Beginner’s Guide to Bowling

A bowling ball strikes pins during the Langley First Sergeants Council annual bowling event at Langley Air Force Base, Va., March 20, 2015. At the conclusion of the tournament, three prizes were awarded for placing teams. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kimberly Nagle/Released)

Getting Started

This guide (at the moment) is designed to help you one you have decided own pursuing bowling as a hobby; meaning, it is not designed for those who are just learning to bowl. Until this guide is updated, I will direct you to a few pages that detail some beginning steps/tips:

Basic  Equipment

Once bowling moves from occasional weekend activity to a devoted hobby, you will want to purchase your own equipment. Having your own equipment is much better than renting equipment from the bowling alley and hoping they have been well maintained.

Bowling Ball

It goes without saying the bowling ball is the most important–perhaps just ahead of your shoes–item you’ll purchase.

Important Characteristics

You’ll see in the next section the recommendation to purchase your ball in-person. One of those reasons not mentioned is the importance to have your ball customized to your hand.

When purchasing a bowling ball, you are looking for a few things in particular:

  1. weight: you want your ball to weighted for you
  2. grip: too loose means the ball may slip; too tight means the ball may hang on release)
  3. finger hole spacing: this relates to grip as well, but has to do with the spacing, not the finger hole interior

Buying: Online or In-Person?

Whether to buy your bowling ball in-person or online is one of the first questions that beginners ask. My suggestion, particularly for your first ball, is to seek out someone local who can walk you through pertinent details. In addition, it is always good to establish a rapport with the local shop (if you have one). If you need suggestions, you may try asking at your local bowling alley. Either the employees or perhaps someone(s) playing in leagues.

For more discussion, you can read through this forum thread. It is relatively old, but the discussion is still worth reading.

What Bowling Ball Should I Buy?

For most beginners, it would be best to start with an entry or mid-level reactive ball. They allow for controllable action and provide a new bowler a solid foundation for learning how to work ball movement. Not to mention these balls tend to be considerably cheaper.

A couple of suggestions are the Hustle Ink (read reviews and discussion) or HyRoad (review 1 and review 2). Again, we don’t necessarily recommend buying your first ball online, but you can purchase either of these balls at Amazon (Hustle Ink and Hyroad) or Bowling.com (Hustle Ink and Hyroad).

Bowling Shoes

Just as it is helpful to have your own bowling ball, it is advantageous for you to go ahead and purchase a pair of bowling shoes. However, do not go out and spend a fortune on your first pair.

You can (and probably should) pick a pair of shoes in the middle price range, which would cost around $125 to $150.

As a general rule, I personally tend to buy my shoes (whether for bowling or otherwise) in person. However, if you are looking to purchase online I would suggest looking at Dexter or Brunswick bowling shoes.

Bowling Bag

You don’t want to be the person who rolls into the bowling alley with your ball and supplies in a random duffel bag.

Other than that, do not go crazy purchasing a bag. You can find plenty of inexpensive bags that will be suitable for your needs.

Two options under $65 are BSI Taxi’s tote bag (least inexpensive bowling bag I would recommend) or the Elite Bowling Deuce.

Cleaning (Why You Should Do It!)

Cleaning means that you have embraced bowling enough to purchase your own items. And cleaning–even for beginners!–is important to maintaining both the performance and longevity of your ball.

The following is a summary from a great Reddit post on the topic (check out the post for a few more details):

An ideal maintenance schedule, even for beginners, includes:

  • Wiping your ball after every shot (I use microfiber towels, but you can also buy pads designed solely for bowling balls)
  • Cleaning your ball after every session
  • Refreshing your ball’s surface after every 20-25 games (if sanded)
  • Detoxing/bleeding out the oil and refreshing the coverstock after every 50 games

 

About Wesley Lyles 117 Articles
Wesley is a jack of all trades hobbyist. Though much of his spare time is spent playing board games (especially solo card games like Legendary), Hearthstone, Rocket League, and MLB The Show.e He also enjoys most sports, but pays way too much attention to baseball and football.

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