But the number of bowling centers in the United States, which peaked at about twelve thousand in the mid-1960s, has been steadily falling for four decades. The number was down to about 3,800 in 2023, according to the USBC. Political scientist Robert D. Putnam famously cited the decline of league bowling in his 2000 book Bowling Alone as one of many indicators that civic engagement was collapsing across America, noting that league bowling declined by 40 percent between 1980 and 1993. The updated figure is even more dramatic: from a high of about 9.8 million league bowlers at the end of the 1970s, the number of USBC members in leagues for the 2022–23 season was 1.09 million. That’s a decline of 89 percent.

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Even in professional bowling, the styles of delivery vary wildly; some bowlers are graceful and fluid, others are herky-jerky. The canny bowlers know how their ball will react to the oil on the lane, and they know what combination of velocity and spin will get it to hit the pins just right. But the lane conditions are always changing. What worked last week may not work next week. Even as a tournament is in progress, the oil gets streaky or dries up in spots. What worked for a game or two might not keep working. Experienced bowlers know how to adjust.

To be a bowler is to be at war with change. You feel it in the moment as you are bowling. But you also feel it whenever industry leaders talk about the need to “evolve.” You worry about looming transitions, as the bowling business struggles to adapt to the times.

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Changing Lanes | Dave Denison

How long can bowling endure the vulture capitalists buying up alleys around the country?

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