Ten-Pin Bowling - Equipment
Ten-Pin bowling is a game in which two main equipment are used. These equipment include a ball and ten pins. The player has to hit the pins with the ball.
Bowling Ball
A bowling ball is one of the basic bowling equipment which is used to hit the bowling pins in the game. Previously, around the 1960s, hard rubber balls were used in the game which were replaced with polyester made balls around the 1970s.
In the 1980s, polyurethane was introduced to make the balls. In modern bowling, reactive resin made balls and particle balls are being used.
The way finger holes are arranged on the ball that decide the movement of the ball down the lane. There are three finger drills on a bowling ball to carry the ball using your fingers. In United States, players prefer balls with drills meant for their middle and ring fingers as well as thumb with which they will throw the ball.
The ball used is typically not shallow inside. The diameter of a ten-pin bowling ball is 8.5 inches with a circumference not more than 27 inches. The ball’s weight should be below a maximum of 16 pounds. Except the grills, the ball has a smooth surface.
Bowling Pins
The pins are used as the target in the bowling game. The height of a bowling pin is 16 inches and width is 4.7 inches. The weight of the bowling pin should be between 3 pounds 6 ounces and 3 pounds 10 ounces. In case of a set of pins, the weight of a single pin shouldn’t cross more than 4 ounces if wood or plastic coatings are there. For a synthetic pin, weight should be 2 ounces.
The top part of a pin shall have a uniform arc with a radius of 1.273 ± 1⁄32 inch. Every bowling pin is allowed only 2 voids in the belly area. The voids are needed in order to balance the narrower top part with the wider bottom part else the pin would be too heavy to fall properly.
The pins are usually made of maple woods with stocks of rock glued to its bottom part. The outside part is coated with a plastic material. In some cases, synthetic materials are also used instead of wood. Synthetic pins are not allowed in case of ten-pin bowling.
