Bowling ball to skid longer before reacting (hooking). Reactive cover stocks finishes include "matte" (aggressive reaction), "shiny" (longer skid distance than matte finish), "pearl" (greatest skid distance among reactive cover stocks), and "hybrid" (combination of skid distance and back end reaction). Duckpin balls weigh each, with up to three balls delivered per round (or "frame") of bowling for one bowler. The duckpin ball has a maximum diameter of , slightly larger than a candlepin ball but, like a candlepin ball, contains no finger holes. Duckpins are correspondingly shorter and lighter than their ten-pin equivalents and it is more difficult to knock them
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