Calculator
Total pins divided by games, booked the way a league books it. Set a target and see what the next game would have to be.
Every game added together.
Average
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Enter total pins and games bowled.
Total pinfall divided by games bowled, with the remainder dropped. Not rounded to nearest — dropped. An 8.9 remainder still books as the lower whole number. This is standard across sanctioned leagues and it is why your average sometimes seems to sit stubbornly one pin below where the maths looks like it should be.
Because your average sets your handicap, and handicap is also rounded down. Two truncations in sequence can cost a pin or two of handicap compared to what you might expect. Over a season it is noise; in a single match it occasionally is not.
A three-game night tells you very little. Most sanctioned leagues will not consider an average established until around 21 games, and there is a reason for that: scores over a short run swing enormously with lane conditions, and a single 220 or a single 90 moves a small sample far more than it should.
This is the part most bowlers underestimate. Once you have 30 or 40 games in the book, a single strong night barely shifts the number. If you have bowled 36 games at a 140 average, one 200 game raises you to about 141. Averages are built over months, not evenings, and the calculator above will show you honestly how far the next-game target is from realistic.
For context on where your number sits, see what counts as a good average.