A successful bowler always controls slides by making their shoes slide more or less. The bowler comes down sliding at the finish line or -the foul line- and suddenly stops after throwing the game. This whole action requires complete control over footwork. The bowlers achieve this control by modifying bowling shoes to have an appropriate slide.
How To Make Bowling Shoes Slide More
Sometimes your shoes slide less. It may be due to torn-up shoe soles. Or you may require extra sliding due to lane conditions. In some cases, you want to increase your slide to enhance the ball’s energy level. There are various ways and means available to make bowling shoes slide more. These are some tips to increase the slide of bowling shoes.
Change The Soles Of Bowling Shoes
Most bowling shoes have the facility to replace the soles and heels. It is always better to buy these types of shoes. So, you can change the old and torn-up soles and heals of these shoes with new ones. The bowling shoes are expensive. By changing the soles and heels of old shoes, you need not purchase new shoes. You may save quite a sum of money in this way.
The changing of soles and heels is so easy that you can change them at your home in advance or before going out for the game. Apart from this, if you have reached the bowling alley and find that your shoes are sliding less. You can change the soles or heels of your shoes there, owing to the simplicity of this process. Therefore it is a good idea to procure some extra soles in advance.
Buy Proper Fit Shoes
Proper fit shoes make you comfortable. Additionally, these enable your feet to get an appropriate hold on the floor to have an effective slide. But, if your shoes are loose, you will not feel comfortable. Also, your feet will not have a correct grip on the floor. It will make your feet to make slide less. Therefore, it is recommendable to wear shoes that fit well if you want to make your bowling shoes slide more.
Keep Shoelace Tight
Addionely you will have to check if your shoelaces are tight. Loose shoelaces tend to hamper the sliding action. So, to make your bowling shoes slide more keep your shoelaces tight.
Use Of Shoe slider
There are many types of bowling shoe sliders available in the market. You can put on these sliders on your bowling shoes to have an extra slide. It is easy to attach these sliders to your shoes. You can fix these sliders conveniently in your home and the bowling alley before the beginning of the game, as well. You can put on the sliders in the middle of the game -if you need- owing to the simplicity of the sliders
Put Sliding Powder On The Soles
The use of sliding powder enhances the sliding of the bowling shoes. So, you can put a small quantity of sliding on your bowling shoes’ soles and heels. It will, eventually, make bowling shoes slide more. It is not a big task to put sliding powder on soles and heels. All you have to do is to sprinkle a small amount of sliding powder on the sole and heel. Now, rub this powder smoothly on the surface of the sole and heel. Ultimately, the powder will form a smooth layer on the sole and heel, making your bowling shoes slide more.
It is a simple and cost-effective process to make your shoes slide more. You have to buy powder only once. And it will be sufficient for numerous applications. But in this process, you have to be a little attentive. You have to keep in mind to sprinkle the powder on the left foot shoe if you are using your right hand for bowling. Likewise, apply powder on the right shoe if you are a left-hand bowler.
You can apply powder on the floor near the finish line if the bowling alley floor is rough. But, rub this powder on the floor with your foot opposite the bowling hand. It will make the floor uniformly smooth to enable your shoe to slide more. Additionally, it will clear off any excess powder.
How To Make Your Shoes Slide Less
As we have discussed earlier in this article, the bowlers need their shoes to slide accurately. Sometimes their shoes slide excessively. The excess slide spoils the traction of the player. Additionally, the player may lose the grip of the floor, causing physical injury to them. Therefore the players tend to find ways and means to make bowling shoes slide less.
There may be various reasons behind the excessive sliding of the bowling shoes. It may be due to the worn-out heel and soles of the shoes. The outer surface of the worn-out soles becomes too smooth to hold on to the floor surface. As a result, the shoes slip on the floor, causing an excessive slide.
The other reason may be the extra smoothness of the bowling area’s floor. Generally, bowling areas have synthetic floors. These floors offer extra smoothness. As a result, the bowlers experience excessive slides while they are in bowling action. Moreover, these excessive slides result in spoiled-traction. The bowler has to make an abrupt but synchronized stoppage at the fault line. If the bowlers’ shoes are sliding more than required, they may not stop at the fault line and get hurt.
So, if the bowling shoes slide more than required, due to any reason, it may spoil the bowler’s game. Apart from this, it may cause an injury to the player. Therefore, the bowlers have to make their bowling shoes slide less if they are bowling in these conditions, or their shoes are sliding more than required.
The following are some tips to make your bowling shoes slide less.
Get New Interchangeable Soles
Over time, the soles and heels of your bowling shoes tend to wear out. The outer surface of the soles and heels becomes smooth due to this wearing-out. Consequently, your shoes leave the grip of the bowling floor. It makes your shoes slide more. Apart from sliding, the shoes tend to slip on the floor uncontrollably. As a result, you lose traction. And it affects the delivery of the ball.
If you have a pair of bowling shoes having a provision to interchange the soles and heels, you can replace the worn-out soles with the new ones with ease. In this case, you have to buy a new sole and put it on the shoes. Try to get the soles with an outer surface as per suitability to the required slide. Additionally, the new sole will be useful on the extra smooth floor, too. The new soles slide less in comparison to older soles. You can have a synchronized and coordinated slide with the help of the new soles and heels.
As we have explained earlier in this article, fixing new soles on the shoes is quite simple. You can replace the old soles with new ones in your home or before the start of the game effortlessly. Additionally, you save your hard-earned money on this front because the soles cost less than the new bowling shoes.
Use A Brush On The Soles And Heels
Sometimes, your shoes slide excessively. You can use a shoe brush to make your bowling shoes slide less. Shoes slide when either your shoe soles or the bowling floor is extra smooth. You cannot improve the bowling floor, but you can modify your shoes as per requirement by using a shoe brush.
It is easy to use the brush on the soles. Take a hard nylon or wire brush. Start rubbing this brush on the outer surface of the soles. This brush will scrub away the smoothness of the soles. Finally, your bowling shoes will slide less.
What Is The Need For Bowling Shoes?
Bowling is a game that requires well-coordinated foot movement and controlled footwork. Apart from protecting your feet, shoes help in synchronizing your motion during the game. The bowling shoes help the bowlers in their footwork in various ways.
The bowlers run fast to release the ball and suddenly stop after releasing the ball. In this process, they require control over their footwork. Additionally, they may damage their feet due to fast running and subsequent sudden stoppage. The shoes help to regulate footwork and protect their feet as well.
A controlled slide is the most prominent foot action that is required in bowling. You can’t think of sliding without using shoes. Therefore, bowling shoes are a necessary part of bowling accessories.
Regular Shoes V/S Bowling Shoes
Bowling shoes are not a style statement. These are designed to help the bowlers to utilize their bowling skills in full. The bowling shoes differ from ordinary shoes a lot. The regular shoes come in use for simple walking or running. Whereas the bowlers have to slide in their run-up before throwing a ball to give the ball maximum momentum
Therefore, the main difference between both shoes lies in their respective soles. The bowling shoes have a sliding sole, while ordinary shoes have a non-sliding sole. Moreover, bowling shoes have a sliding sole in only one shoe. It is to suit the bowling style of the bowler. The left-hand bowler uses shoes with a sliding sole in the right foot shoe, and the right-hand bowler has a sliding sole on the left foot shoe. The right-hand bowlers use their left foot to slide, while the left-hand bowlers use their right foot to slide.
Final Thoughts
The vital keys for perfect bowling are the proper run-up and bowling action. Both of these can not be achieved without a proper slide. A bowler can improve his run-up and action with appropriate slides. We hope this article helps the bowlers to make their bowling shoes slide more or less, as per requirement.