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On Tuesday November 5, 2002,
at approximately 4 O'clock in the afternoon Leanne Barrette was
the most dangerous bowler on the planet. It was the final game of
qualifying for the final PWBA event of the year at the Storm Las
Vegas Challenge. Leanne entered the game thirty pins out of the
cut, while bowling on the same pair as the person who represented
the cut number.
| Fortes Fortuna Adjuvat —
Fortune Favors The Brave |
The only thing that was going to prolong her life in the tournament
was to throw a big number up there. The only way to do it, after
a day in which the lanes were tough and consistent scoring even
tougher, was to bowl with her back against the wall. In a way it
is like a street fight where you are so outnumbered that the path
to success is sheer un-abandoned, uninhibited, go-for-it, cool,
collected craziness.
Leanne had no choice but to intelligently throw caution to the winds,
make her best guess about how and where to match up, and to bowl
knowing that if she went down there was absolutely nothing left
in the bag. No regrets. No possibility of having anything remaining
that could have been called up. No perfection. No pointing. No over-controlling.
Live or die (figuratively speaking), this is it.
The result was an incredibly exciting monster game. A string of
strikes interrupted by a split, followed by a string of strikes,
and this Hall of Famer showed what she was made of. As they say
in tennis, "game, set, match", and she easily made the cut. If they
had started match play fifteen minutes later, I believe Leanne would
have been nearly unbeatable.
The question, and the focus for this article, is "what can great
competitors like Leanne Barrette, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Chris Barnes,
Norm Duke and their ilk call up to create incredible results in
those situations?, and "Can it be bottled?" We can learn a great
deal from matches like that one. I am very clear that what they
do can be replicated.
Many of you reading this can relate to situations when you have
been knocked so far out of the cut that you were essentially free.
I talk to touring pro's frequently who throw up their biggest numbers
after they know that they have missed the cut already, or have no
chance at the show.
"When
a man knows how to live dangerously, he is not afraid to die.
When he is not afraid to die, he is, strangely, free to live."
William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice (1939-1975) |
The more you try to control outcomes the more likely you are to
try to manually influence everything from trained muscle responses,
to putting a steering wheel on your release e.g., turning the hand
over, chicken winging with the elbow out, pointing to the pocket
instead of trusting the roll or the break point.
There is a kind of control that you want to emphasize which leans
on consistency, accuracy, and intention. Then there is the evil
bad kind which kills your game which involves trying to force results.
| Good
Control Versus Destructive Control |
Try this exercise on for size. Grab a pen and sign your name like
you would if you were signing a check or credit card receipt, only
do it larger. Now put your pen at the beginning of the first letter.
Carefully trace right over the original signature. Make sure that
your pen does not waiver off of the first line at all. Slipping
off of the line is considered a mistake, like throwing the ball
into the ditch.
Now repeat the exercise. Write your name. Then just write it again
right over the first one without thinking about it. Let it flow
and trust that it will be close.
Which way gave you better results? Most people feel more tense and
uncomfortable, adding constricting mental activity, when they have
to stay on the line absolutely. The second time you may slip off
of the line, but the overall line path will be nearly identical.
Remind you of anyone's favorite sport?
The bad kind of control occurs when you try to keep yourself from
slipping off of the line, just like on the lanes. In short, when
you put your energy into trying to prevent something bad from happening
you get hung up, whether it is tracing your own signature, or shooting
a corner pin.
The question is how can you have great control by giving up control?
Every accomplished bowler has had those days where every ball is
effortless. Racks carry with uncanny frequency, and spare shooting
is almost literally a no-brainer. Have you in fact given up control
in these cases? No, the reality is that you have just moved control
out of the thinking part of the mind where the ego hangs out, and
into the intuitive, subconscious, committed part of the mind. You
are just "signing your" name so to speak.
According to legend, Samurai warriors had a ritual to prepare for
battle. Knowing that they would be facing another Samurai, one on
one with a sword, the mental game had to be inhumanly strong. Most
battles involved one stroke with big heavy swords. The Japanese
had a saying, "While your sword is cutting me, my sword is killing
you". Whew!! Does match play get any better than this?
