Bowling Handicap & Average
Bowling average from pins and games and league handicap from your basis and percentage, fractions dropped, with the handicap score for a game.
The average with and without its fraction, the handicap per game and per series under your league’s basis and percentage, and a scratch game with the handicap added.
Example: A 165 average in a league at 90 % of 220: 49 pins a game, 147 a series, and a 180 game becomes 229. 5,650 pins in 30 games is a 188 average.
Basis minus
average.
How an average is counted, how the handicap follows from the league’s basis and percentage, why fractions are dropped, and what leagues decide themselves.
The average
An average is total pins ÷ games, with the fraction dropped as the USBC rules count it: 5,650 pins in 30 games is 188.33, an average of 188.
The handicap
Handicap = (basis − average) × percentage, fraction dropped, and never below zero. The basis is a score above most averages and the percentage is how much of the gap is made up; both are the league’s choice, entered here.
Series and games
The same handicap is added to every game, so a series of three gets three times the per-game figure. A scratch game plus the handicap is the handicap score that most league standings use.
What the league decides
Maximum handicaps, entering averages, established-average rules and team handicaps are set by each league’s rules. Inputs stay in your browser; the same anonymous usage counts as the rest of the site apply.
SOURCES
- USBC Playing Rules — averages and handicaps (fractions dropped)
Last reviewed 24 September 2026. How results are checked: How we verify.