Bowling Revisited

I went to my first Canadian bowling alley and tried out 10-pin Candlestick bowling for the first time. As an ardent 10-pin "big ball" bowler for years, it was very different.

First, the ball is very light and about the size of a softball. Because I'm used to throwing my 15 lbs ball, I wound up chucking the little, light ball more than halfway down the lane on my first throw. It took a few throws before I was consistently throwing on the boards. With it being that light, I felt like I was really hurling the ball down the lanes. Not a bad thing, in this version, except I was very naturally putting a hook on the ball, so frequently missed all the pins and went into the gutter at the last moment to the left. It took awhile before I got the hook somewhat under control.

The pins are tall, narrow, and light, making the standard pins I'm used to look large and heavy. In between throws, the fallen pins do not get cleaned-- one of the challenges is using the fallen pins to help you get the remaining pins. This really threw me for the first game or so.

Because of the sizes of everything, you get three throws each frame. You can only score a strike on the first throw and a spare on the second throw, but you can still get 10 points (but not a "mark") by knocking down all of the pins on your third throw.

The scoring is a bit different, too. I'm not sure I can explain it here, as I'm not completely sure I was doing it right, but you seemed to add both forward and backward when scoring a spare or strike. In standard bowling, you only score ahead. Again, not certain I have the scoring fully grasped yet.

All in all, it was a fun trip. I think I could pick it up in about 20 hours of play, if I decide I want to. The good thing about it is that, with the ball so small and light, my arthritis issues didn't really come into play.