Ten-pin bowling may be won when one player is ahead by more frames than remain of the possible 12 frames. This variant reduces match length and scoring complexity for two-player matches. The maximum score in a game of ten-pin is 300, scored by making 12 strikes in a row. Before 1908, no one ever received an award for a game greater than 298. ABC used to award medals (gold, silver and bronze) for the three highest individual games rolled in the nation. The number of perfect games bowled during a season first became a problem for American Bowling Congress (ABC) officials in
Ten-pin bowling influence lane conditions and scoring. Establishing a Bowling Ball Specifications Task Force—comprising research engineers and volunteers from ball manufacturing companies—the USBC sought to better understand the motion of bowling balls using scientific research and data analysis. Test equipment included, but was not limited to, a robotic ball-thrower, a Computer Aided Tracking System ("Super C.A.T.S."), 59 reactive resin and particle bowling balls from various manufacturers, and eight lanes in a climate-controlled facility. The driving force behind the study was summed up by USBC Technical Director Neil Stremmel: "USBC is concerned that technology has overtaken player skill [as the primary factor] in