Bowling Handicap: 90% of 220, and the Full Chart
League · Handicap · Updated 2026-08-07
A bowling handicap is a per-game pin bonus that lets bowlers of different skill levels compete on even terms. The formula is the same in nearly every league: handicap = (basis score - your average) x percentage, rounded down and never negative. In one of the most common systems, 90% of 220, a bowler with a 150 average receives (220 - 150) x 0.9 = 63 pins added to every game.
This guide works the formula step by step, compares the three systems you will actually meet on a standing sheet, includes a 90% of 220 chart, and scores a full head-to-head match so you can see exactly how handicap decides a league night. If you just want a number lookup for any average and system, the full handicap chart covers every average in one-pin steps.
What a bowling handicap is
League bowling would be a short season if raw scores decided everything: a 190-average bowler would beat a 140-average bowler almost every week. Handicap fixes that by granting the lower-average bowler extra pins before anyone throws a ball. Your handicapped score for a game is your actual (scratch) score plus your handicap, and league standings are decided on those adjusted totals. The pins are added on paper only; nothing about how the game is bowled or scored changes.
Every handicap system has two ingredients. The basis score is a fixed benchmark set above almost everyone's average - 220 and 200 are the common choices. The percentage controls how much of the gap between your average and that benchmark you get back, usually 80%, 90%, or 100%. Your league's flyer or standing sheet states both, written as something like "90% of 220."
The formula, step by step
The formula never changes; only the two numbers do. Handicap = (basis score - your average) x percentage, with the result rounded down (the fraction is simply dropped) and never negative. It recalculates whenever your average changes, which in most leagues means it can move a little every week.
- Find your current average: Average = total pins / games bowled, using scratch scores only. Most leagues truncate rather than round: 4,187 pins over 27 games is 155.07, which becomes a 155 average. The average calculator guide covers the details.
- Subtract your average from the basis: With a 155 average in a 90% of 220 league: 220 - 155 = 65.
- Multiply by the percentage: 65 x 0.9 = 58.5.
- Round down, and floor at zero: 58.5 becomes a 58-pin handicap per game. If your average ever meets or exceeds the basis score, your handicap is 0, not a negative number.
One more example at a round number, because it is the question people ask most: with a 150 average at 90% of 220, the handicap is (220 - 150) x 0.9 = 70 x 0.9 = 63 pins per game. An average that produces a fraction just drops it: 147 gives (220 - 147) x 0.9 = 73 x 0.9 = 65.7, which rounds down to 65.
The three common systems compared
Three setups cover most leagues you will meet: 90% of 220, 80% of 200, and 100% of 220. The math is identical across all three; only the basis and percentage differ, and the differences are bigger than they look.
| Average | 90% of 220 | 80% of 200 | 100% of 220 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 90 | 64 | 100 |
| 150 | 63 | 40 | 70 |
| 180 | 36 | 16 | 40 |
| 205 | 13 | 0 | 15 |
The percentage is the fairness dial. At 100% of 220, the gap to the basis is fully refunded, so on an average night every bowler below 220 projects to the same handicapped total, and the match comes down purely to who beats their own average by more. At 90%, the higher-average bowler keeps a small built-in edge: in the table above, the 180 bowler plus 36 pins projects to 216 on an average night, while the 120 bowler plus 90 projects to 210. At 80% of 200, the edge is larger still, and anyone averaging 200 or better receives nothing at all.
90% of 220 handicap chart
The chart below covers 90% of 220 in five-pin steps. For every single average, and for the 80% of 200 and 100% of 220 versions, use the full handicap chart.
| Average | Handicap | Average | Handicap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 108 | 160 | 54 |
| 105 | 103 | 165 | 49 |
| 110 | 99 | 170 | 45 |
| 115 | 94 | 175 | 40 |
| 120 | 90 | 180 | 36 |
| 125 | 85 | 185 | 31 |
| 130 | 81 | 190 | 27 |
| 135 | 76 | 195 | 22 |
| 140 | 72 | 200 | 18 |
| 145 | 67 | 205 | 13 |
| 150 | 63 | 210 | 9 |
| 155 | 58 | 215 | 4 |
Averages between the listed steps just drop the fraction as usual: a 152 average gives (220 - 152) x 0.9 = 61.2, so 61 pins. An average of 220 or higher gets a handicap of 0.
