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Right Hand vs Left Hand: Shoes, Gloves & Drilled Balls

Brian Halstrom
Updated

Quick Summary

Performance bowling shoes, gloves and drilled balls are made for one hand. Universal shoes work for either. On any shoe category page, use the Hand filter (Universal, Right Handed, Left Handed), or start from Left Handed Bowling Shoes.

Table of Contents

🎳 The Short Version

  • Right handed bowler: you slide on your left foot, so you need a right hand shoe
  • Left handed bowler: you slide on your right foot, so you need a left hand shoe
  • Universal shoes have the same sole on both feet and suit either hand
  • Gloves and drilled balls are handed too, and the hand is chosen when you order

👟 Why Bowling Shoes Are Handed

Performance bowling shoes are not a matched pair. One shoe carries a slide sole for the foot you slide on, and the other carries a traction sole that grips and pushes off.

  • A right handed bowler slides on the left foot, so a right hand shoe puts the slide sole on the left shoe.
  • A left handed bowler slides on the right foot, so a left hand shoe puts the slide sole on the right shoe.

Buy the wrong hand and the soles are reversed: you try to slide on a gripping sole and brake on a sliding one. It is the most common ordering mistake we see, and it is easy to make, because most shoe listings are right hand.

🔁 Universal Shoes

Universal shoes have the same sole material on both feet. They are common at the entry level and in youth sizes, and they are fine for a right or left handed bowler. If a product page lists the Hand as Universal, you do not need to choose a side.

The trade off is performance: a universal sole slides less than a dedicated slide sole and cannot be swapped out. Bowlers who bowl in a league week after week usually move to a handed shoe.

🔎 How to Find Left Hand Shoes on Our Site

  1. Open any bowling shoe category page.
  2. In the filter sidebar, open Hand and tick Left Handed (or Universal, which works for either hand).
  3. Or skip the filtering and go straight to Left Handed Bowling Shoes.

The hand is also written into the product name, for example "Dexter Mens Pro Am II Left Hand Bowling Shoes". Check the name before you add to cart.

Not every model is manufactured in a left hand version, and left hand stock is thinner across the industry. If you cannot find your model and size, call us before you settle for a substitute: 1-256-579-1039.

🧤 Gloves and Wrist Supports

Gloves, wrist supports and positioners are sold as left or right and are listed that way in the product name. Order the one for your bowling hand, which is the hand that holds the ball.

🎳 Drilled Bowling Balls

A ball leaves the factory with no holes in it, so it is not right or left handed until someone drills it. The hand decides where the thumb hole sits relative to the finger holes, which is what makes a layout work for the way you release the ball.

If you add our Basic Drilling Service, which we offer on a selected group of entry-level balls, you pick the hand and a size, for example "Right Hand, Basic Medium", and the ball is drilled for that hand.

  • Choose the hand you bowl with, which is not always your writing hand
  • An undrilled ball can be drilled for either hand, by us or by your own pro shop
  • Drilled for the wrong hand is not the end of the ball: a pro shop can plug the holes and redrill it for the correct hand, the same work they do when a bowler's fit changes

Plugging and redrilling is paid pro shop work and it is not a return, so it is still worth getting the hand right at checkout. Our Drilling Protection Plan does not cover it either; that plan covers a ball cracking while it is being drilled.

Details: Bowling Ball Drilling & Drilling Protection Plan.

↩️ If You Ordered the Wrong Hand

  • Not shipped yet: contact us right away and we can usually swap it before it leaves. Have your order number ready.
  • Shoes already delivered: unworn shoes can be exchanged within 60 days. Try them on a clean, dry surface only, since any sole wear ends exchange eligibility.
  • Ball already drilled: drilled balls are final sale and cannot be returned or exchanged. Call us before your order ships if the hand is wrong.

Start here: Size Exchanges · Exchange Process

Need Help?

📞 Customer Support Team

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Last reviewed: September 9, 2026. Policies can change; if something here conflicts with checkout or your order confirmation, contact support.

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