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,
Ten-pin bowling ring finger release almost simultaneously. This gives the bowling ball its spin needed for the hook. If the player is right-handed, an ideal position of the thumb after letting go of the ball is "10 o'clock", meaning that the thumb has gone from 12 to 10, as looking at a clock. The corresponding position for left-handed players is 2 o'clock. Of course, there are innumerable variations in style and technique and the position of the thumb can vary from person to person. The second way is to hold the ball without the thumb in the thumb hole. This uses one