Entertainment / Bowling Glossary

Gray Board: The gutter. Many centers have their gutters painted gray; hitting the gray board is an attempt at humor to tell someone that the shot went in the gutter.

Greasy: Describes a very oily/heavily conditioned lane.

Greek Church: A split leave of five pins similar to the 4-6-7-9-10; so called because it reminds people of an old cathedral type church with spires etc. Any split on which there are three pins on one side . . . View Full Definition

Groove: Ball track or indentation in the lane; also, a bowler that is performing particularly well is in the groove or is grooved.

Gross Weight: The total dead weight of a bowling ball; often referred to as gross weight before drilling. The maximum gross weight of a ball is 16 pounds. Yet, a new ball before drilling may weigh a few o . . . View Full Definition

Guide Marks (Line): An aid to finding start of 2 or 3 steps for ball delivery. Most approaches have guide lines (commonly at 8 feet 2 inches and 11 feet 6 inches before the foul line; formed by 1 inch spots, 8½ . . . View Full Definition

Gutter: A depressed area, about 9 1/2 inches wide, on either side of the lane which guides the ball to the pit after it leaves the lane. Same as channel.

Gutter Ball: A ball that leaves the lane and travels down the gutter before reaching the pins.

Gutter Shot: A line to the pocket that is from the released from the far outside, near board 1-2. It generates a natural entry angle, but is difficult to play if you are a boomer or if the lanes are very dry.

Half Hit: A ball in the pocket that is heavier than light, but not deeply buried; often results in leaving a 10 pin.

Half Ten: See Half hit above. The description of a ten pin that was left by a ball in the pocket and the 6 pin laying down in front of the 10 pin in a half hearted manner; same as weak 10.

Hammer: One of the names of the balls made by Faball.

Hammer The Pocket: Hitting the pocket consistently.

Hammered: A person gets hammered when beaten decisively; particularly if the opponent is using a ball from Faball.

Handicap: Pins awarded to a player or team in an attempt to equalize competition. Often refered to as a percentage of a established target score. For example, if the handicap was 90% of 200, a player . . . View Full Definition

Hang A Pin: Leave a pin standing on an apparent solid hit.

Hard Way: Picking up a spare in the non-traditional method. For example, the 3-10 split is best picked up by fitting the ball between the 3 and 10 pins; it can also be picked the hard way by hitting t . . . View Full Definition

Head Pin: The 1-pin.

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