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Importance of Bowling Shoes

Ed Townsend - Columnist
Posted 12/5/19

Like many other sports, bowling requires the players to wear a specific type of shoe and today we are writing about choosing the right pair.

And since it's also close to the holidays bowling …

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Importance of Bowling Shoes

Posted

Like many other sports, bowling requires the players to wear a specific type of shoe and today we are writing about choosing the right pair.

And since it's also close to the holidays bowling shoes make a great gift for your favorite bowler.

So, let's first look at the reason why bowling shoes must be worn during the approach.

On a bowling ball, there are sliding soles on each side to accommodate a right or left-handed bowler, which your daily sneakers don't have. Sneakers are too “sticky” and will cause you to abruptly stop as you approach the foul line which puts you at risk of injury.

This is why bowling shoes are made with a gliding/sliding motion in mind.

For the serious league competition bowler there are athletic bowling shoes and performance bowling shoes.

The athletic style bowling shoes fit the needs of most beginner and intermediate bowlers and are good for bowlers who usually only bowl once a week at one bowling alley because their approach won't change.

If you bowl more than once a week at different bowling alleys and or tournaments you probably should consider performance shoes which are customized for different approaches and are made to accommodate interchangeable soles so your slide can match your style and the surface you're bowling on.

Important steps for making your bowling experience more comfortable.

See your local pro-shop for assistance.

Ed's Outlook

Bowl for the Cure is an important fund raising and breast cancer awareness initiative within the sport of bowing.

This effort is sponsored by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) in partnership with Susan G. Komen, the world's largest grass roots organization of breast cancer survivors and activists.

There are several ways to help this effort:

• Support the cure by purchasing Bowl for the Cure apparel and accessories. Wearing your gear raises awareness and 25 percent of your purchase goes to Susan G. Komen.

•Donate(secure.qgiv.com/for/usbc). Every donation counts. By making a one-time or recurring donation you're supporting the tireless research, treatment screening and education efforts to end breast cancer.

Since Bowl for the Cure's inception in 2000 people from across the country have hit the lanes to raise over $10 million to support the fight against breast cancer.

No event or donation is too small. Whether you bring 10 participants or 500 to a bowling center near you, and whether you raise $10 or $10,000, you're helping to make a difference in the lives of over 200,000 men and women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

Bowling Tip

By Mike Luongo

Bowling has reached a real fork in the road. Never has the gap between league bowler and the elite professional bowler been larger.

Some league bowlers routinely average 230-plus on lane conditions that are engineered by bowling centers to allow recreational bowlers to get maximum pleasure from their league experience by carrying inflated averages that mean absolutely nothing in the real bowling world.

The USBC does absolutely nothing to preserve the integrity of the game, they only minimally regulate bowling balls and allow bowling centers to put out conditions that are so forgiving that honor scores are really a thing of the past as they are so common today for league bowlers.

When these same league bowlers go to the USBC Nationals each year, they are routinely deflated when they have to bowl on a lane condition that requires accuracy and repeat ability to yield high scores.

On the other hand, you have the PBA. Each year the Professional Bowlers Association comes up with new and more difficult oil patterns to challenge the game's elite players.

The newest patterns, introduced a couple of years ago, challenge the players to unheard of degrees. From the 32-foot Wolf pattern that reduce the greatest players in the world to using non-aggressive urethane equipment, to the 54-foot Badger pattern that leaves only eight feet of friction past the pattern for the ball to react.

The new patterns have put elite bowlers in the unenviable position of looking like rank amateurs on televised matches that are routinely viewed by league bowlers who have no understanding of the impact of oil patterns on bowling performance.

Something needs to happen at this critical fork in the road for bowling. Either the USBC needs to start regulating oil patterns at the league level, or the PBA needs to start putting out variations of house shots and let the best bowlers in the world carry 260 averages.

As putting out tougher house shots would undoubtedly result in the loss of a large percentage of house bowlers. The PBA softening up the pro patterns is really the only viable alternative.

Mike Luongo is a Certified IBPSIA Pro Shop Operator, Master Instructor, USBC Silver Level Coach and an Advisor-Special Events Assistant with the Storm and Roto Grip Bowling Ball Company. Have a question, email him at mike.luongo@stormbowling.com.

BOWLING SCORES

BEECHWOODS LANES

Monday Villa Roma Ladies

Trish Ellmauer 163, Sue Naughton 167, Lillian Zieres 167, Pat Peters 158, 153, Tracy Puerschner 181.

PORT JERVIS BOWL

Thursday Night Ladies

Erin McDonagh 198, 191, 195, 584, Josephine Zych 188, 185, 207, 580, Carol Flynn 165, 216, 169, 550, Kim DeGarmo 148, 223, 127, 498, Sherri Laird 122, 177, 160, 459.

FOX BOWLING CENTER

Wed. Men's Independent

Bill Gleim 279, 247, 695, Rob Johnson 223, 268, 202, 693, Andrew Bullis 222, 223, 237, 682, Doc Bolduc 201, 216, 230, 647, Brandon Drumm 223, 236, 653, Zuke Wormuth 214, 213, 204, 631.

Friday Couples

Jay Wormuth 255, 231, 233, 719, Jeremy Wormuth 220, 268, 658, Jen Smith 182, 191, 552, Linda Ferris 223, 563, Dale Conklin 208, 231, 217, 656.

Saturday's Youth

Olivia Johnston 84, 148, 92, 324, Landon Fuller 89, 111, 131, 331, Alex Mosher 169, 144, 123, 436.

Sunday Mixed Fun

Mike Bowker 208, 236, 625, Ashley Hanstine 192, 201, 532, Don Marino 206, 227, 582, Marty Haeussler 213, 553.

KIAMESHA LANES

Monday Men's

Robert Feeney Sr. 257, 225, 233, 715, John Jashembowski III a 196, 254, 220, 670, Kevin Stackhouse 183, 236, 246, 665, Jody Farquhar 203, 238, 243, 684, Jaryl Scott 227, 238, 222, 687, Russell Bivins 259, 192, 216, 667.

Tuesday Mixed Firefighter

Jonathan J.J. Wilhelm 238, 251, 235, 724, Mary Lee Williams 189, 141, 191, 521, Joan Lake 202, Carena Collura 171, 181, 200, 552, Shane Cunningham 279, 204, 266, 749, Pedro Agapito III a 245, 225, 215, 685.

Friday Mixed

Keith Smith 237, 216, 264, 717, Jessica Behnke 198, Valerie Mott 189, A.J. Atkins 254, 231, 200, 685, Serafin Rodriguez III a 268, 216, 197, 681, Ryan Lepke 216, 214, 224, 654.

Ed Townsend is a Public Relations Consultant to the sport of bowling and brings over 60 plus years of sports journalism experience writing and compiling the information for this column. If you have league or tournament information, bowl a 300 game or 800 series, let Ed know at 845-439-8177, email at edwardctownsend@hotmail.com or fax to 845-205-4474. View this column and Ed's photos at http://bght.blogspot.com We are also

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