Scoring in Bowling – A Look at Why You Suck So Much

If you haven't been around bowling very much, you may have no idea how the scoring works for the game. Most people assume that the scores are just based on the number of pins that you knock down, but that is not the case. After all, there are ten frames in a game but a possible 300 points within those. With the pin theory, the max score would be 100. Let's take a look at how the scoring system works for bowling so you don't end up blaming the computer the next time you get a 67.

How the Frames Work in Bowling

In a traditional bowling game, there are ten frames with two turns per frame. That gives you two chances to hit ten pins on the lane before the next person goes. If you hit a strike on the first turn of a frame, you do not get a second turn to hit another one. The maximum amount of pins you can hit in one frame is ten.

How to Score Points in Bowling

At the base level of the game, you do in fact get points based on the amount of pins you hit. If you hit six points on the first turn of a frame and three the next, you will end up with a score of nine for that frame. If you hit one pin the first turn and five the second, you will get six points for that frame. The tricky part comes when you start getting into strikes and spares.

Scoring with Strikes

When you get a strike, that means that you hit all of the pins on the lane in the first turn of a frame. If you leave any of the pins on that first turn, the most you can get is a spare in the next turn. After you hit a strike, you don't just get 10 points. The strike takes on the value of the next two turns on top of its 10 point value. If you hit three strikes in a row, the first strike would be worth 30 points. If you hit a strike, then six pins, then three pins, the strike would be valued at 19. This applies to every strike, which is why there are two extra turns at the end of a game. If your last ball happens to be a strike, you will have two more turns to potentially make it worth 30 points.

Scoring with Spares

A spare occurs when you knock down all the pins in the second turn of a frame. If you hit six down the first turn and the remaining four down the second turn, you will get a spare. The spare is valued at 10 points plus the value of the next turn. If that next turn turns out to be a strike, the spare would be worth 20. If the next turn is a five, the spare would be worth 15. If your last turn in a game is a spare, you will have one extra turn to rack up some additional points for it.

Getting a Perfect Score

In order to get a perfect 300 in bowling, you have to bowl 12 strikes in a row. If you miss even a single pin, you could significantly impact the way your score turns out. Chances are you won't be bowling a 300 any time soon though, so you just have to do all you can to get several strikes in a row when you bowl. With a little practice, you can greatly improve your score without having to call your accountant to help you crunch the numbers.

Tennis: Easy to Watch, Hard to Play

After watching tennis with my husband for a few months, I was under the impression that it was one of the easiest sports to play in the world. How hard can it be to hit a small yellow ball with a huge racquet over a tiny little net? Upon trying to play tennis myself, I can tell you, without question, that this sport is far from easy. It takes a ton of concentration and timing to play tennis properly. Otherwise, you just end up smacking balls in the air like a lunatic. Here is a look at just some of the many steps that go into playing tennis correctly.

Getting the Racquet in Position

Before a ball comes flying at you, you have to have your racquet in position for a backhand or a forehand. In other words, you have to have it behind the left or right side of the body, depending on which side the ball is headed towards. This is one of the hardest things to learn because you want to focus on where the ball is, not prepare for what is to come. You almost have to pretend that you are in FBI training and you have to see what is happening before it does. If you don't get your arm back in time, you may lose all the power in your stroke before you hit a ball.

Aiming the Ball

The way you tilt and move your racquet will determine where the ball goes after you release it. You are basically scooping and releasing the ball in a fraction of a second, without actually making a scooping motion. If you hit in the wrong direction, you could send the ball out of bounds. If you hit with the racquet pointed up, you could lob the ball way in the air. If you have the racquet pointed too far down, you could cause the ball to fall short of the net. There are a million different points to remember about aiming, and you have to think about them all at once when you play. It can get pretty overwhelming in just a short period of time.

Planting Your Feet

When you hit a ball in tennis, you have to make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground. That way you can properly transfer your weight and make sure all your power goes to the racquet. If you jump in the middle of your hit, the power will basically fly out of your feet. The ball may not even make it past your side of the court. The only problem with planting your feet is that it isn't exactly an instinctual process. You have to run to catch the ball and then immediately stop to hit it. Until you get used to that idea, chances are you will run right past a ball as it comes to you.

