United States Bowling Congress
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress—the original codifier of all tenpin bowling standards, rules and regulations from 1895 onwards; the Women's International Bowling Congress—founded in 1916, as the female bowlers' counterpart to the then all-male ABC; the Young American Bowling Alliance, and USA Bowling. The USBC's headquarters are located in Arlington, Texas, after having moved from the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, Wisconsin, in November 2008. The move enabled the USBC to combine its operations with the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA).
Poster for the first national bowling competition sanctioned by the American Bowling Congress (1901). Highest per-game average scores for individual competition (216), doubles (200), five-man teams (181). A protest was filed against the highest-scoring doubles team, alleging use of a ball that was a quarter-inch larger in circumference than permitted by ABC regulations.
The 1901 tournament, though the largest field ever assembled, had six new lacquer-covered lanes, $1200 in total prizes, and first-prize purses ranging from $50 (individual competition) to $200 (five-man teams).
Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll of the ball, or failing that, on the second roll. People approach modern ten-pin bowling as either a demanding precision sport or as a simple recreational pastime.
Conventional delivery. Finger position at release can induce side rotation causing the ball to hook (curve).
Delivery styles often involve a long follow-through and widely extended balance arm and leg. (shown: Clara Guerrero)
An 1895 advertisement for bowling lockers (price: $6.00 each section) suggests the attire and facilities used by bowlers of the era.
Bowling alley at the Pleasant Beach Hotel, Bainbridge Island, Washington (c. 1898)