55 Best Bowling Quotes That Are Right Up Your Alley

Supriya Jain
Dec 12, 2023 By Supriya Jain
Originally Published on Jan 27, 2021
Edited by Monisha Kochhar
Young man playing bowling at the sport club.

“Bowling’s not a game because you have to rent the shoe.” This is a famous bowling saying that is associated with renting of bowling shoes while playing.

This article contains all the bowling quotes and bowling sayings you need to have a great time out at the bowling alley!

Whether bowling is a sport for people or not, it is still quite a fun activity. The objective of the game is to hit and make all the pins fall.

The terms used in bowling are- Bowling Pins, Bowling Alley, Gutter, Lane. You roll a ball along the lane of the bowling alley to hit the pins. The ball either hits the pins or sometimes goes into the gutters which are the side lanes on either side of the alley.

If you are a talented bowler and manage to get 5 strikes in a row, it is called a 'Brat' or a 5-bagger. Read these 55+ quotes and sayings on bowling that you can find relatable.

For more activity-related content, take a look at Dodgeball quotes and Figure Skating quotes.

Funny Bowling Quotes

Bowling is a sport which can make you the house pro bowler in minutes. Do you seldom lose a bowling ball?

And do you pray the strikes would take care of themselves if you just get the ball in the lane? Don't worry, we have all had those funny bowling memories! Read these funny bowling quotes and sayings and enjoy a good laugh.

1. “If I had been on ‘Bowling for Dollars’, I’d wind up owing them money.”

- Ricki Lake

2. “Drew’s a funny guy. Because anything he gets into, he gets in 100%. Even when we were doing ‘The Drew Carey Show,’ he got into bowling, and suddenly he’s phoning up pros for tips and carrying around 3 balls. It’s just how he does it.”

- Ryan Stiles

3. “I performed in a bowling alley before while people were still bowling. Cut the check, and I will perform anywhere.”

- ­­­­­­Kevin Hart

4. “The bowling alley is the poor man’s country club.”

- Sanford Hansell

5. “Having children is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.”    

- Martin Mull

6. “That's the first thing they teach you in bowling, by the way. Don't press the ball against your nose. The other one is don't lick the pins.”    

- David Letterman

7. “When I was a kid, I was at a bowling alley and I ran into a soda machine. I still have the scar on my right eyebrow obviously.”

- Luke Perry

8. "You ought to try surviving one of my family reunions. It's like having a bowling alley in your brain."

- Edna Buchanan

9. “I used to sit on the couch, and I could go through a pound of Brie cheese and a movie. I was like, 'That's enough,' because it feels like a bowling ball in your stomach.”

- JWoww

10. “I bowled for two years in college, because I was drunk and needed shoes.”

- Kathleen Madigan

Motivational Quotes On Bowling

At the bowling center, there are many lessons in bowling and in life to be learned. Those bowling ball holes and the mighty bowling pin teach us strength, perseverance and patience.

A bowling center is a place for entertainment and enjoyment and what is life if a person can't stop to count some bowling ball holes from time to time? So, read these motivational bowling quotes to get inspired.

11. “I saw this college team bowling championship. Each team had their own coach. What kind of strategy advice is a bowling coach giving? ‘You know what? This time Timmy, I want you to knock down all the pins.’ ‘You sure?’ ‘Trust me. Just do it, son!’”

- Jim Gaffigan

12. “I’m a bowling pin, even when I fall, I’ll always stand back up.”

- Jay Park

13. “You want perfection, go to a bowling alley!”

- John Calipari

14. “Bowling makes me happy like eating infinite bowls of rice!”

-  Yôsuke Kuroda

15. “Bowling is a game of mistakes. Generally, whoever makes the fewest comes out the best.”    

- Earl Anthony

16. “There's kind of a Zen aspect to bowling. The pins are either staying up or down before you even throw your arm back. It's kind of a mind-set. You want to be in this perfect mind-set before you released the ball.”

- Jeff Bridges

17. “I would say think about the thing that makes you happiest, and do that. If it's drawing or dancing or listening to music or bowling, whatever it is that makes you happy, I would focus on that, and you'll definitely gain some confidence.”

- Ad-Rock

18. “I was a little, skinny, runt kid, and I decided that bowling was what I was going to do in life.”

- Don Johnson

19. “Bowling is all physics and energy distribution. It's F = ma. So it is actually one of the most science-y sports, because it literally is just a ball and a surface and objects to knock down.”

- Chris Hardwick

20. “I can't tell you how many life lessons I've learned through bowling. Time management, finding balance in life, how to lose, how to win, how to bowl as a team and deal with people. How to do something I love to do and inspire other people.”

- Diandra Asbaty

Bowling Quotes From Movies

There have been many movies centered on the game of bowling like 'The Big Lebowski' and 'The Simpsons', which have taught lessons in bowling and in life. Bowling has reached new heights. Given are some of the bowling quotes and bowling sayings from movies.

21. “This is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.”

- John Goodman, ‘The Big Lebowski’

22. “We’re goin’ bowling. If we don’t come back, avenge our deaths.”

- Homer Simpson, 'The Simpsons'

23. "Well, my grandpa always taught me to bowl 15 frames. It’s like I told you before, we Amish, we do everything half again as hard as you do. Ten frames."

- Ishmael, 'Kingpin'.