Taking Baby Steps

You can't stretch for a ball in tennis because that will cause your aim to be off. It may also cause you to hurt yourself because of poor positioning. Rather than reaching to hit a ball, you have to take little baby steps to get to it before it comes to you. This is incredibly hard to get used to. I'm 5'2" tall, so I have to stretch for just about everything. My baby steps seem to always turn out to be hurdle jumps when I play. That's probably why I suck though, so don't lead by my example. You may not get very far that way.

There are plenty of other things to remember every time you hit a tennis ball, so much so that you are liable to get overwhelmed for the first few weeks of play. Over time though, you will learn to love it because it is such a challenge. Give it a try and you'll soon realize just how deceiving looks can be.

Should Poker Be Considered a Sport?

Poker has become incredibly popular over the years as more people have started to see it as a profitable business. Poker is no longer a simple game that guys play on the weekends. For some people, it is a full blown sport and a source of income. The big debate nowadays is whether poker should actually be considered a sport, or if it should still be referred to as a game. This may not make a big difference in terms of how it's played, but it will change the way people see poker in the future. Let's take a look at the facts to determine if poker could be a legitimate sport.

No Physical Activity

Poker is not a physical game. Players do not have to be in shape to be involved with it, and they do not have to exude much effort at all to play it. In this case, poker may be better compared to a game like chess than it would be to a sport like football. If you think that a person needs to run around in order for something to be considered a sport, you might as well rule this one out.

Extreme Mental Strategy

Most people think that poker is a game of luck, but it is much more a game of skill than anything. While a player may have no control over the cards he or she gets, that person does have control over how he or she plays those cards. Milking the most money possible out of a pot takes a great level of skill. That is why the top players reach the final tables of a tournament every time they play.

They're not lucky. They're talented. They have to analyze other players like a forensic psychology major in order to make their next move. It is that talent that may help define poker as a sport.

World Series Tournaments

It is no coincidence that the World Series of Poker has the same name as a major tournament in baseball. It involves a series of rigorous games that all lead to prizes, titles, and fame, just like what you would expect out of a sport. The WSoP is the Super Bowl of poker, and it is something that should be taken into consideration when assessing poker should be considered a sport.

With this in mind though, you need to realize that anyone can play in the World Series of Poker. As long as you have the $10,000 it takes to enter a tournament, you can play. In a sport, you have to be recruited for a team and play accordingly. You can't just get into a Wimbledon tennis tournament because you have money. You have to practice and qualify for the tournament. There is no recruiting in poker, and there are no teams. All you have is a bunch of individuals with enough money to play in different tournaments. That is not like a sport in the slightest.

The Verdict

I play poker on a regular basis, so I know how hard it can be if you try to use it to make money. From a difficulty perspective, I do think it is somewhat like a sport. Nevertheless, I can't deny the lacking qualities it has to truly define it as a sport. I think it could be considered a career more than anything, at least for people who are talented at it. For those that aren't, it's just another way to gamble away some money. Only you can determine where you fall in those categories.

Getting Your Girlfriend to Love Sports

Men have an inherent ability to love sports, but for women, that has to come from a little nudge in the right direction. I'm not a huge fan of sports myself, but my husband has at least gotten me to appreciate them over the years. If you have a girlfriend that thinks you can shoot a basketball into a field goal, you may want to open her mind to sports a little more. This process doesn't have to be difficult if you understand a woman's mind as you go through it. Seeing that I have a woman's mind, I'd be happy to help you out. Here are some tips to help you turn your arm candy into one of the guys when she needs to be.

Show Her Women in Sports

Women often have a hard time understanding sports because they only see men playing them. Then they just get bored watching a bunch and guys run around with some kind of ball in their hands. When they can see that there are women out there who actually play sports, they may get a little more excited about learning about them. You could show your girlfriend some female tennis matches or perhaps a clip of a female softball league. Just give her the idea that women can be involved with sports too.

