Bowling form Bowling form In the sport of ten-pin bowling, there are many different ways in which to deliver (known as a "throw" or "roll") the bowling ball in order to advance it toward the pins in an accurate and powerful manner. Generally, there are three basic forms of 10-pin bowling. The most basic form is known as stroking, which is the most classic form. The most powerful form is known as cranking, which imparts great leverage and maximum rotation on the ball, but sacrifices accuracy. In between the two is the domain of the tweener, who has characteristics of both, but
Ten-pin bowling it is damaging the integrity of the sport. Before 1970, nearly all bowling balls had a hard rubber surface. As the coatings applied to wood lanes changed from softer lacquer to a harder urethane in the early 1970s, the first polyester balls became widely available. Subsequent changes since the early 1980s — particularly with urethane surfaced and later "reactive" resin or composite ("particle") surfaced bowling balls—have been altering the physics of how the ball rolls and strikes the pins. Coupled with synthetic lane surfaces and advanced oiling machines presenting the opportunity to lay out lane oil patterns that make targeting