Power Wheelchair Bowling

With the IKAN BOWLER^® and IKAN SOCCER GUARD all POWER WHEELCHAIR USERS can go WHEELCHAIR BOWLING and play WHEELCHAIR POWER SOCCER. Including people with Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Spina Bifida, Quadriplegia, Spinal Cord Injuries, Multiple Sclerosis and other power wheelchair users...

The IKAN Bowler® is the world’s first and only barrier-free bowling system and it was (and is) approved for competition with and/or against able-bodied bowlers or IKAN Users by the American Bowling Congress and the Women’s International Bowling Congress, which merged in forming the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). The IKAN Bowler® allows the wheelchair user to experience the total freedom of complete control over league, tournament, or recreational play. In fact, the device is so revolutionary it won a 2004 da Vinci Award from the Engineering Society of Detroit and National Multiple Sclerosis Society Michigan Chapter.

The process of bowling with an IKAN Bowler® is the same process that able-bodied bowlers employ: setup, then physically approach and release the ball upon reaching (but not crossing) the foul line. The only real difference is the approved use of a caddy, which is why the IKAN Bowler® was sanctioned for competition by the USBC. A caddy places and aligns the ball based upon the bowler's instructions (where the ball's finger holes are placed determines the shape of the shot) then must step off the lane. The bowler then controls the speed, direction, and timing of the ball's release by moving their wheelchair. The IKAN Bowler®'s unique parabolic arm perfectly mimics a ball being released from someone’s hand.

The IKAN Bowler^® can be used either as a DYNAMIC (meaning it is released from the momentum of stopping a moving wheelchair) or STATIONARY device. As a dynamic device, the wheelchair is positioned from six to twelve feet behind the lane's foul line, then proceeds forward at a speed no greater than four miles per hour before stopping short of the foul line (again, the momentum from stopping releases the ball). As a stationary device, the IKAN Bowler's^® PRECISION DESIGN and QUALITY CONSTRUCTION maximizes ball control and speed, even though the wheelchair is not moving.