How to Join a Bowling League or Club

If you want to bowl regularly, a bowling club or league is the most direct way in: fixed dates, a team and a recorded average. Joining is usually simpler than it sounds. Ask at your local bowling center, find the club or league that suits your level and time, and come along to a first session. How organised bowling is structured differs from country to country, so here is the general route and what to ask.

How to find a bowling club or league near you

The easiest starting point is the bowling center nearest to you. Ask which clubs and leagues use its lanes, on which days they play and whether they are looking for new bowlers.

The second route is your national bowling federation. The International Bowling Federation (IBF), formerly World Bowling, has well over a hundred national member federations. Many of them list their clubs or regional associations online:

• Germany: the Deutsche Bowling Union (DBU) is organised in 18 regional associations (Landesverbände). Its website has a section for beginners explaining how to become a member, and a list of bowling centers that host DBU competition.
• United States: the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is the national governing body; leagues are run at local bowling centers.
• Other countries: start with the national federation's website, then contact the club or league directly to confirm open places and the next suitable date.

If you would like to refresh the basics first, read our complete beginner's guide.

Club or league: what is the difference?

A league is a regular competition, usually one evening a week over a season, with teams bowling against each other. In the US, a season often runs for around 30 to 35 weeks. Most leagues play in teams of four; teams of three or five are common as well.

A club (in Germany a Verein) is a membership organisation. Club members often train together and enter teams in the federation's leagues and tournaments. Depending on the country, the two overlap.

Scratch or handicap?

In scratch play, only the pins you actually knock down count. In handicap play, bowlers or teams with a lower average receive extra pins, so that players of different levels can compete on equal terms.

A common method: the league sets a basis score that sits above the averages of its bowlers, and your handicap is a percentage of the difference between that basis score and your average – often 80, 90 or 100 percent. The basis score, the percentage and how a new bowler's average is established are set in each league's rules, so ask for them in writing.

How a game is scored frame by frame is explained in bowling scoring explained.

Questions to ask before you join

• Is there a trial session or a beginners' group?
• Who can take part – are there youth, women's, mixed, senior or inclusive divisions?
• Do you play individually or in a team, and what happens if you miss a week?
• When does the season start, how many games are bowled per evening and is practice time included?
• Is the club or league affiliated with the national federation, and do you need a membership or player's licence?
• What does taking part cost in total? Ask for a breakdown: membership, lane fees, federation fees, coaching and any prize fund.
• What equipment is expected, and can you rent or borrow a ball and shoes at first?

Your first session

Arrive a little early, introduce yourself to the captain or organiser and ask how check-in, practice and lane assignment work. Mention any accessibility needs in advance. Before you go, read our rules of bowling etiquette: be ready when it is your turn, wait if the bowler on the next lane is about to bowl and keep your shoe soles dry.

You do not need a full set of equipment on day one. A house ball and rental shoes are fine for a trial evening.

Equipment once you play regularly

Once you bowl every week, two purchases are worth considering: your own shoes and a ball drilled to fit your hand. Your own shoes give you the same slide every week instead of a different rental pair each time – more on this in why your own bowling shoes make a difference. For the ball, our guide to ball drilling and finger fit helps.

BOWLIO bowling shoes are genuine leather, upper and full-length sole. The slide sole under both shoes makes them suitable for left- and right-handed bowlers, from beginners to professionals, and the white heel is non-marking. BOWLIO has been making bowling shoes since 2003.

Between league nights, a weekly training plan helps you practise with a clear goal.