Calculator
Enter your average, your league's basis and percentage, and get your handicap per game and across the series.
Whole number, as your league books it.
The scratch score the league handicaps against.
Handicap per game
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Enter your average to see the result.
Handicap exists so a 130 bowler and a 200 bowler can compete in the same league without the result being decided before anyone throws a ball. It adds pins to the lower average bowler's score based on how far below a fixed benchmark they sit.
Every handicap league uses the same shape:
(basis − your average) × percentage, rounded down to a whole pin.
The basis is the scratch score the league handicaps against, and the percentage is how much of the gap gets returned to you. Both are set by the league, not by you, and they will be printed in the league rules or on your standings sheet.
| Basis | Percentage | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 220 | 90% | Very common in the United States. Slightly favours lower averages. |
| 200 | 80% | Leaves more advantage with the higher-average bowler. |
| 230 | 100% | Full gap returned. Levels the field the most. |
A percentage below 100 means the gap is never fully closed, which is deliberate: it keeps some reward for bowling well while still giving lower averages a real chance.
Handicap is truncated, not rounded to nearest. A calculated 40.8 becomes 40. It is a small detail that occasionally decides a match, so it is worth knowing which way it falls.
You get zero. Handicap never goes negative — a bowler above the basis simply bowls scratch. If most of the league sits above the basis, the league has set it too low.
Handicap is recalculated from your current book average, so it moves as you bowl. Early in a season, before you have enough games for an established average, leagues usually use an entering average from last season or a provisional figure. Check which one applies before assuming this week's number.