Bowling Shoes

Bowling Shoes

Like most sports, bowling requires certain pieces of personal equipment. A bowler’s shoe choice is just as important as finding the perfect bowling ball. Choosing a pair of bowling shoes should not be an afterthought because a good pair of shoes can improve a bowler’s approach and score.

Most bowling alleys require bowlers to wear bowling shoes because the shoes allow bowlers to smoothly slide on the bowling alley’s surface. Bowlers have the option of choosing between athletic or performance bowling shoes. Athletic bowling shoes look and feel like sneakers. Athletic bowling shoes have sliding soles on both shoes and are not specifically made for right-handed or left-handed players. Ambidextrous shoes are a good choice for someone who is bowling for fun.

More frequent bowlers, or bowlers who are looking to improve their approach, should purchase a performance bowling shoe. A performance bowling shoe has one traction sole, used for braking, and one sliding sole. For example, a right-handed bowler would have a traction sole on the right foot and a sliding sole on the left foot. This allows the bowler to firmly plant their dominant foot before entering into their slide. Bowling shoes also come with interchangeable soles. Interchangeable bowling shoe soles easily allow a bowler to adjust the soles to match a particular bowling style or surface.

Rental Bowling Shoes

Most bowling alleys provide rental bowling shoes. Since the rental shoes are used by many patrons the rental bowling shoes are usually constructed with sliding soles on both shoes, which are best suited for beginning bowlers or bowlers who only make it to the bowling alleys a few times a year. All bowlers should be concerned about cost and comfort when deciding whether or not to rent bowling shoes.

For the occasional bowler, rental bowling shoes are a good option because they are affordable. Most bowling alleys charge a small fee for rental shoes and for someone that only bowls on occasion paying the rental fee is less expensive than buying a pair of bowling shoes. More frequent bowlers, however, should consider buying their own pair of bowling shoes because rental fees can add up quickly over the course of a few months.

It is also important to have comfortable bowling shoes, however, many renters complain of discomfort because rental bowling shoes are not always a good fit. The condition of the bowling shoe can be a source of discomfort because it causes the shoe to fit improperly. For example, rental shoes may be in poor condition because the sole of the bowling shoe is worn. Bowlers should also check to make sure the shoes can be fastened securely by examining the condition of the laces or the Velcro.