The Best Bowling Gift Ideas: Christmas, Birthdays and More

For some sports and hobbies, it’s easy to come up with a plethora of great gift ideas due to the sheer vastness of accessories and other equipment that are frequently used.

With bowling, on the other hand, it’s a bit different. All of the equipment like a ball and shoes can easily be rented at the alley and even if a bowler opts to buy their own, they usually don’t need to upgrade all that often.

But in this article we will cover quite a few very different ideas for gifts relating to bowling.

Our List of Popular Bowling Gifts

One of the first decisions to make when selecting a bowling-themed gift is whether you are going to go for actual equipment for the recipient to use on the lanes, or more of a novelty or fun gift like a piece of casual clothing or a bowling-themed trinket or game.

How should you decide between the two types of gifts? If your recipient is newer to bowling and doesn’t have their own ball or pair of shoes, then that may be a great gift to show your support of their endeavors and help them take them to the next level.

But if they already own an arsenal of balls, for example, then you may not want to try to guess what type of ball they still need. In that case, there are other bowling accessories that may be useful.

(Also, under no circumstances should you pull a Homer Simpson and engrave your own name on the ball in hopes that you yourself will become the owner!)

A good entry level bowling ball for family and friends who do not yet have their own ball is the T-Zone model by Brunswick.

If you choose to go this route, we recommend you read our guide to choosing your first bowling ball for more helpful tips to consider.

If your recipient is more advanced and may need a particular type of performance ball, then our list of best bowling balls of various types is also helpful reading.

If you don’t want to try to select the right ball for your recipient, then there are other types of bowling equipment that they may find useful.

These accessories could include bowling wrist supports, ball cleaners, bowling gloves, and more. But you’d want to casually have a chat with your recipient to get a sense of what type of item would be most appreciated based on their game.

Novelty Bowling Gifts

If, on the other hand, you wish to avoid real bowling equipment in favor of something fun, humorous, or whimsical, then a novelty bowling gift may be a better choice.

These are also good choices for stocking stuffers or White Elephant types of gift exchanges with co-workers or other large groups.

This category has a plethora of different options, which we’ll run through quickly here.

For the bowler who finds themselves stuck working at a desk for hours during the day although they’d rather be at the lanes, we humbly submit this desktop bowling game as a gift option.

It has a wood lane and a launch ramp to send the mini steel bowling ball into the 10 pins.

There are other similar table top bowling games to choose from, but this is our pick for the most fun, (as well as the cheapest).

Another option for a bowling novelty or gag gift is a pair of bowling-themed socks.

In our humble opinion, the more ostentatious-looking is the better for your recipient to wear at home, at work, or possibly even at the lanes while bowling.

Depending on the personality of your recipient, they may enthusiastically embrace the look, or they may be more for humor’s sake.

These ARAD novelty bowling socks are perfect for men, women, and even youth and come in a variety of color options.

There are also plenty of humorous bowling shirts out there, and this “split happens” unisex black tee is one of our favorites.

 

One more suggestion is a bowling-themed coffee mug, perfect for the bowler in your life you likes to start their morning with a cup of joe (or tea).

Read reviews of additional bowling novelty gifts for more ideas.

Finally we’ll cover a more specific gift idea that may appeal to the bowler(s) in your life.

Big Lebowski Bowling Gift Ideas

There’s a cult-favorite film with an all-star cast that prominently features bowling as a plot point.

I’m talking, of course, about The Big Lebowski, the 1998 dark comedy directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Jeff Bridges as “The Dude.”

There are more gifts relating to this movie than you might imagine, ranging from a Loaded Questions party game to various shirts, pillows, and mugs.

One particularly cool one that we recommend is this poster that features signature lines from the movie with a cool bowling ball and pin image:

Click here to browse more Big Lebowski gift ideas 

The Bottom Line on Bowling Gifts

We hope this article has given you some good ideas for what bowling-themed gifts to get this year. They range from the simple, like a pair of funny socks, to real equipment that may greatly improve your recipient’s bowling game.

No matter what you end up choosing, we hope you have a great holiday season!