It was on a hot Friday afternoon at the beginning of summer when we discovered the joys of our local bowling alley. And according to Ahmed Elkomy, president of Switch, the state-of-the-art bowling centre at Ibn Battuta Mall, we are not alone. Centres are literally mushrooming all over the city, providing an air-conditioned haven for families to hang out and play together, whatever the weather.

He says: ‘Ten-pin bowling is especially good for those with younger children, because usually it’s not easy to get involved in a team activity when you have kids as young as three or four. But even little ones can go bowling and really enjoy it.’

Switch Bowling, he explains, provides lane bumpers for young players to build up confidence and bowling ability. ‘If the ball keeps ending up in the gutter, they can lose interest. But the bumpers prevent this from happening, so even young children can actually play competitively against their parents and older siblings.’ The weight of the ball doesn’t have to be an issue either, he points out. While Switch provides lighter-weight balls for children, they can still be tricky to control, so ramps are used. ‘We position the ramps in the middle of the lane, and the children literally roll balls off it. This builds up their enthusiasm for the sport, because they don’t have to be experts to get good results.’

Not only that, he adds, but bowling is also great for your physical coordination (you have to get the ‘tip-toe shuffle and slide’ just right to get a strike), it can burn calories (the balls are heavy – plus there’s all that jumping about when you score a strike) and it can hone hand-to-eye coordination and concentration skills, too.

Ok, we admit we’re hooked. Now it’s your turn to give it a try!