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
Nine-pin bowling order that maximizes their success. Typical nine-pin league bowling teams have both male and female bowlers with ages that span from teenagers up to 80- and 90-year-old great-grandparents. It is not unheard of for an 80-something grandmother to be on a bowling team because “she can hit the left side every time”. Nine-pin bowling also uses human “pin-setters” who have the responsibility of returning the bowling ball, shoving the fallen pins into the pit, and resetting the “Full House” as necessary. While this may be a throwback to a forgotten age, there are many civic leaders in the Guadalupe-Comal-Bexar counties