Bowldle · Tools
Bowling handicap calculator
Updated
Work out your league handicap from your average, your league's basis score and its percentage. It also shows your handicap score for any game and the whole handicap table for your league, so you can see where everyone stands.
Handicap is (basis − average) × percentage, with the fraction dropped. If your average is at or above the basis, your handicap is 0.
Handicap table
Handicap for each average at your league's settings above. It updates as you change the basis and percentage.
How bowling handicap works
A handicap gives newer and lower-average bowlers extra pins each game so they can compete with stronger bowlers. Every league picks two numbers:
- Basis: a score near the top of the league, often 200, 210, 220 or 230. Bowlers averaging above it get no handicap.
- Percentage: how much of the gap to the basis you get, often 80%, 90% or 100%.
Your handicap is the gap between your average and the basis, times the percentage, with any fraction dropped. That number is added to every game you bowl, so a 160 bowler with a 54-pin handicap who bowls a 171 posts a 225 handicap score.
Example
A league uses a 220 basis at 90%. You average 160.
- Gap to the basis: 220 − 160 = 60
- Times 90%: 60 × 0.9 = 54 pins a game
- Over a three-game series that's 162 pins.
Common questions
What is a good handicap percentage?
90% of 220 is one of the most common league settings. 100% of the basis makes things most even between bowlers; 80% rewards higher averages a little more.
Is handicap rounded up or down?
Down. Leagues drop the fraction, so a handicap that works out to 53.9 is 53.
What if my average is higher than the basis?
Your handicap is 0. Some leagues set the basis high enough that almost everyone gets some handicap.
Which average does a league use for handicap?
Usually your average from the previous season until you've bowled enough games in the current one (often 9 or 12), then your current league average.
What is a scratch league?
A league with no handicap: only the pins you actually knock down count.
Need your average first? Use the bowling average calculator. Chasing a series? Try what do I need to bowl.