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Duckpin bowling is a variation of the sport of bowling.
Duckpin balls are in diameter, weigh between each, and lack finger holes. They are thus significantly smaller than those used in ten-pin bowling but are slightly larger and heavier than those used in candlepin bowling.
Duckpins, although arranged in a triangle identical to that used in ten-pin bowling, are shorter, slightly thinner, and lighter than their ten-pin equivalents, which makes it more difficult for the smaller ball to achieve a strike. For this reason, similar to candlepin bowling, the bowler is allowed three rolls per frame.
In the case of a strike, the bowler gets 10 points plus the total number of pins knocked down with the next two balls rolled, for a maximum of 30 points. In the case of a spare, the bowler gets 10 points plus the number of pins knocked down with the next ball, for a maximum of 20 points. If it takes three balls to knock down all 10 pins, the bowler gets 10 points, with no bonus. A bowler's final score is the sum of the points earned over 10 frames (a spare or strike in the tenth frame earns one or two rolls respectively). The maximum possible score of 300 points, which is accomplished by rolling 12 strikes in a row, has never been achieved under official conditions.
Duckpin bowling lanes are the same size as ten-pin bowling lanes, but with smaller gutters.
Duckpins was not an organized sport until the National Duckpin Bowling Congress (NDBC) was founded in 1927.
In 1953, submarine designer Ken Sherman developed the first automatic duckpin pinsetter, its design having over 1,000 moving parts. Sherman's refusal to sell his patent to ten-pin competitor Brunswick caused him to lack corporate investment needed to manufacture large numbers of duckpin pinsetters. Further, no parts for the Sherman pinsetter have been manufactured since 1973, meaning that anyone wanting to open a new bowling center must cannibalize parts. The absence of new pinsetter machines is thought to curtail growth of the sport, and spare parts must be scavenged or obtained from alleys that have closed. Only one company makes duckpins, and it only leases them.
The executive director of the National Duckpin Bowling Congress said in 2016 that there were 41 congress-certified duckpin bowling alleys, down from nearly 450 in 1963. In comparison, there were about 4,000 ten-pin centers in 2018.Data: Wayback Machine archives of USBC's bowl.com website. Links provided on Wikimedia's image page (
In 1982, the Women's National Duckpin Association (WNDA) was formed, conducting tournaments for women to compete professionally, Publication date is estimated based on earliest Wayback Machine archive. with Ladies Professional Duckpin Tournament (LPDT) events extending back at least as early as 1974. Accessed in 2019; presumably page is updated annually.
In 1999, Sports Illustrated named Toots Barger among the fifty top Maryland athletes of all time, Barger having claimed thirteen NDBC No. 1 rankings for having the highest female duckpinner average. Barger won nine world championships, and, in 1961, became the second woman to be inducted into the Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame.
The American Duckpin Congress was formed in the 1920s to govern the game of rubber band duckpins. The organization later became the American Rubber Band Duckpin Bowling Congress in 1945 and became an affiliate of the National Duckpin Bowling Congress. The rubber band game is now almost extinct, with most of the lanes located in private clubs, though there is one alley in the U.S. still open to the public in Glassport, Pennsylvania.
As of 2018, rubber band duckpins was mostly limited to Québec, where it is called petites quilles.
There have been perfect games bowled in rubber band duckpin, including the largest duckpin prize ever won on television, in 1994 (equivalent to or in ). Since it is easier to knock down pins in rubber band duckpin, its rules are identical to those of ten-pin bowling.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> 2019-04-03 archive thereof) The Baltimore Sun reported in 2017 that the number of professional duckpin bowlers is down by more than 90 percent.
Accomplishments and record scores
+ World record scores as reported by the NDBC for men (through March 2006) 1992 1978 1994 1988 1984 1982-83 + World record scores as reported by the NDBC for women (through July 2016) 1973 1988 2005 2016 2013 2005-06
Variants
Rubber band duckpins
In 1905 a variant called rubber band duckpins was introduced in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area by William Wuerthele, in which the pins are circled with hard rubber bands to increase rebound action in collisions, and therefore scoring. Wuerthele observed bowlers wasting their third ball as well as flying pins injuring pin boys, so, according to a defunct publication called The Ducks, Wuerthele added the rubber band to increase scoring.
Mini duckpins
In mini duckpins, the lane is shorter than a standard duckpin lane, and the width of the lane is not standard. While there has never been a sanctioned perfect game in regulation duckpin bowling, 300 games are said to be relatively common in mini duckpin play.
Comparison with ten-pin bowling
The USBC reported that there were 55,266 certified 300 games in ten-pin bowling in the 2013–2014 season alone, but there has never been a certified 300 game in duckpin bowling. A Connecticut man named Pete Signore Jr. came closest, with a 279 game in 1992.
External links
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