To glove or not to glove...

Bowling is about as bad as golf when you look at all the gadgets and toys you can buy that can 'assist' you with your game. Gloves, towels, wrist braces, tapes, not to mention shoes (which we already covered). The list goes on and on. Even fashion has come into play with all of the dye sublimated shirts and yes, we now have the crazy pants. Chris Barnes, love you, but damn those things are bright. I digress. What I wanted to talk about today was gloves. This is by no means an effort for me to vilify gloves as something used to cheat and create more lift on the ball or anything like that. It is really meant to look at the different types and what there used for. The bowling glove that has been a mainstay in bowling for years. Going as far back as Don Carter in the 50's to today's Mike Scroggins and his ever present full brace. Hell, I still use my Robby's Rev-I the majority of the time due to a serious wrist injury that happened years ago. Old age sucks kiddos, enjoy it while you can. At any rate, the question of whether to use a glove or not and what they bring to the game is what I would like to explore.

When looking at all of the options that are out there and if you are going to use one, you have to take a look at your own game. This is about as personal as choosing a layout on a ball or what car you drive. What works for you may not work for the next bowler. I would also like to say that as a training aid, nothing is more useful in building proper technique with wrist control like a glove. Yes there are caveats to every rule, but in general they are very helpful. The other extreme is how non bowlers view our use of gloves. In pop-culture, no single item more than the glove has been used to  exemplify the geeky bowler. That's ok, because we know what makes a real bowler and admit it, that stuff is pretty damn funny. Now, to continue to use one as part of your day to day arsenal, again depends on the bowler. Then there are the choices available. Gloves that support the entire hand, create grip on the ball, brace the wrist, or create comfort in our superstitious ways.

Starting with the basic wrist brace, this is probably the most common item you will see out there on the lanes worn by most avid bowlers. Doesn't matter if it is an Ebonite Wrist Wrap or layer of tape wrapped around the wrist, the protection of the bowlers wrist has become just about the most important thing out there. Especially if you wish to extend your years on on the lanes. There really isn't much to say about these other than just like in most sports that involve impact or repeated use of wrist movement, they are designed to re-enforce the joint to provide consistent support and strength and minimize the risk of injury. It also doesn't restrict the bowlers range of movement as much as a full brace would. Allowing you to cock and load your wrist as you go through the release of the ball, maximizing the rev rate that can be generated.

The next group of gloves are truly that... gloves. The important trait of these are that they have high traction surfaces on the index finger, pinky, and palm. Designed to create a consistent feel on the ball, they are similar to the gloves that you see commonly in golf. Used for the same reason, a great investment if you happen to have sweaty palms or just want to avoid any moisture effecting your grip on the ball. In addition to that, there is a certain 'I am a bad ass' look about these things. Not that we as bowlers would EVER make a purchase based on that...

Finally we come to the grand daddy group of them all. Bowling braces, gloves, guards, whatever you call it, this is the category that is designed to lock your hand and wrist in the optimum position to create a consistent release and roll of the ball. It can be something as simple as the Master Wristmaster that is available in just about every pro-shop in America to the scientifically designed metal monsters like the Robby's Rev-I that I mentioned before. Over the years, the variety of gloves that are available on the market that would fit into this category has exploded. Millions of dollars have been invested by just about every bowling company in the industry to find the perfect combination that allows the bowler to be as consistent as possible at the point of release. With that, there really isn't one design that is going to fit all bowlers. So you have a wide variety of options to chose from. As I said before, this is the place that you want to be if you are a new bowler and want to get some help positioning your hand in the right place or like me, get a little bit of help when you simply do not have the strength to endure a 21 game tournament worth of bowling because of years of abuse. Normally these gloves consist of a metal plate or frame that runs the back of your hand to your wrist, wrapped in a comfortable form to allow for several hours of wear.

So this brings us down a long road to answer the question to glove or not to glove. This is something that can only be answered by each individual bowler. Myself, as a former coach, I kept several types of gloves and braces in my bag so that as I was working with the youth bowlers I could leverage them as not only a training aid, but to see if it would even work for them long term. With that, you also have to think of gloves as an investment. Some of them can run as much as $80+ dollars, not something you just want to buy 'to see if you like it' or because 'it looks cool'. Unless you have the money to just toss around, then I say go for it. Buy one of each, see what you like, what works, and what doesn't, but I doubt any of us are in that boat. So ask your pro-shop if they have a 'try it before you buy it' program with the gloves. Or if you are in the position of learning bowling or taking your proven skills to the next level, speak to a coach or your local pro. They may have something to bring to the conversation in the form of additional advice matching your game or even having some of them on hand, like I did, that you can try out. Do what is right for you.