Bowling average calculator
Your bowling average is your total pins divided by the games you bowled, with the fraction dropped. Paste your scores below, or enter a total.
Or enter totals instead
The example scores are made up. Replace them with yours.
How leagues work out an average
- Add up every pin you scored in the games that count (usually league games only).
- Divide by the number of games.
- Drop the fraction, don't round. 1,078 pins over 6 games is 179.67, which is a 179 average.
Your series is the total of the games you bowl in one session, usually three. A 600 series is a 200 average for the night.
What's a good bowling average?
There's no official scale, and the same bowler can average 20 pins more on an easy house shot than on a tough tournament pattern. As a rough guide for ten-pin bowling:
| Average | Roughly where that puts you |
|---|---|
| Under 120 | New to the game, or bowling a few times a year |
| 120–150 | Regular recreational bowler |
| 150–180 | Solid league bowler |
| 180–200 | Strong league bowler, makes most spares |
| 200–220 | Top of most leagues |
| 220+ | Elite amateur and professional level |
The quickest way to raise it
Spares, not strikes. A game with a spare in every frame and no strikes at all scores 170 if your first ball takes 7 pins each time, and 190 if it takes 9. That's already a good average. Most bowlers leave 10 or more pins a game on the table through missed single-pin spares. See the spare chart for where to aim.
"Bowling average" in cricket means something else entirely. This page is about ten-pin bowling.