Bowling Shoes

[santos314]

How important are bowling shoes as far as better quality or changeable pads,etc? I have been using an older pair of Brunswick for quite some time. Is it a worthwhile investment or just a matter of preference? I bowl on wood lanes only.

[J Anderson]

How important are bowling shoes as far as better quality or changeable pads,etc? I have been using an older pair of Brunswick for quite some time. Is it a worthwhile investment or just a matter of preference? I bowl on wood lanes only.

In my opinion, the main advantage of changeable soles is for people who bowl at many different centers or for those who bowl at centers that are inconsistent in maintaining the approaches.

[Hawk]

They are like tire's for a car lousy tires lousy handling...

[JasonNJ]

Shoes are pretty important, my first year in league I was using regular universal Dexter's and one night it rained all day and the my center was a sauna. I couldn't slide at all and bowled terrible. That week I order shoes with interchangeable soles and haven't had a problem since. Now I can adjust which soles to wear depending on the conditions.

[Amyers]

A good quality pair of single soled shoes will take care of most bowlers but there aren't that many out there. Mostly its the ones that have both with slide soles which I don't like much so you end upp buying the ones with changeable soles anyway. If you plan on bowling regularly it's a good investment anyway

[BowlingBoards.com]

Agreed with everyone else. It is not totally necessary to have interchangeable soles but is a big plus for bowling at different centers or as JasonNJ stated, if it is overly humid in your center :) It is worth the investment!

[fordman1]

Or if you are able learn to bowl without sliding. Buy a comfortable pair of sneakers for bowling only and you never have to worry about the approaches again. You have enough to worry about without having trouble with the approaches.

[Amyers]

Or if you are able learn to bowl without sliding. Buy a comfortable pair of sneakers for bowling only and you never have to worry about the approaches again. You have enough to worry about without having trouble with the approaches.

Sounds like a recipe for my next knee surgery to me but whatever works for you.

[santos314]

Yeah..my wife's gonna freak when i give her a xmas list...lol
New shoes, new bag, a new ball...........or two

[fokai73]

I've owned 5 pairs of bowling shoes, SST 8's x 2, SST 6's x 2, and Turbo's (dexters)..... years ago when bowled a lot of tournaments and travel league. What I did too was cut the soles in a certain way (half) and combined the soles. This was years before dexters came up with the odd number soles.

Anyway, when I reduced my bowling to one league/house... my Turbo's $25-$30?? were enough for my bowling needs. What I did though was take my right shoe to a shoe shop and had them put a rubber sole to push off/grip the approaches. $10. then when the heel wore out, replaced that with one extra sole I had in my SST shoe box. $8.. if it got sticky, go to the side patio and dump cigarette ashes and rubbed my sole lol.. much safer than that Easy slide or baby powder...

If you're wondering, I own the same SST 8's..... I should of kept the SST 6's, especially with the ridiculous prices of these shoes today...

[imagonman]

....... if it got sticky, go to the side patio and dump cigarette ashes and rubbed my sole lol.. much safer than that Easy slide or baby powder.........

Ummmm, that's illegal & if I 'd have seen that you would have had a series of 0 zero for the night.

[bowl1820]

Ummmm, that's illegal & if I 'd have seen that you would have had a series of 0 zero for the night.

Technically, it's not illegal.

What is illegal is if you get it on the approach.(see Rule 12 – Approaches Must Not Be Defaced)

Plus games would only be subject to forfeiture if the player refused to stop doing it after being told to stop doing it by a league official.

[Amyers]

Ummmm, that's illegal & if I 'd have seen that you would have had a series of 0 zero for the night.

Back in the day it was common practice and mostly back in those days most players weren't Aholes those few that were likely left with their rule book shoved you know where. Not trying to be mean but bowling was a blue collar sport even more so back then. At least around here that type of behavior would have been frowned upon.

[LOUVIT]

If you slide at the line I guess they are more important. I see a lot of people that have no slide,

I bought a pair of like 50.00 Dexters and I put them on and almost fell on my face. So I had to put the slider on the new shoes also. I still use the slider

[santos314]

Yeah, i dont have much slide but when i stick unexpectedly its still dangerous.

