Bowling has fallen on hard times but it’s their own fault.
Many lanes are closed and few modernize.
Leagues are at the lowest enrollment in decades.
The problem is it’s been treated like a sport, with rigid rules.
It should be treated like an entertainment, where variety is important.
Would an arcade stick with Pong forever? No, new games all the time.
Do casinos keep the same games. No, slots are updated constantly, and even old standards like poker have changed dramatically.
What could bowling do to give the patrons something new to try?
Ninepins?
Scoring changes?
A shorter alley for kids?
Special presets on the pinspotters so you could select which pins go down. Thus you could practice converting different splits.
I do not rent shoes. The idea is nauseating to me. If my Nikes are unacceptable then they should have slip on booties to go over them. Until they do, I will never go bowling.
They actually do have such things, though I’ve never used them I have seen them before. I’m not sure if they still make them, but I know just a few years ago they did. They were trying to replace shoes, but it must have never caught on. And you can buy a pair of shoes for 20-30.
Thought this suggestion from elsewhere on the net was cute:
A ball should be declared dead when you bowl 3 games without a strike. It shall be the owners privilege to decide on the disposition of said dead ball - Burial at Sea, Dropped from an airplane over a live volcano, or a simple burial in the city dump. For a small fee, a league officer can be bribed to deliver a short eulogy.
Like baseball, bowling would benefit from “Full Contact”.
Bowling is now a team, or head-to-head competition. The offense has to knock down the pins with the ball. The defense trys to prevent them. Anything goes.
Think of the revenue from helmets, pads, various protective gear and the like. Also, the manly-factor goes way up. 16 lb. balls, indeed!
You could make all the pins different shapes and point values. The hardest to dislodge would be the pyramid.
Since the machines do the scoring now you could have elaborate point schemes, like giving point values base on the pin position.
Have a way for beginners to keep rolling until they knock down all the pins. Like golf, there would be no limit on the number of tries, it would just lower your score.
Do something about all the damn leagues! I realize this is the “bread and butter” of the business, but have you ever tried to go bowling when not on a league? Fat chance! Come back at 3 am and maybe we can squeeze you in for a couple frames.
I see bowling alleys drawing a line in the sand. Either you join a league, or don’t bother coming here.
Randomly opening and closing gates in front of the pins. You throw the ball and never know if it even has a chance to hit pins, or bounce off the gate and be a dead ball.
You ever play minigolf? With all the really weird and demented course designs? Make a full-scale version of that for bowling. And if you get a strike on the 10th frame, you get a free game of bowling!
