Scented Bowling Balls Help Bowlers Reach Their Flow States



Walk into any bowling alley and you’ll quickly find yourself caught in an olfactory battleground. Whiffs of floor polish mingled with shoe disinfectant face off against the stale specter of popcorn and Bud Light. Meanwhile, the must of ancient cigarette butts clings to the carpeting, as if stitched into its very being. Curiously, the one thing that doesn’t leave a distinctive mark on the nostrils is the bowling ball itself, a neutral party in the olfactory conflict. That is, unless the ball in question comes from the factories of Storm Products. Storm was developed by CEO Bill Chrisman, a chemist and avid bowler, who came up with the world’s first scented bowling balls. Starting with just the scents of green apple and citrus, it wasn’t long before the company was soon mixing every fragrance from grape to cinnamon in with the liquid that forms the bowling ball’s thick outer layer. The olfactory center of the brain is really close to the hypothalamus, the memory center, which is why an athlete has a better chance of reaching a flow state — being in the zone— if a scent can trigger the memory of a time when they played at their best. For example, when somebody grabs the orange-scented ball that they once scored more than 200 with, the fragrance reminds them of that particular moment in time, and it actually frees up their swing. It decreases their grip pressure and allows them to relax, which is important in bowling. The scented bowling balls range from $110 to $270.