Bowling ball Bowling ball A bowling ball is a piece of sporting equipment used to hit bowling pins in the sport of bowling. Balls used in ten-pin bowling are typically hard spheres with three holes drilled in them, one each for the ring and middle fingers, and one for the thumb. Regulating bodies such as the USBC maintain requirements for the properties of bowling balls, including size, hardness, and number of holes, as well as maintaining a list of bowling balls approved for competitive play. Other bowling balls, such as those used in five-pin bowling, candlepin bowling, and duckpin bowling are smaller,
Five-pin bowling no fingerholes, although the Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers Association (C5PBA) have approved balls with thumb holes made by one manufacturer (the E. Parrella Co., known as EPCO). At the end of the lane there are five pins arranged in a V. In size they are midway between duckpins and ten pins, and they have a heavy rubber band around their middles, similar to the pins used in the rarely seen "rubberband duckpin" form of duckpin bowling, to make them move farther when struck. Unlike any other form of bowling popular in North America, the pins in five-pin bowling are worth