Knee Problem

[niteowl]

I just recently started bowling again after not bowling for 5 years. Now it seems that around the 3rd game I start having trouble with my knee on the leg I slide with. I am not sure if its from the impact of sliding or just fatigue. Anyone have this problem? I have been thinking about buy some type of knee brace for added support, any suggestion on a knee brace that you have experience with?

[GBBarrie]

I would guess that it's from new stress that your knee isn't ready for. The best way to prepare it for strain and to reduce fatigue is to exercise and stretch. A nice easy exercise that will do exactly what you need is lunges. They'll look a lot like what you end up doing bowling .

As far as the brace goes, I would see if you can overcome the fatigue without it. If you wear a brace at this point you might just end up doing damage, or developing bad habits that are not easily undone.

[BigDawg70]

I agree with GBBarrie 100%. Several years ago I had knee surgery and was told it would be a good idea to wear a brace when doing anything strenuous. I found out after a month or two of using the brace that my knee had actually gotten weaker. Stretching and exercise is your best bet in the long run.

If you haven't already, you might take a look at some of the higher end bowling shoes that allow you to swap heels and soles to give you a little more control over your slide. When it comes to bowling shoes you definitely get what you pay for. I would look at the SST6's or the Dynaroo's/3g shoes. The 3g's will give you more heel/sole combinations but the Dexter SST6's are a little wider across the sole and will offer a little more stability. The ability to change your slide sole can be a life saver or knee saver especially on synthetic approaches.

[niteowl]

Thanks you 2 for the great advice. I splurged on the new Dexter SST8. I tried the s10 sole with the h7 heel so basicly the longest slide possible. I had to move back on the approach about 6 inches to accomodate, but I am no longer getting knee problems. I used to only be able to bowl about 4 or 5 games before it got too bad. a couple days ago I bowled 9 straight and felt no pain at all. So thanks again for the great advice.

[BigDawg70]

I've been looking at the SST8s. I know the SST7s had a piece of rubber on the toe of your slide foot which sounded like an accident waiting to happen. Have they changed that on the 8s? I will say that it was pretty smart on their part to have interchangeable soles on both feet.

[niteowl]

Yes it has, there is no material at all on the tip aside from the sole you decide to use. If you go to this link http://www.dexterbowling.com/soles-heels.asp and slide the slider all the way to the right to s10 and h7 you will see exactly what my setup looks like and the pad on the sole goes all the way to the tip, no difference in material from what you see.

[TenPin]

Gee BigDawg, your a cranker, so I'd figure you would be in for the adventure? J/K, LOL, I've actually been eyeing the SST8's too. That rubber piece in the SST7's took me a while to get use to. On the SST8's I read that the toe is now leather, so it must be there improvement on the new generation of SST's.

TenPin

[niteowl]

My sst8's have no toepiece rubber or leather at all. Here is a link to a pic of my current heel and sole setup and you can see there is no material on the tip. http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f5...c/100_4867.jpg and here is a pic of the shoes with all the soles that came with the SST8's to show that its not just the soles I am using that dont have material on the tip. http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f5...c/100_4868.jpg

[TenPin]

Thank you for the pictures, I understand better of what you are talking about on the bottom of the shoe. But it does state in the info provided by Dexter that there is a "Leather Toe Drag Protector (to) stop(s) slide sole peel back" on the shoe (check her for the info I am speaking of http://www.bowlersparadise.com/shop/...er_sst_8.shtml). If you had ever seen the SST7's slide shoe, you'd understand why I was confused. On the SST7's, there is a piece of rubber about a 1/4" thick going around the toe of the slide shoe.

So it looks as if they bowlersparadise.com failed to put in the correct description or something of that nature into the info blog. Oh well, whats new?

I also noticed it stated the shoes are right and left hand convertable? Other than replacing the push sole, I really don't see that being a feature. The new sole probably cost enough to push me to just buy a new pair of shoes. So you want to maybe bowl with the other hand, it still looks like you need a whole new set of soles to go with them to do that and they're not cheap.

Once again, thank you for showing me pictures of the SST8's, I still think I want a set, .

TenPin