Candlepin Bowling

On Tuesday we went bowling at a place just outside of Manchester called Lakeside Lanes. We have signed up for program that gives the girls two free games of bowling a day for the entire summer. The catch is that you still have to pay for shoe rentals. I guess nothing is truly free but it was still a great deal!
The girls had a blast!

This was not your regular kind of bowling with the huge heavy balls and the squatty pins. This, we found out, is called candlepin bowling, and almost a whole other animal all together. Luckily there was a lady in the lane next to us that was able to explain the ropes and keep us on the right track.

First off, the balls are tiny (about the size, though not weight, of soft balls). They are all that size and you get three per frame. The pins are also different. They are tall and skinny with a little more width in the middle. You still have ten to knock down but as you do they don't get swept out of the way like they do in regular bowling. They call this dead wood and can be useful in knocking down more pins. Since you get three balls per turn, you have extra terminology. Knocking all the pins down with one ball is still a strike, knocking them down with the second is still a spare but knocking them all down with the third is called "Ten."

Well, we all had fun. With the aid of bumpers, everyone did well. Bethany excelled however by putting a cool spin on hers that made it ricochet off the bumpers at high speeds and made those pins wish they hadn't ever been hewn.




Jessica watching the little balls return and line up.


Kaitlyn's technique


Jessi and Kaitlyn being pit crew for Malia


Bethany and her wicked right hook.