24. "You are entering a world of pain. You mark that frame an 8, and you’re entering a world of pain!"

- Walter Sobchak, 'The Big Lebowski'

25. "The Dude: You brought a Pomeranian bowling?

Walter Sobchak: I did not bring it bowling. I’m not renting it shoes, I’m not buying it a beer, dude."

- 'The Big Lebowski'

26. "Man: Come on, boy. Bowl.

Roy Munson: The name's not boy. It's Roy. Roy Munson."

- 'Kingpin'

27. "Sometimes a bowler just has to face the music.”

- Ernie McCracken, 'Kingpin'

Bowling Quotes By Famous Authors

There are many mentions of the bowling game by famous authors in their books. Read these bowling quotes and bowling sayings by famous authors and see what they say about this game.  Let's have a look at some quotes about bowling.

28. “It would be difficult to convince me that leaning has no effect whatsoever on the outcome of my bowling.”

- Amy Krouse Rosenthal, ‘Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life’

29. “One of the advantages bowling has over golf is that you seldom lose a bowling ball.”

- Don Carter

30. “I liked the movie 300, but the title is misleading. I thought it would be about scantily-clad professional bowlers.”

- Jarod Kintz, ‘Whenever You're Gone, I'm Here for You'

31. "Sorry is the Kool-Aid of human emotions. It’s what you say when you spill a cup of coffee or throw a gutter ball when you’re bowling with the girls in the league. True sorrow is as rare as true love."

- Stephen King

32. “In bowling and in life, if a person made the spares the strikes would take care of themselves.”

- Stephen King

Famous Bowling Quotes

Just as popular as the game is, there have been quotes that have become quite popular with time. From John Calipari and Sanford Hansell to Stephen king, here we have them all!  Read these bowling quotes and sayings which came to fame along with the game itself.

33. “I usually love to go bowling when I'm in Vegas. There's something about Vegas and bowling, do you know what I mean? You know what I mean. Bowling is just the thing to do.”

- Rutina Wesley

34. “You can never find the right bowling ball. This one's too heavy. This one's good but it's pink!”

- Jim Gaffigan

35. "Building a mechanical device for its appearance is like putting lace on a bowling ball."

- Andrew Vachss

36. "I can't decide whether to commit suicide or go bowling."

- Florence Henderson

37. “Bowling, I like bowling. I've been getting into this bowling thing. It's kinda fun.”

- Queen Latifah

38. “Bowling would be more interesting if it were slightly uphill.”

- Demetri Martin

39. “It would be hilarious if I worked in a bowling alley.”

- Aubrey Plaza

40. “There was no family-entertainment centers in the western suburbs. Bowling is fun family entertainment.”

- Tom Young

41. “Bowling is not a sport because you have to rent the shoes.”

- George Carlin

42. “Some people have their own bowling ball and their own bowling shoes… and no friends.”

- Jim Gaffigan

43. “Every bowling centre should have a house pro.”

- Don Johnson

44. “Just a couple of minutes ago, I signed a couple of bowling pins for some people. That’s a normal thing. Somebody will hand me something and say, ‘Draw a picture! Draw the Dude!’ They’re probably selling them on eBay or something.”

- Jeff Bridges

45. “I like bowling. I suck at it, but I like it. You know what's so funny? I have days when I'm absolutely great at doing it, and then I have days when I just don't understand it.”

- Lil' Kim

46. “Beside a perfectly-timed boundary hit on a hard ground from fast bowling, all other delights of this life are a nothingness.”

- Willow the King

47. “A boy without mischief is like a bowling ball without a liquid centre.”

- Homer Simpson

48. “I have always hated bowling, and I don’t mind admitting it.”

- Hunter S. Thompson

49. “Error increases with distance. It’s true with bowling, and it’s true with families.”

- Steve Farrar

50. “Baseball is the only sport there is - next to bowling that is.”

- Luella Lorraine Lavell

51. "I got the bowling ball blues. When I first started bowling. Just a spare was great. My score looked good at 108."

- Mack Fields

Cricket Bowling Quotes

Bowling is not something limited just to the game, but has long been associated with Cricket. Cricket is a much-loved sport around the world. Read these bowling quotes and bowling sayings by some of the greatest cricket bowlers of all time.

52. “Part of the art of bowling spin is to make the batsman think something special is happening when it isn't.”

- Shane Warne

53. “It is always challenging bowling abroad - you don't get much spin, bounce. You do get bounce, but you don't get sideways spin. It is always drifting kind of spin you get.”

- Harbhajan Singh

54. “Fast bowling is an art, like spin bowling.”

- Kapil Dev

55. "If I've to bowl to Sachin [Tendulkar], I'll bowl with a helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."

- Dennis Lillee

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions from 55 Best Bowling Quotes That Are Right Up Your Alley, why not take a look at Golf quotes, or [Cristian Ronaldo quotes].

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Written by Supriya Jain

Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Administration specializing in Marketing

Supriya Jain picture

Supriya JainBachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Administration specializing in Marketing

As a skilled member of the Kidadl team, Shruti brings extensive experience and expertise in professional content writing. With a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Punjab University and an MBA in Business Administration from IMT Nagpur, Shruti has worked in diverse roles such as sales intern, content writer, executive trainee, and business development consultant. Her exceptional writing skills cover a wide range of areas, including SOP, SEO, B2B/B2C, and academic content.

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