Lane Bowling
Ten pin bowling has been a popular sport for a long time. It can be played well into retirement by many people.
Most people should know how to bowl, but for the rest, here is a description of the game:
A game of ten-pin bowling is divided into ten rounds (called "frames"). In a frame, each player is given two opportunities to knock down the pins. The player rolls the first ball at the pins. If the first ball knocks down all ten pins, it is called a "strike" and the frame is completed. When pins are left standing after the first ball, those that are knocked down are counted and then removed. Then the player rolls a second ball and if all the remaining pins are knocked down, it is called a "spare." There are bonuses for removing all the pins. If there is more than one player scheduled on a lane, play passes to the next player until all players have completed the frame.
The ten pins are usually automatically set by machine into four rows which form an equilateral triangle where there are four pins on a side. There are four pins in the back row, then three, then two, and finally one in the front at the center of the lane. The pins are numbered one through ten, starting with one in front, and ending with ten in the back to the right.
In order to count, a pin must be knocked over entirely. If the pin is wobbling as the automatic pin machine picks it up (or the machine itself knocks over the pin while it is wobbling), it is still considered standing and is not scored.
There are generally two primary styles of rolling the ball down the lane. Most newer players play by rolling the ball straight, hopefully into the 1-3 pocket for right-handed bowlers or the 1-2 pocket for left-handed bowlers. More experienced bowlers usually roll a hook, which means that they make the ball start out straight and then curve towards the pocket. There are two ways to produce a hook. In the first, the player needs to let go of the ball with his thumb first, then the middle and ring finger release almost simultaneously. This gives the bowling ball its spin needed for the hook. If the player is right-handed, an ideal position of the thumb after letting go of the ball is "10 o'clock", meaning that the thumb has gone from 12 to 10, as looking at a clock. The corresponding position for left-handed players is 2 o'clock. Of course there are innumerable variations in style and technique and the position of the thumb can vary from person to person. The second way is to hold the ball without the thumb in the thumb hole. This uses one or two fingers to produce the hook. Some bowlers will use none of their fingers. Lab research has shown that the ideal shot will enter the pocket at an angle of 6 degrees with respect to the lane boards, which means that a straight ball should be thrown from the side of the lane, near the gutter.
We won't get into scoring, as that is pretty widely known.