[fokai73]

Ummmm, that's illegal & if I 'd have seen that you would have had a series of 0 zero for the night.

really?! you must be that type of person who think they know stuff, but in reality don't even know much. lol

There was a time when smoking was allowed inside the alley. Many have used ashes from ash trays, or the dust under the ball rack. Easy slide and baby powder, the fellas would watch you. You left that crap on the approach, they'll let you know.

Plus, where I bowled back in the day, your "that's illegal, you'll get a zero!" attitude without even knowing the exact ruling... you wouldn't be bowling in that league, or at that house. Actually not to long ago, "Mr. rule book in the back pocket" had a hard time finding a league and team one year for his foolishness over the years. Luckily, he still had a few friends left... bowling with the seniors now.

[fordman1]

Sounds like a young man to me. Bowl1820 is correct you are allowed to put ashes, powder or easy slide on your shoe as long as it isn't transferred to the lane. You need it today when you have bowlers going out side to smoke and tracking in with wet shoes.

[JaxBowlingGuy]

I was at a tournament Labor Day weekend be a bowler on our pair put so much baby powder on his shoes that it literally had foot prints on the approach, all over the approach. I said something to him about it and he said that the tournament director told him to do it. So I go grab the director Bc I bowl this tourney every time he runs it and he wasn't too happy. His wife for the rest of the games in that block kept making comments about "we are just here to have fun some people take it too serious" and then told me that it'll help ME slide. When I told her that I don't slide purposely and that it's a safety hazard she then told me that I needed to put some on my shoes to help me to slide. SMH

[ALazySavage]

For the sake of discussion:

Rule 12 reads exactly like this:

The application of any foreign substance on any part of the approach that detracts from the possibility of other players having normal conditions is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, talcum powder, pumice and resin on shoes, and/or soft rubber soles or heels that rub off on the approach.

http://usbcongress.http.internapcdn.net/usbcongress/bowl/rulebook/2017-2018Rulebook.pdf

The webpage uses an example of a team complaining about the usage and a bowler being told to stop (nothing special there) The question/thought I have though is:

Essentially we can agree that the rule is in place so foreign substances to not find their way on the bowling approaches. A bowler having trouble sliding/stopping on the lane determines it necessary to put a substance on their shoe in an attempt to correct this issue (easy slide/baby powder/whatever). At this point the bowler has not violated any rules, but now before they bowl per the rule they essentially need to remove whatever product was put on the shoe before they bowl, otherwise it would transfer onto the lane and then be in violation (if there is powder on the shoes and those shoes go on the approach, there will be some transfer). Bowler following the rule wipes off the substance put on their shoe to follow the rule, at this point other than if there was moisture directly on the shoe (powder absorbs the moisture and then is taken off the shoe) what is the benefit of using the substance other than to directly transfer to/affect the approach?

[fokai73]

santos314... I'm not sure if this has been said. But those dexter turbos I got, and maybe the current non interchangeable sole shoes all need a break in period. I can't say for other shoes, but my turbos were sticky. Very little slide. I broke them in by rubbing dirt from under the ball racks and cigarette ashes, then brushed it off. Then checked the slide. I did this several times till I got my left shoe to slide. But rubbing dust on it should help.

Over time the push off shoe got slippery and I wouldn't get full potential of my push off because I had no grip. That's why I had the rubber sole installed by a shoe repair shop.

But if you plan on bowling more in the future, more houses and tournaments, I'd suggest getting high end shoes. SST 8's go on sale, especially during the holiday season. check for sales online. There are other high end stuff to choose from that are not so expensive like the SST 8's. Having the right shoes is very important. It's as important as your grip/span IMO.

[bowl1820]

Bowler following the rule wipes off the substance put on their shoe to follow the rule, at this point other than if there was moisture directly on the shoe (powder absorbs the moisture and then is taken off the shoe) what is the benefit of using the substance other than to directly transfer to/affect the approach?


The main problem with players using easy slide etc. and why they got stricter with the rule was, Most players didn't use it properly. They didn't realize just how little you actually needed to improve your slide.

(Also the increase in plant & shoot players helped fuel the changes too)

They would powder their shoe like they were powdering a babies butt, pour it on the floor and step it etc. So it was all caked up on the sole and tracked it on the approach. Most didn't do it to deliberately interfere with others, They just didn't know what they were doing.