Tell Her She's Sexy

Women love to feel sexy, so you may be able to use that to your advantage. In essence, you need to butter her up so she takes a bigger interest in sports. Tell her that you think it's really hot when she talks to you about sports and see if she doesn't start to ask you questions about them. That's how my husband got me into liking cars. I couldn't tell a Mustang from a Corvette three years ago, and now I can tell a ZR1 from a Z06. You just have to use the right language to get her to feel special when she talks about sports. She'll be learning about them in no time.

Avoid Looking Like a Psycho

Some men get way too enthusiastic about watching sports. This can be a big turn off for women. If you know you scream a lot when watching football, try to do that only when you're out with the guys. That puts the "macho" vibe on sports as a whole, and it could make your girlfriend unenthused about learning any kind of sports information. If you stay calm and avoid looking like a total lunatic, you may be able to convince her that sports are great to learn about.

Make a Couple's Night out of It

You could ask another couple to come over to watch a game with you. That way you have some masculine energy to pay off of, and she has some estrogen in the room as well. If the woman in the other couple happens to like sports, you may be able to convince your girlfriend just by showing her an example of what you want. Otherwise you will just have the benefit of having other people there to talk to and enjoy the moment.

It may take some time to get your girl in the sportsy mood, but give her a chance. Most women are willing to learn about stuff like that, as long as you let them come to terms with the idea on their own. If you take a moment to let your girl fall in love with sports like you have, you could have the perfect football wife in no time. There may be more to your legal assistant lover than you give her credit for.

A Look at Competitive Cornhole

The game of Cornhole has become an active sport in this country in several regions. You've probably seen this game at parties or carnivals in the past, but I bet you never knew it was a competitive sport. Although not as widespread as other sports, it is still a competition between leagues of people. Just as with bowling, pool, poker and other games, a good Cornhole game is fun to watch as well as participate in. Before you click away from this article assuming I've lost my mind, hear me out. Here's an explanation of how Cornhole can actually be considered a sport.

The Cornhole Song

I was browsing for a video about how to play Cornhole, and I came across this instead…



It's not ideal, but it made me laugh. I figured my article and my introduction wouldn't be complete without it.

How to Play Cornhole

Watch this video to learn how to play Cornhole if you want to check it out for yourself:



The game is pretty simple, but it can get competitive if you're into it. You just have to try it for yourself to see.

The Rules of Competitive Cornhole

As a matter of course, there are rules and regulations that apply in a series of competitions. Even in games played for mere fun, disputes sometimes arise. In consideration for fair play, scoring rules and other regulations are in place for competition Cornhole leagues.

The basic rules for the Cornhole game are simple. A player tosses a six-by-six inch bag filled with a pound of corn at a board with a six-inch hole in it. If the bag goes through the hole, the player scores three points. If he or she misses the hole but the bag remains on the board, one point is scored. The board itself measures two feet wide by four feet long, so there is plenty of surface for scoring. The player or team reaching a score of 21 points wins the game. These rules are only the simplest guidelines for the game. They get more specific for league competition.

For example, if the corn bag is hanging on the edge of the hole without dropping through it, some leagues will allow a score of two points. Others allow only one point. If the corn bag is hanging off the edge of the board but not touching the ground, the player earns one point. If it touches the ground, no point is given.

Scoring the Cornhole game can get a bit trickier than this, though. You don't need to be a tax accountant to figure it out, but you do need to do your research. What if the bag is not touching the ground but is touching a bag that is laying on the ground? Most leagues will allow one point added to the score while others check to see if the bag that is on the ground can be removed without the other falling to the ground. If it remains on the board, the point is allowed. In rare cases, the league will specify that this sort of scenario automatically negates the point and another toss is not allowed.

Conclusion

More often than not, a competition Cornhole game remains a friendly test of skill. However, having a set of rules for scoring in place before the start of a game solves any dispute that arises. Although leagues in different regions have some rules that differ, most remain a constant in competition play. Check out Cornhole leagues in your area for more information, or go to AmericanCornhole.org.

