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INSIDE ACCESS: Beyond the bowling alley lanes

There's a lot of mechanics beyond the pins. We take a behind-the-scenes look at Spare Times in Hampton.

HAMPTON, Va. — Early forms of the game date back to 5000 BC and Ancient Egypt. Today, it's a past time and a hobby for many.

Kevin Morris of Spare Times bowling in Hampton knows there's more to bowling than picking a lucky ball - he's managed the bowling alley for 20 years.

The shoes you get before playing are actually to protect the lanes. "Bowling, when doing the approach is meant to slide and it’s hard to slide in the tennis shoe," Morris notes.

You, of course, try to knock down as many pins as possible. But behind the pins is something you may not know about.

"Well, when the ball goes through the pins in the case of an AMF lane like this one is, there’s a carpet, the ball rolls in through a door, comes up the lift and comes right back on up the lane."

Mechanics and engineering keep things moving smoothly no matter how many pins you hit.

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