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
Bowling ball all down with a single roll. Five-pin bowling balls have no finger holes and are between in diameter. They weigh between . The smaller size and lighter weight of the balls allows bowlers to hold the ball in the palm of their hand when bowling. The ball used in candlepins has a maximum weight of , and has a maximum diameter of , making it the smallest bowling ball of any North American bowling sport. The nearly identical weight of the ball, when compared to that of just one candlepin, tends to cause rapidly delivered balls to sometimes bounce at