What is the perfect score in bowling

What is a Perfect Bowling Score?

How do you achieve a bowling perfect score?

Curious to get some tips and fun facts?

Keep reading as we have gathered exactly the information that you need!

Let’s dig into our bowling game knowledge!

Are you ready?

Let’s get started!

Perfect Bowling Score

What is a perfect score in bowling?

In Ten Pin bowling, a perfect bowling score is 300.

A “perfect game” in bowling is when a bowler is able to get the highest possible score in one game.

To achieve a score of 300, you need to get 12 strikes in a row (9 strikes in the first 9 frames and 3 strikes in the 10th frame).

In Five Pin bowling, bowling a perfect game will give you 450 points where each strike is worth 15 points.

Scorecard

What does the scorecard look like for a perfect bowling score?

Here is what your scorecard would look like:

You essentially have an “X” on all your frames and each frame gives you a score of 30 points.

Score Calculation

For each strike you throw, you get 10 points plus additional bonus points for the pins you knock down on your next two throws.

Since your next two throws must be strikes, you’ll get an additional 20 bonus points for each frame.

As a result, each frame gives you 30 points (10 + 10 + 10).

For the tenth frame, you have the chance to take 3 shots.

Each shot can give you 10 points.

League Certification

In bowling tournaments and leagues, for a perfect game to be recognized, the certifying body will need to validate and certify the result.

The certification bodies will inspect the bowling lanes at least once a year to ensure that they comply with regulation, the balls used to play a certified 300-game must be engraved with a serial number as required by the USBC.

Once a perfect game is played, the league will send the ball serial number to the certifying organization who will make sure that the league is in good standing before validating the score.

A player who is certified to have played a perfect game is eligible to receive an Adult High Score Award (300 game ring).

How To Bowl A Perfect Game

Let’s face it, not everyone will achieve a perfect game of bowling.

To bowl a perfect score, you need to be dedicated to the game and practice.

Here are some tips to help you achieve the perfect game in bowling:

• Get yourself the right bowling ball 
• Make sure that you have the right bowling technique
• Practice your footwork on the approach 
• Visually aim for the pocket at all time
• Practice your ball delivery 
• Learn how to throw a hook
• Adjust your technique slightly to get better results
• Practice, practice, practice 

Fun Facts

Will June, a 75-year-old grandfather, became the oldest player to achieve a perfect game on August 31, 2010.

Hannah Diem, a 9-year-old girl, became the youngest player to bowl a perfect game in 2013 (she was 9 years, six months, and 19 days old).

Ben Ketola achieved a perfect bowling game in 86.9 seconds (or 1 minute 26 seconds and 9 tenths) in 2017 by using multiple lanes to throw his shots consecutively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s look at some of the frequently asked questions on the topic of a perfect score in bowling.

How many strikes in a perfect game of bowling?

In Ten Pin bowling, you need 12 strikes in a perfect game of bowling.

What is a perfect game in bowling?

A perfect game in bowling is when you score 300 points thereby getting the highest possible score in the game.

You can only achieve this by throwing a strike in every single frame back-to-back.

In bowling, how many consecutive strikes are needed to achieve a perfect game of 300?

In bowling, you need 12 consecutive strikes to achieve a perfect game of 300.

What is the maximum number of points you can achieve in one frame?

In one frame of bowling, you can achieve up to a maximum of 30 points by throwing a strike for the frame and two additional strikes in the subsequent two shots.

Takeaways: Bowling Perfect Game 300

What’s a perfect score in bowling?

Let’s look at a summary of our findings of what is a perfect bowling score.

Perfect Bowling Score

• Bowling perfect game score: in Ten Pins, it’s 300 points
• You need 12 consecutive strikes to obtain a perfect 300 bowling
• In essence, you need to get a maximum of 30 points in all 10 frames of the game giving you a total of 10 X 30 = 300 points

900 SeriesBowling score calculator Bowling scoringBowling tips Perfect aim bowling 

Perfect game tournaments

How to bowlHighest score in bowling without a strikeHow to bowl a strikeHow to throw a hook

Scotch double in bowling

Most people who've ever bowled know that there are 10 frames in a game of bowling. Add to that bowling's perfect score—300—and it stands to reason that 10 strikes in a row is a perfect 300. But if you do the math, you'll realize that this isn't actually the case.

The tenth frame consists of at least two and possibly three shots. A strike counts as 10 plus the sum of the next two shots.

So if we had one only chance to throw a strike in the 10th frame, what happens to those next two shots? If the 10th frame was treated the same as each of the previous frames, there would be no extra two shots and the maximum score would actually be 270—30 in each of the first eight frames, 20 in the ninth because only one shot was thrown on top of that strike, totaling 260 plus 10 in the 10th frame. 

That's why we have the fill balls. These shots give bowlers a chance to complete their scores on strikes and spares in the 10th frame. If you throw a spare, you get one more shot to complete the score of the spare. If you throw a strike, you get two more shots to complete the score of the strike.

If you start a game with 10 strikes in a row, you're doing pretty well for yourself, but you haven't reached perfection yet. That 10th strike is only worth 10 pins until you throw two more shots. Throw two gutter balls and you'll finish with 270, but throw two strikes for a total of 12 and there's your 300.

This challenge requires three perfect 300 games in a row. Jeremy Sonnenfeld achieved it in 1997. Others managed it before him, but Sonnenfeld's series of three games was the first to be recognized by the United States Bowling Congress. The USBC cited faulty lane conditions when it declined to certify the previous efforts. Can you even imagine scoring three perfect games only to have the achievement thrown out because of lane conditions? 

Twelve strikes is an awesome achievement, but a bowler by the name of Ben Ketola went one better. He pulled it off in 86.9 seconds in 2017. Of course, he had to use multiple lanes to do it, working his way right down the line. He'd score a strike then run to the ball return to set up for another one. He did it about 24 seconds faster than Tom Daugherty managed it back in 2015. Ketola holds the current world record: a perfect 300 game in 1:26.9.

Back in 2013, Hannah Diem became the youngest bowler to ever score a perfect 300 game in a certified event. She was nine years, six months and 19 days old.