Not to say there wasn't some that may have done it to deliberately interfere with others, just that most didn't know and/or didn't realize just what a problem it was..

Why use it? Because there are times when you need to adjust your slide (even if your using interchangeable soles, because the others soles maybe too much one way or the other.)

Your able to slide mainly because of dust build up in the material of the sole. That's why when you get new shoes, there's a break in period and they typically suggest That you wear your shoes at home and walk around on the carpet to build up dust in the sole.

With the proper use of powder you can accelerate the process, it can also help to a extent if there's dampness on the sole (I'm not talking about full on wet.) or if something else has affected your slide.

When it came to adjusting slide there were a lot tricks.

Like using your wire brush and brushing the nap in certain directions affected slide (also no problems with Rule 12 with this method)

Rub your shoe on the approach under the ball return, typically a lot of dust under there, it will give you some slide and pretty much nobody will say anything about it.

Cig.ashes were good for a small damp spot on the sole, powders would just get gummy.

Talc/baby powder was okay, Easy slide a lot of the time caused way too much slide (because they used too much).

A carpenters pencil could improve slide when used on the sole, but worked way better when you drew a line on the leading edge of your heel.

Soapstone (Which is what Brunswick's Slide Stone is) is a good choice (but use with caution in regard to rule 12) , rubbed on the sole it improves slide and leaves nothing on the approach (Unless you shave it, which is where you scrape it till you have a big pile of powder.)

I carry one in my bag, though I made my own. Big B's is way too $$$. You can buy a box soapstone for half the price and have enough to last for years. My DIY one is 2 years old and isn't even half gone. Another plus is you can rub it on your thumb if sticking in the hole some.
http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads/18233-A-DIY-Slidestone?

There use to be a "Slide stick" Proshops sold, it was a wax like stick (not a crayon) that helped slide. But it's gone now.

One thing to note is that even if you do everything properly and get nothing on the approach, there are those few that if they see you do something to your shoes. Will get up, bowl and think it affect them and say it was because of you.

[Eddy]

My style is a lot like Liz Johnson's, as to where I have a slow, short approach with basically no slide. So to me, shoes are pretty much all the same. Any comfortable pair will do. I actually thought about getting a pair with replaceable slides, then thought why? I paid $50 for a decent pair of regular Dexters and good to go. But everyone's needs are different.

[JJKinGA]

I see young fellas cutting the front off a tube sock and putting it over their shoe to get some slide. that seems to work well and does not affect the non-sliding bowlers. Me, I have the nice Dexter SST8 and use a S10 or S11 sole.

[santos314]

I see young fellas cutting the front off a tube sock and putting it over their shoe to get some slide. that seems to work well and does not affect the non-sliding bowlers. Me, I have the nice Dexter SST8 and use a S10 or S11 sole.

Lol...never saw that...what a great cheap fix!

[chip82901]

I've had interchangeable soles now for...a while lol. I've tried different brands (the first Brunswicks that were uglier than sin, Dexter SS6, SST8, and now I'm in the Brunswick TPU X). I must say, if you bowl tournaments or anything in different houses, just pony up a little extra cash and get the interchangeables. I picked up my TPUs for like...$130 online I think. And they are by FAR the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn...bowling shoes or not. Once you figure out a combo you like, you can adjust from there. It's worth the extra $

[santos314]

I do like the idea of interchangable souls. Its a nice quick fix to an annoying issue.

[bowl1820]

I do like the idea of interchangable souls. Its a nice quick fix to an annoying issue.

Yes they are a good idea.

[bowl1820]

Lol...never saw that...what a great cheap fix!

Yes that's where the idea for the bowlers slide sock came from.

https://www.cheapbowlingballs.com/Assets/Accessories/Master/ShoeExtras/Shoe_Slide/Shoe-Slide-Royal_t.jpg

[fokai73]

I do like the idea of interchangable souls. Its a nice quick fix to an annoying issue.

interchangeable SOULS????

pretty creepy since it's friday the 13th, and all SOULS day this month... lol HAPPY FRIDAY!!!