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,
Bowling ball all down with a single roll. Five-pin bowling balls have no finger holes and are between in diameter. They weigh between . The smaller size and lighter weight of the balls allows bowlers to hold the ball in the palm of their hand when bowling. The ball used in candlepins has a maximum weight of , and has a maximum diameter of , making it the smallest bowling ball of any North American bowling sport. The nearly identical weight of the ball, when compared to that of just one candlepin, tends to cause rapidly delivered balls to sometimes bounce at