · Softball · Stoolball · Town ball · Vigoro Stick and ball codes Composite rules shinty-hurling · Hurling (Camogie) · Lacrosse (Box, Field, Indoor, Women's) · Polocrosse  · Shinty Hockey codes Bandy · Broomball · Field hockey (Indoor) · Floorball · Ice hockey · Sledge hockey · Ringette · Rinkball · Roller hockey (Inline, Quad) · Rossall Hockey  · Street hockey  · Underwater hockey · Unicycle hockey Polo codes Cycle polo · Elephant polo · Cowboy polo · Polo · Segway polo · Yak polo  · Canoe polo Ball over a net codes Beach volleyball · Biribol · Fistball · Sepak takraw · Volleyball (Paralympic) · Jianzi · Football tennis · Footvolley · Peteca  · Net footbag Other codes Airsoft · Basque pelota (Frontenis, Jai alai, Xare) · Buzkashi · Curling · Cycle ball · Dodgeball · Gateball · Kabaddi · Mesoamerican ball game · Paintball · Pétanque · Roller derby · Tchoukball  · Ultimate  · Underwater rugby  · Water polo  · Wheelchair rugby

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - bowling

idioms:

• bowling alley    bowlinghal, bowlingbane
• bowling average    bowling average
• bowling green    bowlsplæne

Nederlands (Dutch)
bowling, kegelen

Français (French)
n. - (GB) jeu de boules, (US) bowling, pétanque (en Provence)

idioms:

• bowling alley    piste de bowling
• bowling average    moyenne (aux boules)
• bowling green    terrain de boules

Deutsch (German)
n. - Bowling

idioms:

• bowling alley    Bowlingbahn, Kegelbahn
• bowling average    (Cricket) Durchschnittsleistung als Werfer
• bowling green    Rasenfläche für das Boulespiel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μπόουλινγκ, (παιχνίδι) τσούνια

idioms:

• bowling alley    διάδρομος ή σάλα του μπόουλινγκ
• bowling average    μέσος όρος εύστοχων βολών
• bowling green    γήπεδο ξυλοσφαίρισης σε χλοοτάπητα

Italiano (Italian)
bowling, bocce

idioms:

• bowling alley    corsia del bowling, corsia dei birilli
• bowling green    prato per bocce

Português (Portuguese)
n. - jogo (m) de boliche (Esp.)

idioms:

• bowling alley    cancha (f) (de madeira) para o jogo de boliche (Esp.)
• bowling green    gramado (m) para jogo de boliche (Esp.)

Русский (Russian)
игра в кегли

idioms:

• bowling alley    кегельбан
• bowling green    лужайка для игры в шары

Español (Spanish)
n. - bolos

idioms:

• bowling alley    bolera
• bowling average    promedio en los bolos
• bowling green    campo de bolos

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bowling, bowls, kastande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
保龄球

idioms:

• bowling alley    保龄球场, 狭长木制跑道
• bowling average    投手得分率
• bowling green    玩滚木球的草坪

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 保齡球

idioms:

• bowling alley    保齡球場, 狹長木製跑道
• bowling average    投手得分率
• bowling green    玩滾木球的草坪

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 볼링

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ボーリング

idioms:

• bowling alley    ボーリングのレーン, ボーリング場
• bowling average    ボーリングのアベレージ
• bowling green    ボールズ用の芝生

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) لعبه دحرجه الكرات‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כדורת (משחק)‬

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