But unlike the regular bowling scoring format, that shot is counted as a bowling strike and the bowler receives points accordingly. Now, what if I tell you, your hitting 9 pins will be counted as a strike? Sounds unbelievable, right? So what happens in 9-pin no-tap bowling is that a bowler knocks down 9 pins on the first ball. That must have gotten on your nerves, mustn’t it? How often can you hit all the 10 pins in a single ball roll? Quite rare, right? But how often did you knock down 9 pins and only one of them was standing at the end of the lane? I assume it’s more frequent than a strike in 9 pin bowling game? If so you may have tried to score a spare, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen and the remaining single pin just kept standing there. In Bowling, a 9-pin no-tap is a special type of scoring system where knocking down 9 pins is considered a strike. Everyone will end up with a perfect game. If you want you can even organize a 0-pin no-tap bowling game, but that sounds too easy and pointless. Although 9-pin no-tap is the most common form, there can be 8-pin no-tap (you can knock down 9 pins and still get a strike), 7-pin no-tap (hitting 7/8/9 pins is considered strikes), etc. Generally, USBC organizes no-tap bowling tournaments for bowlers who are less talented or incapable of knocking down all the pins in the pocket. In most cases, it requires hitting nine (9) pins to get a strike in no-tap bowling.

Simply put, No-Tap means that you achieve a score equivalent to a strike when you knock down less than 10 pins on your first ball. That’s why many of us don’t know about it clearly.

Play nine scoring