Work out your bowling handicap in seconds. Enter your average and your league's settings, add a game score, and see your adjusted score.
Enter your average to see your handicap.
Your handicap (HDCP)
pins per game
Adjusted score
+ · Game score plus handicap
( − ) × % =
Your average is at or above the basis score, so there is no handicap.
The fraction is dropped, never rounded up.
Capped at the league maximum of pins.
A handicap evens out the field so bowlers of different levels can compete fairly. Every league defines it with three numbers: a basis score, a percentage and, sometimes, a maximum.
Take the basis score, the score your league treats as the standard, for example 220.
Subtract your average. With an average of 160 you are 60 pins short.
Multiply the difference by the league's percentage: 60 × 70% = 42.
Drop the fraction and apply the maximum if your league has one. Your handicap is 42.
With that handicap, a game of 165 counts as 207.
Your scratch score is the pins you actually knocked down. Your adjusted score, often called the handicap score, is your scratch score plus your handicap. Leagues rank on the adjusted score so every bowler has a chance to win.
Every league picks its own numbers. You will see combinations such as 220 at 70%, 210 at 100% or 200 at 80%, sometimes with a maximum handicap so the lowest averages cannot gain too much. Check your league rules and enter those numbers in the calculator.
Use the average your league uses: usually your season average so far, or an entering average agreed before the season starts. The calculator keeps two decimals of your average, just like BowlingMaat's league scoring does.
Handicap for common averages with a 220 basis score and 70% of the difference, a widely used setting. Your league may use other numbers, so use the calculator above for exact results.
|
Average
|
Pins short of 220
|
Handicap
|
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 120 | 84 |
| 110 | 110 | 77 |
| 120 | 100 | 70 |
| 130 | 90 | 63 |
| 140 | 80 | 56 |
| 150 | 70 | 49 |
| 160 | 60 | 42 |
| 170 | 50 | 35 |
| 180 | 40 | 28 |
| 190 | 30 | 21 |
| 200 | 20 | 14 |
| 210 | 10 | 7 |
A handicap is the number of pins added to a bowler's score to make competition fair between bowlers of different skill. Lower averages get more pins, higher averages get fewer or none.
HDCP is the common abbreviation for handicap. You will see it, or HCP, on scoreboards, league sheets and score apps: the extra pins added to your scratch score, calculated from your average.
Handicap = (basis score − average) × handicap percentage, with the fraction of the result dropped. With a 220 basis score and 70%, an average of 170.33 gives (220 − 170.33) × 0.70 = 34.77, so 34 pins.
Then the difference is negative and the handicap is zero. A handicap is never negative, so high averages simply bowl scratch.
Down. The fraction is dropped, so a handicap of 45.5 becomes 45.
Some leagues cap the handicap, for example at 60 pins, so a very low average does not get an unrealistic boost. If your league has a cap, enter it above and the result will never exceed it.
Yes. When you set up a league season you choose the basis score, percentage and maximum. Player averages and handicaps are updated after every round, and the standings use the adjusted scores.
BowlingMaat keeps every player's average and handicap up to date after each round, adds it to their scores and builds the standings. No spreadsheet needed.