Today I rolled 8 strikes in a row to start a game. To date it is the best start I’ve ever had. My highest score was a 9/ in the first and 11 after for a 290. No chance at a 300. This was my shot.

Without building suspense, I didn’t strike in the 9th and finished with a 260 whatever. I bowled a few nice games after but never again had that chance. These opportunities only happen so often. It’s the people who dominate these situations that succeed.

You could say “it’s luck”. I’m not so certain. Luck can only take you so far. I have a good example of an oddly general question that can produce inaccurate results. How many times does it take the 20 handicap golfer to get a hole in one? My guess was a huge amount like 150,000. This is the reply from Google:

Actuaries at such companies have calculated the chance of an average golfer making a hole in one at approximately 12,500 to 1, and the odds of a tour professional at 2,500 to 1.

Hole in one stats if you’re interested

This answer is going to be lower than it actually is because they don’t want to pay out. What this question fails to address is the hole. If you change the question to how often is a player hitting a hole in one on a 200 yard par 3, my guess is the answer gets closer to the hundreds of thousands. It doesn’t happen by luck.

I raise this point because bowling a 300 doesn’t happen by luck. It’s practice and work coming to an end point. Hole in one’s are the same concept with differing variables. Any joker can put the ball in a hole from 100 yards. It happens all the time. Multiply that yardage by 2 and you’re talking single digits (if any digits) on a given day.

Bowling has the exact same set up on every throw so it comes down to muscle memory. Average bowlers don’t have muscle memory for 12 straight shots when they struggle for 1. There is a difference between a strike and and a real strike. Same concept with golf, any knucklehead can whirl a ball down the lane and knock over 12 pins 1 time. They may even do it multiple times. At some point the luck wears off and you have to muscle memory the same (or lucky) ball again. Strikes roll through the rack. When you are ready to throw 12 balls through the rack, then you’re ready to roll a 300.