bowling equipment

The consumer market for sports equipment is predicted to reach £1bn in 2004, having climbed strongly from £675m in 1999. Sports equipment (include bowling equipment) is an extremely fragmented market, reflecting the fact that dozens of sports are played by keen amateurs, with each sport requiring its own specific types of equipment and accessories. Bowling equipment is the equipment bowling sport which is an indoor sport, also called tenpins, played by rolling a ball down an alley at ten pins; for lawn bowling, see bowls. Bowling is one of the most popular participatory sports in the United States, where there are thousands of recreational leagues. Bowling equipment details: A regulation bowling alley is made of polished wood and measures 41 to 42 in. (104.1 to 106.7 cm) wide and 60 ft (18.3 m) from the foul line, where the ball is delivered, to the center of the head pin (nearly 63 ft/19.2 m to the end of the alley). Bowlers (also called keglers) roll a ball made of rubber composite or plastic, which has three or four finger holes and weighs from 10 to 16 lb (4.5 to 7.26 kg), at plastic-covered maple pins standing 15 in. (38.1 cm) high and weighing between 3 lb 2 oz and 3 lb 10 oz (1.42-1.64 kg), set up in a triangular array in rows of increasing width (one through four) at the opposite end of the alley.