How to Choose a Tennis Racquet

Buying a tennis racquet that suits your play can seem like a challenge, but if you know what you're looking for, you can see a vast improvement in your game. If you are just starting out in the sport, a big investment in a quality racquet might be a bit of a waste. If you plan on making this a frequent hobby, however, you need to have a racquet that will best enhance your natural abilities so you can effectively control and drive the ball as you want to. Below are a few tips that will help you choose the best racquet for your tennis style.

Step 1 – Identify Your Level of Play

You have to identify yourself as a beginning, intermediate or advanced player. Beginning players often hit with less power and less control than other players. Thus they need a versatile racquet that they can build their skills off of. A large racquet with average string tension will be the best in this case. For intermediate players who have a greater understanding of the principles of tennis, racquets can become more defined. By the time most players reach an advanced level of play, they pretty well know what specifics they need out of their racquet to yield the greatest performance.

Step 2 – Analyze Your Style of Play

Your racquet will greatly be determined by your tennis techniques. A powerful player with a strong swing is going to have a much different set of needs when compared to a manipulative player with weak arms. In tennis, the key to racquet selection is to find a racquet that will balance power and control with what you already offer. In other words, if you already have a ton of power in your swing, you need a racquet that will provide a lot of control. The same theory works in reverse. If you play with a medium level of power and control, you will need a racquet that will accommodate that.

Step 3 – Match the Racquet to Your Playing Style

Power players work well with small, light racquets that provide maximum control. Control players work well with medium to large sized racquets that have a stiff frame and heavy body to help drive the tennis ball towards a target. If you are a combination player, you will need to look for a mid-sized racquet with a good balance of stiffness, length, weight and the like.

Step 4 – Choose Your Grip Size

Measure the length from the middle of your palm to the end of your ring finger to determine your grip size. Women usually remain in the 4 1/8" to 4 3/8", while men stay around 4 1/2" to 4 3/4". If you are worried about getting the wrong size, go with a smaller grip that you can put an overgrip on. That should provide you with the right fit.

Step 5 – Choose Your String Tension

Every racquet has a recommended string tension. Some of them come pre-strung with that, and others and others are left unstrung for you to choose what you want. If you need more power out of your racquet, get a lower string tension. If you need more control, get a higher tension rate. You can take this to any local tennis shop to get strung, or you can custom order the stringing when you purchase your racquet. After the strings are set, simply get a case for your racquet and test it out.

Tennis Racquet Testing

If you can't seem to find the racquet for you, you could look into tennis racquet testing. Many websites offer this program nowadays, allowing you to try out different tennis racquets to see what you like the best. I've actually used the demo program from Tennis-Warehouse.com, and it helped me find the racquet I'm currently using. I paid for shipping there and back – that's it. You could do the same and save a ton of money testing out racquets.

Whether you're a pharmacy tech or an electrical engineer, you can find a tennis racquet suited to your needs. All you have to do is look around. Test out some different options and see what works for you.

If You Thought Cricket Was a Strange Sport, Wait Till You See These!

Cricket and Rugby are two sports I don’t quite get. Truth is, I wasn’t too much interested in finding out more about them. All I know is that in cricket, the word ‘wicket’ is used quite often and in Rugby, you have to run for your life. Hey, I have an excuse! I graduated from the kaplan university and I’m ready to become a financial analyst, so I didn’t have too much contact with the world of sports, despite being a football (soccer) and a tennis fan. My field of activity doesn’t have too much in common with sports, unless you’re an impresario who at night, in order to sleep, counts dollars instead of sheep.

Do I think that cricket is a strange sport? Not really. I think it takes more than not understanding the rules, for a sport to be considered strange. If you take the logical path, you would consider that pretty much most of the sports are weird, since they consist of a bunch of people chasing a ball. Trust me, there are people who have a twisted notion of the word ‘entertainment’, an element which is required in every sport. Here is a list of some of those sports which are either overly complicated or plain weird.

