Bowling Score Sheets With + and - for Tournament

Q: Can I print a blank bowling tournament score sheet?

Yes. Print blank sheet prints the open sheet with its rows empty on Letter or A4. Print this game prints the names and scores as typed, and Save as PDF in the print window keeps a file.

Bowler

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

+/-

How it works

This bowling tournament score sheet has a row for each bowler: three finished games, a series that adds itself and a plus or minus against 200 a game. One table in a browser tab: no lane draw, squads or brackets.

Read the full guide

Plus or minus 200, worked out for you

Type each bowler's name over Bowler 1, then each finished game from 0 to 300. S adds the games into the series. +/- is the series less 200 for every game typed, 200 being par: 640 over three games shows 40, and 575 shows -25. The highest figure is marked Leading.

Handicap, six games, teams

The menu has three more sheets. Three games with handicap adds a typed handicap once for each game. Six games adds six games into one total. Teams or doubles takes a team's total for each game. Print blank sheet prints the open sheet empty.

Tips

A bowler with two games in is measured against 400, so +/- compares bowlers on different game counts.
The handicap figure comes from your event's own rule. The sheet takes the number as typed and prints no formula.

Questions and answers

What do + and - mean on this bowling score sheet?

Pins over or under par, and par in bowling is a scratch score of 200 a game. A 640 series over three games is 40 over and shows 40. A 575 series is 25 under and shows -25.

What is the difference between scratch and handicap?

Scratch is the score as bowled. A handicap is a whole number added to it so that bowlers of different averages can compete. The handicap sheet adds it once for each of the three games.

Does it score a game frame by frame?

No. Type finished game scores from the lane's own scoring. The sheet starts where the lane ends: it adds the series, the plus or minus and the handicap total for up to 24 bowlers.

Can I print a blank bowling tournament score sheet?

Yes. Print blank sheet prints the open sheet with its rows empty on Letter or A4. Print this game prints the names and scores as typed, and Save as PDF in the print window keeps a file.

All 18 columns and notes

Typed boxes 7

Game 1 A finished game, typed as its final score from 0 to 300. The frames are scored at the lane; this sheet starts where the lane's score ends.
Game 2 The second game of the series. A series is a group of games, usually three bowled one after another, whose scores are added.
Game 3 The last game of a three game series. A box left empty adds nothing, so a bowler who has two games in shows a two game total.
Game 4 On the six game sheet only: the fourth game.
Game 5 The fifth game. A score above 300 is flagged: 300 is the highest a game can reach, all twelve strikes.
Game 6 The last game of a six game event.
Handicap a game A whole number added to a scratch score so that bowlers of different averages can compete. The event works it out from each bowler's average under its own rule; the sheet takes the number as typed and applies no formula.

Show all 18 columns and notes (11 more)

Worked out by the sheet 4

Plus or minus against 200 Under the heading +/-: the scratch series less 200 for every game typed, 200 being par for a game. A series of 640 over three games shows 40, and 575 shows -25. A bowler with two games in is measured against 400, so the column compares bowlers with different numbers of games in.
Scratch series Game 1 to Game 3 added, under the heading S. Scratch means the scores as bowled, with no handicap added.
Total with handicap The scratch series plus the handicap once for each of the three games. A series of 520 with a handicap of 30 a game totals 610. The highest total is marked Leading.
Total: six games Game 1 to Game 6 added. The highest six game total is marked Leading.

How to keep the sheet 7

A game is 0 to 300 A number outside that range is flagged, never refused.
A minus is pins under par -25 is 25 under and 40 is 40 over. A 0 game is not counted.
Handicap is for one game Tot is S, the scratch series, plus three handicaps.
One row for a team or a pair Type the team's total for each game, all bowlers added.
Par is 200 a game +/- is the series, S, less 200 for each game typed.
Six games, one total A box left empty adds nothing, so a total can run mid-event.
Team games can pass 300 These boxes take up to 1,500, five bowlers at 300 each.

How this list was compiled: The layout and the arithmetic are our own work: a series sheet with one row for each bowler or team, a box for each finished game, a handicap added once a game and a total. No handicap percentage, base score or tie-break is set by the sheet. Checked on 2026-10-02 against English Wikipedia: the maximum score of a game is 300, bowled with twelve strikes in a row, and a handicap is added to a scratch score to give the total (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenpin_bowling); a series is a group of games, usually three bowled one after another, whose scores are added, scratch describes scores actually achieved without a handicap, and a handicap is a whole number added to a scratch score, worked out from the bowler's average, and par is a scratch score of 200 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_bowling). The plus or minus column is plain arithmetic on that figure: the series less 200 for each game typed. Licence: The layout, the choice of columns and the notes are own work. The bowling terms follow the English Wikipedia articles named in source (CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), restated in our own words.