Introduction
Bowling is a fun sport because it is not very competitive and doing it with friends as friendly tournaments is a great way to get together. However, you need appropriate clothing and footwear. Having the right bowling shoes ensures that you’ll not slide when you throw those balls in the alley.
History
There is no specific date tracing the first pair of bowling shoes ever made nor its history, but the sport has been in existence for a long time. The International Bowling Museum webpage suggests that Sir Flinders Petrie might have discovered the remnants of what looked to be a child’s playthings indicating that the sport could have been in existence since 3200 BC. What is sure is that bowling has been in existence during the time of King Edward in 1636. In the late 1800s, it was played in a lot of states in the US. Europe, in the meantime, developed variations to the game such as Petanque in France, bocce in Italy, and lawn bowling in Great Britain.
Features
- People who bowl usually rent bowling shoes from the bowling alley as needed. However, if you are conscious of sanitation and couldn’t stand the thought that other people wore those shoes, you could buy your own pair of bowling shoes.
- Like any other sports, having the right gear and apparel improve your performance and comfort while playing. Bowling is no exception. A good fit, non-skidding soles are important characteristics to consider.
- The obvious place to buy bowling shoes is a sports shop. You will find all types of sports shoes in physical shops from basketball and tennis to soccer and bowling shoes. Sports shops are abundant in any urban center or city and you should not have any problem finding a pair of bowling shoes. There are different styles and designs for men, women, and even children.
- Shopping online for bowling shoes is another alternative. Bowling (bowling.com) is an online retailer of bowling shoes, apparel and accessories. You will see various styles of bowling shoes in different price ranges. A good pair should cost you from $30 to $100.
- Other online retailers include Ebay and Amazon. If you are looking to compare prices of bowling shoes, try to use a price comparison site such as Nextag to give a list of online retailers that carry bowling shoes. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Online Shoes, Shoeline.com, and Bowlingball.com are places where you can buy bowling shoes. Prices are also listed that make it straightforward to check which ones are interesting deals.
- When buying bowling shoes online, pay attention to the size of your feet to make sure that you are not making a mistake. If you are buiying from online retailers which are not US-based, consult the shoe conversion sizes to ensure that you get the right sizes as there are differences in shoes sizes across the world depending on the charts used by countries.
Tips and comments
Professional or athletic bowling shoes exist and if you are considering bowling more often, having the right pair of shoes can improve your game. Take a look at specific shoes that are meant for bowling where the emphasis is on providing traction and sliding, 2 movements that are crucial in the game. Hence, consider if the bowling shoes you buy are meant for right handed or left handed people. One shoe is for sliding to throw the ball effortlessly and hit your target while the other shoe is for braking, so that you don’t trip or go with the ball when it is flung. Other models also provide convertible slide and traction shoes such as bowling shoes from Dexter.
