Bumper bowling is a variation of bowling for beginners or children, in which barriers known as bumpers are placed at the edges of the lane, keeping errant balls in play and out of the gutter. Modern bowling alleys often have retractable bumpers which are automatically raised or lowered depending on whose turn it is to bowl. Bumper Bowling was started in 1978 by Alex Wortman and Zena Sheinberg in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A patent was filed on Feb. 19, 1982, and issued on Dec. 13, 1983.
A different form of bumper bowling was developed and marketed by Phil Kinzer at Jupiter Lanes in Dallas, Texas in 1982; originally, Kinzer's system was not intended to be a worldwide phenomenon as it was designed for his son. The first more popularly used types of bumpers were carpet rolls. The second generation were blocked foam pads or corrugated pipe, then came inflatable tubes. After that, there have been many different generations of the modern bumper system still in use today. The term "bumper bowling" is owned by AMF now and operates out of Dallas. The Wortman-Sheinberg bumper bowling systems are produced and marketed by Brunswick.