Even if you’ve only gone bowling once in your life, you know that all of the bowling essentials await you at the alley. While a bowling ball is important for obvious reasons, sliding into a pair of stylish bowling shoes is almost always a pain.
So, do you really have to wear bowling shoes? The answer is YES, you do. Bowling shoes are necessary due to safety and performance.
They’re all about allowing you and your fellow bowlers to confidently stride down your lane and be able to execute a flawless ball swing without sticking to the floor or stumbling over obstacles.
In this post, we’ll look at how bowling shoes can help enhance your score and why they’re a non-negotiable necessity when you bowl.
Why Do You Have to Wear Bowling Shoes?
If you’re new to bowling, it would be hard to miss the fact that everyone who dares to step into the lane is required to slip into special footwear.
While it may come across as unnecessary, there are a handful of compelling reasons why we wear bowling shoes when we’re gearing up to conquer the lanes.
Enhances Grip and Balance
Bowling shoes are specifically designed with special soles that help ensure stability and grip. Apart from being able to provide the proper traction and prevent you from slipping on the alley’s smooth surface, it also allows for a more controlled approach to the lane.
Bowling shoes are also a way to help protect the bowler’s feet from the alley’s potential hazards. These shoes are specialized with non-marking soles and durable construction, offering a wall of protection from any spills or debris on the lane.
Without bowling shoes, players may be more prone to injuries, making them essential equipment for any trip down the bowling lane.
Reinforces Bowling Techniques
Aside from being consistent with practice and having a meticulous observation of how you approach the lane, the best way to raise your game to a higher level is by wearing the proper bowling shoes.
They are equipped with a unique sole that offers bowlers the right amount of slipperiness and traction, which will allow you to pivot and slide smoothly on your approach.
The sliding soles help players to glide smoothly on their approach, maintain their balance through the delivery, and be able to set the ball loose with ease.
On the other hand, the non-sliding part of the sole upholds stability and grip to prevent you from losing your footing during your approach.
Remember that by simply slipping into your bowling shoes, not only do you improve your chances of being able to hit strikes consistently, but you also help maintain the integrity and sleekness of the bowling alley.
Preserves the Bowling Alley’s Floors
Bowling alleys invest in floors made of specialized materials that allow the ball to roll seamlessly. These floors are extremely sensitive to dirt and scratches, and that will affect a ball’s trajectory and the bowler’s performance.
Bowling shoes are crafted with a special sole that’s made out of soft rubber to make sure they don’t leave scrapes or debris on the floor. By wearing them when we bowl, we not only enhance our performance in the game but also protect the bowling alley’s floors.
Can You Wear Regular Shoes For Bowling?
The short answer would be “NO.” Regular shoes often have a rubber bottom designed to provide a grip when used on certain floors, pavements, and the ground.
Bowling shoes have a special “sliding sole” that helps bowlers be able to glide smoothly on the lane. Wearing regular shoes for bowling can adversely affect the efficiency of the bowling alley and can be a hazard to your approach as it cannot provide the proper support you need around your heels and ankles.
Are Bowling Shoes Safe?
Although a bowling alley’s shoe rental service would seem to be a breeding ground for bacterial or viral diseases, catching such an infection from shared bowling footwear is uncommon.
While the possibility is still there, it would require a sockless, foot-infected bowler, a bowling alley employee who forgot to sanitize the shoes, and an open wound on your foot to make the germs viable.
You just simply need to wear a fresh pair of socks and wash them properly as soon as you get home. Or you could carry in your disinfectant spray if that’ll help you bowl in peace.
How Do Bowling Alleys Disinfect Shoes?
Regardless of how packed your favorite bowling alley may be on a Friday night, you can rest assured that their bowling shoes are disinfected properly. It’s mandatory for establishments to spray the shoes with a disinfectant spray immediately after a customer returns them to the shoe desk.
While there are other options, such as shining a UV light on the shoes to look for any viral evidence, spraying them with a disinfectant right away is still the most efficient and least expensive way to sanitize them.
Do Bowling Shoes Make a Difference?
Providing bowlers with the ideal amount of slip and keeping them from being trapped on the floor, if those two things that are significantly essential, then YES, bowling shoes do actually make a significant difference. A perfect slip will enhance your performance by allowing you to follow through on your release with ease.
Bowling shoes will also help you control the direction of your ball with more accuracy, significantly improving your bowling average.
Pros and Cons of Wearing Bowling Shoes
Are bowling shoes worth the investment? We weigh the pros and cons of owning a pair. Find out if they’re right for you!
Pros
While having to switch from one to another can be a downer, bowling shoes can bring a host of amazing benefits, including the following:
- They provide a smoother glide or follow-through to help you bowl better.
- They’re made with special soles that work well on a bowling lane’s smooth surface, making it less likely for you to trip or slide over during the approach.
- They protect the bowling alley’s floor from unnecessary wear and tear.
Cons
Wearing bowling shoes can have a list of advantages. However, they also come with several drawbacks. Here are a few:
- Bowling alleys may not always carry your shoe size, transforming a typical after-work game into a more challenging experience.
- The extra slippery soles of bowling shoes might make it difficult for inexperienced bowlers to maintain balance initially. Although you will learn it gradually, expect your first few times on the lane to feel like you are in a hockey game instead of bowling.
- If not cleaned regularly, shared bowling shoes can be unsanitary at times.
Can I Bowl in Socks?
While it has all the markings of a funny social media post, bowling in only your socks is a big NO, NO. As it was mentioned above, improper footwear increases your risk of injuries, which makes it restricted in perhaps all bowling alleys.
Can You Bowl Barefoot?
Unless you have an extremely slippery foot, bowling barefoot is simply not a good idea. The natural grip on our feet may result in an unexpected stop, which would result in an awkward trip, injuries, and countless weeks of wearing a cast.
What is the USBC Bowling Shoes Rule?
According to the USBC Playing Rule Book, “Approaches must not be defaced detracting from the possibility of other players having normal conditions is prohibited.”
This means that the approach should be consistently free of any foreign substances and that the application of any elements, such as powders, rosin, soapstone, and pumice, is prohibited.
To help control the conditions of the approach and to keep it consistently safe for bowlers, the USBC encourages the use of proper bowling shoes.
Conclusion
While it may seem to be a hassle to switch shoes before hitting the lanes, only to change back into your regular shoes once your game has finished, a bowling shoes’ ability to enhance your balance, protect the floor, and improve your technique makes slipping into a pair worth it.
So, the next time you feel like bowling, proudly wear them and bask in them as your feet, the alley, and your playmates thank you for doing so