But if you see it from the point of view of a random person who goes bowling once every 3.7 years, the whole thing does seem a bit weird.
I don't get what's weird about it though. You use the proper equipment for the sport. For me it's no different to wearing ice skates to go ice skating or using cues to play snooker. Is it just because you have to wear a shoe someone else has already worn? Is it not weirder to have to stick your fingers in the holes of the bowling ball that someone else has?
It's probably more than 3.7 years since I've been bowling so you can count me as one of those random people, it's not like I'm some uber bowling fan who's really invested in defending bowling shoes, if i do go bowling, like most people I just wear the things and get on with my life. It's not that big a deal. Fair play that you're the kind of person who questions things but it seems like your ignoring the answer just to be contrarian.
and most people just assume it's something to do with protecting the floor (see earlier post). But apparently it has something to do with making it better for you and your technique.
These are not mutually exclusive. It is about protecting the floor. The floor needs to be protected to allow you to perform the optimal technique. And optimal technique is not just about improving your score (which it rarely does for that random person every 3.7 years) it's about safety and injury prevention. Also your earlier post seemed to be confusing the floor of the throwing area with actual lane where the ball goes.
But then why should they give a toss whether you change your shoes or not? And would it really make much difference for the average person?
In terms of improving the average person's scoring performance probably not but again you seem to be ignoring the safety aspect of it. Maybe making you wear the shoes reduces the bowling alley's liability for injury.
It seems a bit like turning up to a parkrun and being made to change into a pair of Nike Alphaflys for the event.
It's more like someone arriving to a park run wearing high heels and being asked to change into more suitable footwear, particularly if the organisers could be held liable for injuries sustained.