Candlepin bowling

Candlepin bowling is a variation of bowling that is played primarily in the Canadian Maritime provinces and in the New England states of Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. Each lane consists of an approach area 14'-16' long for the player to bowl from, and then the lane proper, a maple surface approximately 41" wide, bounded on either side by a gutter or "channel", or trough. The lane is separated from approach area by a foul line, which must not be crossed by players. At the far end of the lane, about 60' away, are the pins (60' from the foul line to the center of the headpin or pin #1), placed by a machine called a pinsetter which occupies space both above and behind the pins. Behind the pins is a slightly depressed area for pins and balls to fall into, and a curtain behind this to gently stop the pins and balls from going any further. Generally there is seating behind the approach area for teammates and spectators, and containing a small table to hold scorepads.

The Candlepins themselves are 15.75" (400 mm) tall, have a cylindrical shape which tapers equally towards each end (and therefore having no distinct "top" or "bottom" end, unlike a tenpin), giving them an overall appearance somewhat like that of a candle, and have a maximum weight of 1.13 kg (2 lb 8 oz) apiece. The ten candlepins are automatically set by machine into a triangle with 4 pins in the back row, then 3, 2, and finally 1 in the front, at the center of the lane. Numbering of the candlepins is exactly the same as in tenpin bowling, with the frontmost central pin being the number 1 pin, the two immediately behind and beside it being numbered 2 and 3, and so on, to the rightmost rear corner pin being the number 10 pin. it As in ten-pin bowling, due to the spacing of the pins (12", or 30.5 cm, center to center), it is impossible for the ball to strike every one.

In order to count, the pin must be knocked over entirely; in unlucky circumstances, a pin may wobble furiously, or, even more frustratingly, be "kicked" to the side by several inches, yet come to rest upright, thus not being scored .

The ball used in candlepins has a maximum weight of 1.1 kg ,and has a maximum diameter of 11.43 cm (4-1/2 inches), 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 random when impacting a full rack of pins on the first delivery of a frame, andsometimes when hitting downed "dead wood" pins on subsequent deliveries.