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 influence lane conditions and scoring. Establishing a Bowling Ball Specifications Task Force—comprising research engineers and volunteers from ball manufacturing companies—the USBC sought to better understand the motion of bowling balls using scientific research and data analysis. Test equipment included, but was not limited to, a robotic ball-thrower, a Computer Aided Tracking System ("Super C.A.T.S."), 59 reactive resin and particle bowling balls from various manufacturers, and eight lanes in a climate-controlled facility. The driving force behind the study was summed up by USBC Technical Director Neil Stremmel: "USBC is concerned that technology has overtaken player skill [as the primary factor] in