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 also been tightened and went into effect in 2010. For up to date information on ball specifications, check the USBC Equipment Specifications website at http://bowl.com/equipandspecs/index.jsp. Today there are an exceptional number of major sports-related and non sports-related companies that focus specifically on designing, producing and or supporting the production of many items specifically designed for ten-pin bowling equipment. Such items include scoring systems, balls, bags, cleaning products, wrist supports, shirts, shoes, trousers, shorts and gloves, etc. Some of the major world-famous equipment producers and supporters include AMF, Brunswick, Dacos, Ebonite, MOTIV, Kegel, and Storm. Other manufacturers and suppliers include Lane#1,