Ten-pin bowling duckpin bowling (conceived in 1895), popular in the Northeast United States, as well as Canada's own sport of five-pin bowling, all three of which use smaller diameter, lighter weight bowling balls when compared to tenpin bowling, without the necessity for finger holes in them. The , lane is bordered along its length by semicylindrical channels called "gutters", which are designed to collect errant balls. The overall width of the lane including the channels is . The narrow lane prevents bowling a straight line at the angle required to consistently carry (knock down) all ten pins for a strike. Most skillful
Ten-pin bowling between members. In addition, affiliated to the BTBA is the Young Adults Club (YAC). University & College tenpin bowling is administered jointly by the British Universities Tenpin Bowling Association and the Tenpin Bowling Sports Advisory Group of BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport). Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have their own governing bodies, with similar responsibilities to the BTBA for their respective regions of the UK. In the United States, the governing body of ten-pin bowling is the USBC (United States Bowling Congress). The USBC became the "administering organization" on January 1, 2005, after following separate groups merged: the