Bowling handicap calculator
Handicap from the average, the league base and the percentage, the way USBC leagues figure it.
Enter each bowler's average; leave unused boxes empty. The team handicap is the sum of the individual handicaps.
The average drops any fraction, as USBC Rule 108a requires.
Your league's rules set these. USBC's own default is 100% when the league has no rule, and it advises a base above the highest average.
What bowling handicap does
Handicap lets a 120-average bowler and a 200-average bowler compete in the same team match. A fixed number of pins is added to each game, larger for the weaker bowler, so that the result depends on who bowls better than usual, not on who is simply better. USBC defines it as a means of placing bowlers and teams with varying degrees of skill on as equitable a basis as possible for their competition against each other. This calculator follows the USBC Playing Rules for adult leagues: the formula, the dropped fractions, the individual and team methods and the optional negative handicap.
The formula
Handicap = (base − average) × percentage, fraction dropped. The base is a scratch figure the league sets above the best average. The average is total pins ÷ games, also with the fraction dropped. The percentage is what share of the gap to the base the bowler is given: 100% by USBC default. A series handicap is the game handicap times the number of games, because handicap is added game by game.
Worked example
A bowler has knocked down 4,687 pins in 27 games: 173.593, so the average is 173. In a league with a base of 220 at 90% the handicap is (220 − 173) × 0.90 = 42.3, which becomes 42. A 190 scratch game counts as 232, and a three-game series gains 126 pins. At 80% the same bowler gets 37, at 100% 47. Another bowler averaging 195 gets 25 at 100%: with both at their averages, each reaches exactly 220, which is why USBC calls 100% a “pins over average” match.
Common mistakes and limits
Assuming 90% of 220 is the official setting. It is a common league choice, but USBC's rule is 100% unless the league says otherwise, and the base is whatever the league adopts. Always read your league's rules sheet.
Rounding. Fractions are dropped, never rounded: a bowler with an average of 152.9 has an average of 152 for handicap purposes, and a handicap of 61.2 is 61. Rounding up is also prohibited for youth tournament series handicap (Rule 317).
Using the wrong average. For adult leagues handicap is figured from each bowler's average as provided by league rule (USBC 100d-2 c), and USBC recommends last season's average for the first night. The calculator takes the number you give it, so enter the average your league uses.
Limits. This page does not handle team-total handicap (the method USBC does not recommend), separate handicap for different groups, the average of a league that starts over at the split of the schedule, or a handicap cap, which a league may set but which cannot be below the highest possible scratch score. For other handicap systems see the golf handicap calculator (World Handicap System).
How is bowling handicap calculated?
Handicap = (base − average) × percentage, with any fraction dropped. A bowler who averages 173 in a league that uses a base of 220 and 90% gets (220 − 173) × 0.90 = 42.3 → 42 pins added to every game. The average itself is total pins ÷ games, also with the fraction dropped: 4,687 pins in 27 games is 173.59, which counts as 173. Both rules are in the USBC Playing Rules (100d-2 g and 108a).
What base and percentage should my league use?
It is up to the league. USBC's rule is that without a league rule the percentage is 100, and its league handbook recommends a base higher than the highest entering average of any bowler or team: with a top average of 218, use 100% of 220 (handicap 2 for that bowler). USBC's questions and answers give another example: a top average of 222 and a base of 230 to allow for improvement. Bases of 210, 220 or 230 and percentages of 80%, 90% or 100% are common choices, but they are league decisions, not USBC defaults.
Why do many leagues use 100%?
At 100% the competition becomes “pins over average”: two teams that each bowl their averages tie (USBC, 100d/1). In the example above, bowler A (average 173) gets 47 pins and bowler B (average 195) gets 25 pins, so both finish with a handicap score of 220 when they bowl their averages. At 90% the numbers become 42 and 22, and B, the stronger bowler, starts 2 pins ahead. USBC puts it this way: below 100%, the higher-average bowler or team keeps the advantage, for example 15 percent at 85 percent handicap.
What if my average is above the base?
Normally handicap is zero. A league may adopt a rule for negative handicap, taking pins away from the strongest bowlers: with a base of 200 at 100%, an average of 220 gives −20 (USBC league handbook, which warns that some secretarial systems do not support it). Choose “Allowed by league rule” in the calculator to see it. USBC suggests setting the base above the highest average so that this does not arise.
How is team handicap figured?
USBC recommends the individual method: each bowler is handicapped from the base, and the individual handicaps are added together for the team handicap. The team average is the combined average of the bowlers (rule 100d-2 f). With this method each bowler and each team benefits from handicap, and handicap awards are easy to determine because the individual handicap is already included. The calculator's team tab does this for up to five bowlers.
How do I score an absent bowler, and does the cap apply?
A common rule uses the established average less ten pins: with an average of 173, that is 163 for the missing game, unless the league rules say otherwise (USBC 108c/1). Handicap is not limited, and a handicap game or series is not capped, unless the league adopts its own rule, and then it cannot be capped below the highest possible scratch score (100d-2 d and e). USBC advises against limiting handicap.
Sources: USBC, Playing Rules (PDF version of July 16, 2024), Rule 100d-2 (a, b, c, d, e, f and g) with the questions and answers 100d/1, 100d/2, 100d/4 and 100d/5, Rule 108a (averages), 108c/1 (absentee score) and Rule 317 (youth tournament handicap); USBC, League Operations Handbook “Rules to Consider” (June 2024) on the 100% default, the base above the highest average and negative handicap. The maximum game score of 300 is 12 strikes. Handicap rules differ by league and tournament, so confirm with your league secretary. Related: average calculator, percentage calculator, baseball stats calculator and golf handicap calculator. How we check our calculators.