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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.

Beside the lane, on both sides, are the gutters. When a player manages to put his or her ball in the gutter, the shit is considered a miss. Gutters are 60 feet in length, beginning from the foul line to the pins. They are usually made of rubber or plastic. Just outside the gutters are the borders which separate one bowling lane from another.

At the end of the lane, facing the player is the bowling wall. The bowling wall is where the logo of the bowling center and other advertisements are placed. Just behind this wall is the bowling machine, one of the most important parts of a bowling alley.

The bowling machine places and rearranges the pins as well as retrieving and returning the ball back to the player. While the bowling machine is automatic, it is still supervised by a bowling center personnel. After every shot, the bowling machine returns the ball to the player on the other end of the lane via kinetic energy, through a tunnel. A ball-sorting mechanism is at the end of the tunnel and it sorts the balls that are being returned by the machine.

Finally, the scores are placed on monitors located above the lanes so the players can see them clearly. The scores are updated automatically via a computer, which calculates the scores based on the number of pins hit and still standing.

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.

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