Jimi Michiel

Ok, so I'm watching the Big Labowski, and I start to wonder, why do bowling alleys make you wear special bowling shoes when you go bowling? Is it a safety issue? Or maybe to protect the floors? Just curious.
-Jimi

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mrfabulous963

I am guessing to protect the floors,

and the shoes always stink!

Alex Yates

The Coen Bros rock! The Big L is one of my favorite movies for a big laugh. When I am blue, I put in the DVD and play track 9 - John Taturro (as "Jesus") doing his thing with a Spanish version of "Hotel California" playing in the back ground.

"I'm not Lebowski, I'm "The Dude"......" LOL

Sorry Jimi, I had to chime in. I don't know about the bowling shoe thing. It is probably like racquetball courts. We had to wear "non-marking" shoes to play on the indoor courts. I think it is something similar for the wood floors of a bowling alley.

The_Lip

A proper pair of shoes actually has two different soles, one for traction, and one for sliding. I'm a lefty so my right shoe has a leather patch at the ball of the foot for sliding, and the left shoe has a rubber sole for traction. Both shoes have rubber heels. Actually, my shoes have removable heels and toe pads so that I can adapt to different approach conditions. Synthetic approaches tend to be slicker than lacquer and therefore I can change over to heels and toe pads with a little more grip than when I bowl on lacquer.

Another reason street shoes aren't allowed on the approches is that the small rocks that get embedded in the soles will destroy the lane surface. This is also why you don't want to wear bowling shoes out into the parking lot.

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Alex Yates

Whoa! Check out the big brain on The_Lip?!

Just messin' with you. Thanks for the very informative answer. You know, Big L was filmed around Venice Beach, CA. Well, with "dude" being said 300+ times in 90 minutes, it had to be, eh?