• Wife Carrying

Ah, love is in the air! Isn’t this nice? Carrying your wife on your shoulders (literally) with her head upside down as if she was some kind of a spider who just won’t let you go is one of the most romantic things a man can do for his wife. Uh, not really, if you ask me. I can’t figure out why would it be fun for a man to carry his 49 kg wife (that’s the required weight) on his back and face a bunch of obstacles without letting her go? If he drops her, does it mean he doesn’t love her too much or what? Yes, the woman has to wear a helmet, but just the thought of staying with your head upside down, while your man jumps and runs through the obstacles makes me feel dizzy. It all started in Finland and of course, it’s also practiced now in Asia and North America. The participants even have to pay a fee to enter the competition. Great! And I was thinking they should pay me to participate. Now, trying to be more serious, although with a sport like this you can’t, I can see why people see it as a source of entertainment. This whole teamwork makes the pairs get closer to each other and regardless if they win or not, they’ll have a great time, otherwise they wouldn’t have participated.

• Octopush or underwater hockey

Rules are the same as in hockey, except it’s being played underwater; the sport has become popular in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. And I thought Ice Hockey was difficult! I’ve never actually seen an underwater hockey game, but the fact that you’re playing it underwater, where it’s a lot harder to control both the puck and your body, makes it a bit strange. I understand water polo, but here you actually have to get to the surface several times and get some air.

• Cheese Rolling

You might have heard about this sport, but if you’re not keen of getting a bunch of bruises, you might want to postpone your participation to this competition. Basically, from the top of a hill, the participants have to run after a round of Double Gloucester cheese. Of course, there are small chances that one of the competitors will actually catch it, so the goal is to reach the finish line first and obviously, there will be some pushing and shoving involved.

After seeing this video, you’ll regret the day you thought Cricket was a weird sport.

How Women Increased the Popularity of Soccer Playing in the United States

When we think of football – or soccer, like it’s called in some places, we think of England, Spain, Germany, France, etc. The football is pretty much a European sport, although South Americans might have something against this claim, since they also have strong leagues, like the Primera Division in Argentina or the Campeonato Brasileiro in Brazil and their Copa America is quite an important continental competition. Besides, they are also known for having some of the fiercest football fans and their street fights are as famous as those from England.

The truth is; you name a lot of countries before mentioning the United States of America. It’s just not their kind of sport. They have the MLB, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL and that’s about it. You won’t see soccer become a national sport any time soon there.

Now, let’s say you’re about to make a career-defining choice and you weren’t quite made to be a social worker. God, no, you make absolutely no chemistry with counseling – or psychotherapy for that matter. You just can’t see yourself talking with people about anything like that; it’s not your thing. How about choosing any of the careers in law enforcements? You have the body type of a police officer who could put down a few criminals without breaking a sweat, but no, you’re not interested in any of that. As a matter of fact, you have an inclination to become involved in sports. There’s nothing wrong with that, there are people meant to play on a field. But here comes the interesting part. You live in the USA and you want to be a soccer player! What? A soccer player? Since when? Doesn’t American Football sound better to your ears? No, you actually want to be a soccer player and you know exactly what it means.

Believe it or not, soccer suffered an increase regarding its popularity in the USA. And believe it even less, women are also in part responsible for that. In 1994, the United States hosted their first World Cup, leading to the creation of the Major League Soccer two years later. The signing of David Beckham by the LA Galaxy in 2007 helped further the reputation of this sport. However, the women are the ones who really put the USA on the map of football. Hosting two FIFA Women’s World Cups and being the best female national team in the world not only convinced the women to give more attention to this sport, but also the men, who by the way, aren’t that bad either regarding the FIFA World Rankings, being ahead of teams like Belgium, Venezuela, Nigeria or Czech Republic and occupying the position 34.

It’s interesting to see how women can make a difference in one of the least expected fields, which is clearly dominated by men. But they can play as good as them. Just check out this dribbling that would make Leo Messi proud: