How Many Pins In Bowling (Overview: All You Need To Know)

How Many Pins In Bowling?

Looking to find out how many pins are in bowling?

What are the essential elements you should know!

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How Many Pins In Bowling

How many bowling pins are there in a game of bowling?

The answer is that it depends.

In some of the popular games, you have 10 pins such as the American Tenpin, Candlepin, and Duckpin.

In other games, like Ninepin, you have 9 pins.

Let’s look at the different types of bowling games to then see the number of bowling pins used.

Tenpin Bowling

In Tenpin Bowling (10-pins), you have ten pins positioned at equal distance from one another in four rows forming a perfect triangle at the end of a bowling lane.

The name of this type of bowling game is directly indicative of how many bowling pins are used (“ten” “pin”).

As a result, in Tenpin Bowling, the bowler’s objective is to knock down all the ten pins when rolling the ball in an attempt to hit a strike.

Ninepin Bowling

Ninepin bowling (also known as the kegal) used to be played where nine pins were arranged in the form of a diamond at the far end of a wooden frame.

It was the Europeans that introduced Americans to this game.

However, the game of 9-pins was eventually banned for reasons like gambling.

In an attempt to circumvent the ban, a tenth pin was added to the game and the pins were rearranged in the form of a triangle to form the American Tenpins or Tenpin Bowling.

The pin in the middle is typically in red color.

Candlepin Bowling

In Candlepin Bowling, just like in the game of Tenpins, you have ten pins to knock over.

Just like in Tenpins, a player’s score is determined by the number of pins knocked down using the bowling ball.

In Candlepin Bowling, the pins are thinner than in Tenpins where they are shaped like a cylinder-like candlepin.

The pins are typically arranged in a triangle just like in 10-pins.

Duckpin Bowling

In Duckpin Bowling, a bowler is required to knock down ten pins when throwing a bowling ball.

In Duckpin bowling, the pins are short in size and thicker in width when compared to 10-pins.

Also, since the pins are lighter, it’s more difficult to roll a strike when playing Duckpin.

Fivepin Bowling

In Fivepin bowling (5-pins), as the name suggests, there are five pins.

Just like the game of Tenpins, the name “five” pin suggests the number of pins used in the game.

In Fivepin games, although there are 10 pins, they are smaller in size as compared with Tenpins but larger than Duckpins.

Each of the 5 pins have a rubber hand around their middle.

Bowling Pins: How Many

So, how many pins are there in bowling?

How many bowling pins in a set?

Let’s look at a summary of our findings.

How Many Pins In Bowling:

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