Ten-pin bowling is a game in which a player (called a “bowler”) rolls a bowling ball down a wood-structure or synthetic (polyurethane) lane and towards ten pins positioned at the end of the lane. The objective is to score points by knocking down as many pins as possible. Three finger holes are drilled into a traditional bowling ball, and weights vary considerably to make the sport playable for all ages. Generally, the heavier the ball, the more pins that will topple on two equivalent shots. The pins are arranged in a triangular position by an automated machine. While professional ten-pin bowling tournaments are held in numerous countries, the sport is commonly played as a hobby by millions of people around the world.

In Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, the game is commonly referred to as just “Bowling”. In New England, “bowling” is usually referred to as “ten-pin bowling” or “big-ball bowling”, because of the smaller diameter, lighter weight ball used in the Worcester, Massachusetts-conceived sport of candlepin bowling from 1880, and the similarly “small-ball” sport of 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.