Duckpin bowling

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Duckpins are shorter and squatter than the pins used in 10-pin bowling.

Duckpin bowling is a variation of bowling. The balls used in duckpin bowling are significantly smaller than those used in ten-pin bowling, weighing 1-2 kilograms (2-4 pounds) each, are slightly larger than a candlepin ball, with the duckpin ball having a maximum diameter of 5 inches (12.7 cm), and like a candlepin ball are devoid of finger holes. The pins are correspondingly shorter and lighter than their ten-pin equivalents and it is more difficult to knock them all down with a single roll. The pins are arranged in a triangular fashion identical to that used in ten-pin bowling. Duckpin bowling is commonly found in the southeastern and South Coast area of Massachusetts, all of Rhode Island, most of Connecticut and in the Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC regions of the United States.

[edit] Rules

Duckpin bowling has rules similar to, but slightly different from ten-pin bowling. Over the course of 10 frames, bowlers try to knock down pins in the fewest rolls per frame. Bowlers have three balls per frame, instead of two as in ten-pin bowling, to use in knocking over a set of 10 pins. If a bowler knocks down all ten pins with their first roll in a frame, it is scored as a strike. If all the pins are knocked down within the first two rolls, the bowler has made a spare. If all the pins are knocked down in the third ball of the frame, the bowler gets ten points, as in candlepins, with no bonus score. If pins are still standing after the third ball, the bowler gets one point for each pin knocked down with the three balls combined.

A Duckpin bowling ball

Duckpin bowling balls are small and light enough for children to handle easily.

In the case of a strike, the bowler gets ten points plus the total number of pins knocked down with the next two balls rolled, for a total of up to 30 points. In the case of a spare, the bowler gets 10 points plus the total number of pins knocked down with the next ball, for a total of up to 20 points. If it takes three balls to knock down all ten pins, the bowler gets ten points but no extra points for succeeding rolls. A bowler's final score is the sum of the points earned in each of the 10 frames (a spare or strike in the 10th frame earns one or two bonus rolls respectively.) The maximum possible score is 300 points, which is achieved by rolling 12 strikes in a row, and has not yet been achieved as of 2008.^[1]

[edit] History

The origin of the sport is a subject of some debate. One possible origin states that duckpin bowling began in Baltimore, Maryland and in Massachusetts around 1900, at a bowling alley owned by future baseball Hall of Famers John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson.

However, according to a 2005 baseball book by Howard W. Rosenberg (Cap Anson 3: Muggsy John McGraw and the Tricksters: Baseball's Fun Age of Rule Bending), an article from May 1894 in the Lowell Sun confirms the existence of duckpins as of 1894. Rosenberg traced the story of crediting the origins of duckpins to McGraw and Robinson as far back as Shirley Povich of the Washington Post in the late 1930s.

In 1985, a 130-plus-page publication called Duckpins: The Tenth Frame cited related Lowell, Mass., coverage of duckpin bowling back in May 1894. Writing in that publication, Bob Tkacz, of Newington, Connecticut, noted finding articles showing that a duckpin tournament was being held in Lowell at that time. The 1985 publication is not readily available from any U.S. library, which explains why Tkacz's finding was easy to miss as the earliest known "in print" rebuttal of the Baltimore origin myth. Articles can be found in the Globe earlier than May 1894 showing the existence of the sport around Boston. According to Rosenberg, the earliest Globe reference to duckpins was on January 2, 1893.

Rosenberg's book methodically accounted for Baltimore newspaper reporting in late 1899 and early 1900, when the sport seemingly was first played in Baltimore (at the McGraw-Robinson alleys.) Baltimore Sun next-day reporting seems to credit those alleys for introducing the sport to Baltimore the night before.

In 1982, the Women's National Duckpin Association was formed to give women a venue to compete in the duckpin sport at a professional level. The organization conducts several tournaments every year in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. The final tournament of each season is called the Grand Prix.^[2]

[edit] Variants

In the 1930s a variant called rubberband duckpins was introduced in the Baltimore-Washington area. The pins are circled with hard rubber bands to increase action and scoring.^[3] Rubberband duckpin is the only version of duckpin played in the province of Quebec. There have been perfect games bowled in rubber band duckpin, including the largest duckpin prize ever won on television, C$50,000 in 1994.^[4] Since it is easier to knock down pins in rubberband duckpin, its rules are identical to those of standard ten-pin bowling.

[edit] See also

• Ten-pin bowling
• Candlepin bowling

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Duckpins.com - Duckpin bowling information and history.
• National Duckpin Bowling Congress
• Womens National Duckpin Association
• Duckpin Professional Bowlers Association
• A June 2008 feature story on duckpin bowling in the Urbanite, a Baltimore weekly magazine
• A duckpin bowling score calculator
• A Sherman duckpin pinspotter in action
• Frontside view of the Sherman pinspotter in action