Maple is a hardwood with a closed, even grain and fine, uniform, texture. Colors vary from light, red-brown heartwood to darker, banded late-wood and white sap-wood. Of the 115 different species of maple, two types are grown commercially in the U.S.: soft maple, such as red and silver, and hard maple, which includes sugar and black maple. Maple is used to make floors for sports halls and bowling alley lanes because of the extremely durable nature of the wood, the characteristic of resisting shock (e.g. when a bowling ball impacts the lane) and dense nature which permits the frequent refinishing practiced by bowling centers. Bowling centers construct lanes from heavy maple boards, each weighing approximately 400 pounds, in tongue and groove sections which are nailed and glued together. Usually, the first 12 feet of any lane, including the area a player stands on, are made of maple.
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