Get the average right first
A handicap is only as accurate as the average behind it, and most disputes at the standings table are really average disputes. Average = total pins / games bowled, from scratch scores only - never fold handicap into the pins you divide. Most leagues truncate the result rather than rounding it, and every example in this guide truncates. The distinction matters: a 155.9 average truncates to 155 for a 58-pin handicap, but rounds to 156 for a 57-pin handicap, since (220 - 156) x 0.9 = 57.6.
A league night is a series of three games, so your average moves in three-game chunks. A 600 series averages exactly 200, because 600 / 3 = 200. If you bowl 168, 155, and 181 tonight, that is 504 pins over 3 games added to your running totals before next week's handicap is figured. The average calculator guide walks through tracking those totals over a full season.
A full match, scored with handicap
Here is how it plays out on the lanes. Amy averages 148, so her handicap is (220 - 148) x 0.9 = 72 x 0.9 = 64.8, rounded down to 64 pins. Ben averages 192: (220 - 192) x 0.9 = 28 x 0.9 = 25.2, rounded down to 25 pins. In game one, Amy shoots 171 scratch and Ben shoots 214. Handicapped totals: Amy 171 + 64 = 235, Ben 214 + 25 = 239. Ben wins the game by 4, even though he conceded 39 pins of handicap, because his scratch margin was 43.
Handicap is added to every game, so a three-game series carries three times the per-game figure. Amy follows with 158 and 180 for a 509 scratch series; adding 64 x 3 = 192 gives a 701 handicap series. Ben shoots 189 and 200 after his 214 for a 603 scratch series; adding 25 x 3 = 75 gives 678. Amy loses game one but takes the series by 23 pins, even though Ben out-bowled her by 94 pins scratch. That swing is exactly what handicap is designed to create: the winner is whoever beats their own average by more.
Team handicap
Most leagues compute team handicap as the sum of the individual handicaps of the bowlers in that night's lineup, added to each team game. A lineup carrying handicaps of 64, 25, 51, and 38 gets 178 pins per team game, which is 534 across a three-game series. Some leagues instead compare a team average against a team basis; the standing sheet will say which method applies. Either way, absent bowlers and substitutes change the total, so recheck it any week the lineup changes.
Scratch score first, handicap second
Handicap never changes how a game is scored frame by frame. A strike still earns 10 plus the next two deliveries, a spare 10 plus the next one, and the 10th frame still allows up to three deliveries - all exactly as described in how to keep score in bowling. You finish the scratch game first, then add the handicap to the final number. Keep the two figures separate on the sheet: the standings need the handicapped total, but your average needs the scratch one.
Common mistakes
- Rounding up. A computed 58.5 is a 58 handicap, not 59. Rounding down is the standard, and one extra pin per game is three per series.
- Letting handicap go negative. A 225 average in a 90% of 220 league gets 0; the formula never takes pins away from a high-average bowler.
- Using a rounded average. If the league truncates, a 155.9 average is 155 and the handicap is 58, not 57. Settle the average by the league's rule first, then compute the handicap.
- Forgetting it applies per game. A 63 handicap means 63 in each game and 189 across a three-game series, not 63 for the whole night.
- Mixing systems. 90% of 220 and 80% of 200 give very different numbers - 63 versus 40 for the same 150 average - so never carry a handicap from one league into another.
- Adding handicap into your average. Averages come from scratch pinfall only. Feeding handicapped scores back in inflates the average and quietly shrinks your future handicap.
Track averages and handicap automatically. Bowling Score Keeper & Tracker by Panda Taps, on the App Store for iPhone, scores every frame correctly, including strikes, spares, and the 10th frame, then keeps your average, series totals, and league handicap current after every session. Full history is saved for each outing, and it works offline with no account and no ads. Download Bowling Score Keeper & Tracker on the App Store.
Frequently asked questions
What is the handicap for a 150 average?
In a 90% of 220 league it is 63 pins per game: (220 - 150) x 0.9 = 63. The same average gets 40 pins under 80% of 200 and 70 pins under 100% of 220.
Do you round a bowling handicap up or down?
Down, in almost every league. The fraction is simply dropped, so a computed 65.7 becomes a 65-pin handicap. Check your league sheet if you want to be certain of the local rule.
Is handicap added to each game or to the series?
It is a per-game figure added to every game bowled. A 63-pin handicap adds 63 to each game and 189 to a three-game series.
Can a bowling handicap be negative?
No. If your average equals or exceeds the basis score, your handicap is 0. The formula never subtracts pins from anyone's score.