The Parts of a Bowling Alley

Although they may sound similar, a bowling lane and a bowling alley are different things. A bowling alley, consisting of several parts, is the space used for bowling. One of those parts, and probably the most important, is the bowling lane.

A bowling lane is the long plane where a bowling ball rolls towards the pins. Usually, the lane consists of long wooden boards. These boards are joined together to form a lane 75 feet long and 3.5 feet wide. The wooden plane is very smooth. Bowling lane constructors smooth each wooden board before and after they connect them together. Afterwards, they put smoothing chemicals on the surface of the lane, and also use polishing techniques. The lane also has measurements on its surface, indicated with paint.

At each side of the lane is a gutter. When a player rolls his or her bowling ball into a gutter, the shot is considered a miss. The gutters are 60 feet long, which extends from the foul line to the pins. They are usually made of rubber or plastic. At the outermost sides of a bowling alley (outside the gutters) are two plastic borders, which separate one bowling lane from the other.

The bowling wall is the wall at the end of the lane, facing the players. It is usually decorated with the name and logo of the bowling center. The bowling machine is located on the other side of this wall.

Bowling machine manufacturers supply bowling centers with these machines. Their function is to place and rearrange the pins, and retrieve and return the bowling ball. The most common bowling game, the ten-pin, uses ten pins. The bowling machine works automatically, but is monitored by bowling center personnel.

The bowling ball machine retrieves the ball after every shot, and returns it to the player at the other end of the alley. It uses kinetic energy to take the ball through a tunnel located beside the alley, which rolls back to the player. At the end of the tunnel is a ball-sorting mechanism. A hand blow dryer may also be installed at the bowling ball sorter.

The game data is calculated by a computer and displayed on monitors located above the lane for the players to see. The players also have seats and a table at the end of the bowling alley. A rack with extra bowling balls is usually placed beside the seats.