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 if synthetic. The top of the pin shall have a uniform arc with a radius of . The USBC also has regulations governing the weight distribution of the pin from top-to-bottom. Pins are allowed one or two "voids" (holes) in the belly area (which can be viewed if the pin is cut in half from top-to-bottom). The voids are needed to balance the narrower top half of the pin with the wider bottom half. Without them, the pins would be too bottom-heavy to fall properly when struck. In addition, a standard regulation pin may lean no more than 10 degrees