Strike (bowling)

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A strike is a term used in bowling to indicate that all of the pins have been knocked down with the first ball of a frame.

A ten-pin bowling scoresheet showing how a strike is scored

When all ten pins are knocked down with the first ball (called a strike and typically rendered as an "X" on a scoresheet), a player is awarded ten points, plus a bonus of whatever is scored with the next two balls. In this way, the points scored for the two balls after the strike are counted twice.

Frame 1, ball 1: 10 pins (strike)

Frame 2, ball 1: 3 pins

Frame 2, ball 2: 6 pins

The total score from these throws is:

Frame one: 10 + (3 + 6)= 19
Frame two: 3 + 6 = 9

TOTAL = 28

Two consecutive strikes are referred to as a "double." Three strikes bowled consecutively are known as a "turkey" or "triple." Any longer string of strikes is referred to by a number affixed to the word "bagger," as in "four-bagger" (four baggers are also known as "hambones") or "five-bagger" for four or five consecutive strikes. This terminology is used most often when a bowler is "off the strikes." (i.e. has previously bowled a string of several strikes but failed to strike on his most recent ball.) When a player is "on the strikes," a string is often referenced by affixing "in a row" to the number of strikes bowled consecutively. Six strikes in a row are sometimes referred to as a "six pack."^[1]^[2] 6 strikes and 9 strikes in a row can also be referred to "Wild Turkeys" and "Golden Turkeys" respectively. Any string of strikes starting in the first frame or ending "off the sheet" (where all of a bowler's shots from a certain frame to the end of the game strike) are often referred to as the "front" or "back" strikes, respectively (e.g. the 'front nine' for strikes in frames 1-9, or the 'back six' for strikes in frames 7, 8, and 9 with a turkey in the tenth). A perfect game or 12 strikes in a row is also colloquially referred to as the "Thanksgiving Turkey."

A player who scores multiple strikes in succession would score like so:

Frame 1, ball 1: 10 pins (strike)

Frame 2, ball 1: 10 pins (strike)

Frame 3, ball 1: 4 pins

Frame 3, ball 2: 2 pins

The score from these throws is:

Frame one: 10 + (10 + 4)= 24
Frame two: 10 + (4 + 2) = 16
Frame three: 4 + 2 = 6

TOTAL = 46

The most points that can be scored in a single frame is 30 points (10 for the original strike, plus strikes in the two subsequent frames).

A player who bowls a strike in the tenth (final) frame is awarded two extra balls so as to allow the awarding of bonus points. If both these balls also result in ten pins knocked down each, a total of 30 points (10 + 10 + 10) is awarded for the frame. These bonus points do not count on their own, however. They only count as the bonus for the strike.