duckpins.com

Duckpin Houses with Websites

AMF College Park - (301) 474-8282 9021 Baltimore Blvd. College Park, MD 20740 (40 lanes)
AMF Dundalk - (410) 282-2000 1101 Merritt Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21222 (24 Lanes)
AMF Pikesville - (410) 486-1444 1723 Reisterstown Rd. Pikesville, MD 21208 (40 Lanes)
AMF Southwest - (410) 789-2400 4991 Fairview Ave. Linthicum, MD 21090 (40 Lanes)
AMF Timonium - (410) 252-3000 2165 York Rd. Timonium, MD 21093 (12 Lanes)
AMF Towson - (410) 825-4100 701 Southwick Dr. Towson, MD 21204 (14 Lanes)
AMF Westview - (410) 744-4000 5647 Baltimore National Pike Baltimore, MD 21228 (40 Lanes)
Dual Lanes - (301) 739-7858 1350 Dual Highway East Hagerstown, MD 21740 (12 Lanes)
Greenmount Bowl - (410) 374-6211 1625 North Main Street Hampstead, MD 21074 (12 Lanes)
Highland Bowl Cheshire - (203) 272-6500 1211 Highland Avenue Cheshire, CT 06410 (20 lanes)
Highland Bowl Hartford - (860) 233-5855 572 1/2 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT, 06105 (12 lanes)
Johnson's Lanes - (203) 248-1563 2100 Dixwell Avenue Hamden, CT 06514 (20 Lanes)
Meadowbrook Lanes - (401) 737-5402 2530 Warwick Avenue Warwick, RI 02889 ()
Mt. Airy Lanes - (301) 829-0710 Center Street, Mt. Airy, MD 21771 (12 lanes)
North Chelmsford Lanes - (978) 251-8108 1 Vinal Square North Chelmsford, MA (6 Lanes)
Patterson Bowling Center - (410) 675-1011 2105 Eastern Avenue Baltimore, MD 21231 (12 Lanes)
Severna Park Lanes - (410) 647-0811 840 Ritchie Highway Severna Park, MD 21146 (16 Lanes)
Southside Bowl - (301) 582-1323 17325 Virginia Ave Hagerstown, MD 21740 (24 Lanes)
T-Bowl Lanes - (860) 666-6150 56 Costello Road Newington, CT 06111 (48 Lanes)
Town Hall Lanes - (401) 831-6940 1463 Atwood Ave. Johnston, RI 02919 (32 Lanes)
Woodlawn Duckpin Bowling Center - (203) 932-3202 240 Platt Avenue West Haven, CT 06516 (12 Lanes)
White Oak Lanes - (301) 593-3000 11207 New Hampshire Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20904 (24 Lanes)

How to Score the Game

The game of duckpins is very similar to most types of bowling in its scoring. The only major difference between tenpins and duckpins is that in duckpins you get THREE balls per turn. Everything else is the same...Let's recap:

Knock all pins down on 1st ball = STRIKE
Knock all pins down on two balls = SPARE
Knock all pins down on three balls = TEN

STRIKES count as 10 pins plus your first two balls from the next frame.

SPARES count as 10 pins plus your first ball from the next frame.

TENS count as just ten. That's it...you get no more.

So, a typical game might look something like this when scored on paper:

Keep in mind that ANYTHING over 100 is considered pretty good in duckpins. The game in the boxscore above is VERY GOOD. The top averages in duckpins are right around 140-150 and a perfect game has NEVER been done (the highest game is 279).

View duckpin World Records

Top Bowlers from 2009-2010

Steve Dryer
N. Providence, RI
150.195
season average

View Top 20 Men

Jackie Adams
Frederick, MD
140.758
season average

View Top 20 Women

Frequently Asked Questions

What is duckpin bowling?
The same as tenpin bowling...only smaller. The balls weigh anywhere from 2-4 lbs. and are a little bigger than a typical softball. The pins are also smaller, about 2/3 the size of a regular tenpin. Duckpins can be found mostly on the East Coast of the U.S., and in Argentina and the Philippines. A great game for kids and seniors, but everyone does it. Give it a try!

Why haven't I heard about duckpins?
Because you haven't visited our site before...and the game isn't promoted very well. Duckpin bowling is REAL bowling to us on the East Coast. It's more challenging than regular bowling.

What can I do to help duckpin bowling?
Get out there and bowl duckpins. Join a league. Keep the game alive...and send us money. Sponsor us. Tell people about duckpins...

Where can I get duckpin equipment (balls, shoes, etc.)?
We don't sell duckpin equipment. Your best bet is to contact your nearest duckpin bowling center for their suppliers. You can also find duckpin equipment in some major sporting goods stores on the East Coast. Try some of these:

Where can I get duckpin bowling machine equipment?
As far as we know, companies like Brunswick, who used to make duckpin machinery, are no longer in the duckpin machine making business. Most replacement machinery comes from other bowling centers who stock up on this very old equipment. Try contacting them. Or keep your eyes open for a house that will be closing soon. It's sad, I know, but a good way to get duckpin stuff.

5 types of pins
Five different types of bowling: Rubber Duckpins, Duckpins, Canadian Five Pin, Candlepins and Tenpins

About This Site

This domain has been owned and maintained since 1996 to preserve the game we love and grew up with. If you have any questions or information to add to this site, please contact us.

A Duckpin History

The following excerpt is taken from The Book of Duckpin Bowling, by Henry Fankhauser and Frank Micalizzi.

The sport of duckpins was born at the old Diamond Alleys on Howard Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Diamond Alleys was owned by a couple of members of the old Baltimore Orioles minor league club -- Uncle Wilbert Robinson and John McGraw (you may remember McGraw as manager of baseball's New York Giants in the early 1900's).

At the turn of the century, bowling leagues operated only during the winter months. In the summer, many centers closed down. However, a few centers (including Diamond Alleys) remained open for open play during the spring and summer. Diamond Alleys had some smaller six inch balls that were used for such off-the-wall games as cocked-hat (using only the 1, 7, and 10 pins) and five back (using the 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 pins).

During one of these matches, Frank Van Sant, the manager at Diamond Alleys, was drawn into a conversation about the small balls. Someone suggested that a set of his old, battered tenpins could be made over into little pins to conform to the six inch ball. Several days later, an old set was sent to John Dettmar, a wood-turner in Baltimore. About ten days later, Van Sant gathered all his regulars and dumped the new little pins in front of them.

Within minutes, the little pins were set up on the tenpin spots and the first unofficial "small ball" game was underway. Only two balls were used, as in tenpins, and score was kept in the same way. When Robinson and McGraw (whose other hobby was duck hunting) saw the pins fly as the ball plowed into them, they remarked that the pins looked like a "flock of flying ducks." Bill Clarke, a sportswriter for the Baltimore Morning Sun, wrote a story on the fascinating new game and christened them "duckpins." The name has stuck ever since.

Even the great Babe Ruth bowled duckpins!