Rules of the game

There are many local, regional, national and international governing bodies in the world of ten-pin bowling, each of which has its own unique regulations. The rules listed below are followed by all sanctioned leagues and major events and closely follow those set out in the rulebook of the World Ten-pin Bowling Association (WTBA), which is the official ten-pin bowling arm of the Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ), the world organisation for indoor bowling. These are generally the same rules that are followed by both the British Ten-pin Bowling Association (BTBA) and the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).