There was a meditation engaged in by these battlers before the confrontation.
In this meditation they worked on accepting death totally and completely.
If a Samurai did not have complete acceptance of any possible outcomes
of battle, then they would be at risk for flinching, trying to protect
themselves, and withholding complete commitment. Any mental hiccup
that held them back could easily result in getting killed. Ironically,
by knowing completely that they could deal with any outcome, the
Samurai were free to totally commit to "match play", and bring the
very best of their game!
In a nutshell, you tend to create what you fear. In the first place
fears activate fight or flight systems that can lead to tensing
muscles, squeezing and grabbing the grip, and inhibiting follow
through.
Secondly, consciousness and attention is drawn almost magnetically
to the feared results and events. Fear of pulling and pointing the
ball imprints "pulling and pointing" onto the mind. Fear of throwing
a corner pin shot into the ditch creates the Panama Canal of ditches
in the brain. Fear of getting beat or losing takes attention away
from reaching for greatness.
If you live in flinching and fear you are not playing the Samurai
game. If you afraid to "die" then you invite the bowling version
of death, which is an over-controlled, over-thought game. Even if
you win under these circumstances you won't have any sense that
you can repeat the event. Besides, life, like bowling, is a drag
when lived that way.
Get clear! The suggestion
is not that you become okay with losing. The exact opposite is true.
The point is that if you fear losing, fear being the runner-up,
fear not making a shot, you then invite all kinds of mental and
emotional processes that put you at risk for failure. When you
have made ultimate peace with yourself ahead of time, i.e. you know
you will be okay no matter what the results, then you are free to
execute to the best of your ability.
Will you always win the game if you do this? No. At the 2002 PBA
Pepsi Open in Springfield, PA Chris Barnes let it all go in the
final frames of the championship match to force Randy Pedersen to
strike in the tenth on a very tough condition. Randy had had difficulty
lining up all match. Pedersen took his best estimate on ball, line,
and speed and truly went for it, a Samurai move. He threw a dramatic
strike to take the trophy. Barnes played as a Samurai, but did not
have final score total for the title. What else was there to do?
Probably nothing.
The same thing was true at the 2002 Cambridge Credit Classic in
Long Island. The game ended in a dead tie. In the extra frames roll
off when Norm Duke beat Dave Traber there were simply two Samurai
braving it all with nothing to lose, and greatness to gain. They
went at it for three frames of sudden death. Duke will be remembered
for the title. Anyone who was present or viewing on television will
remember a no holds barred championship, an unbelievably impressive
show!
In heart there were no losers. Two very dangerous bowlers competed.
In score someone won, someone lost. The only thing that you don't
want to leave the bowling center with is the knowledge that you
lost because you were afraid to fail!
There are several steps that can be taken in order to make yourself
into a dangerous bowler. Here is a buffet to choose from. Practice
these in order. Or simply take the ones that fit by themselves.
1) The first step to making yourself
into a dangerous bowler is to acknowledge the truth. If you
are tightening up, acknowledge that fears of not making shots, or
fears of not winning, are inhibiting your game. Kidding yourself
doesn't work.
2) Gain some perspective…right now!
Once you have acknowledged a fear, step way back in your mind. This
game, this match, this shot, this tournament is just an eye-blink
in your bowling life. In the big picture none of this is huge, even
though your ego is screaming that it is! It is okay to compete as
if the game were the most important thing in life, as long as you
know in your heart of hearts that it is not.
When you have true perspective you can become dangerous. You accept
the possibility of desired or non-desired results. Once you realize
that you cannot lose in life if you give everything you have, you
move beyond fear. They say that the reason angels can fly is that
they take themselves lightly. Take your bowling seriously, but leave
your sense of personal value out of it.
3) Compete with nothing to lose and
everything to gain. That's it. If you have something to lose
you become protective. If you have nothing to lose you are free.
It is that simple. Almost every bowler I have ever known has a story
about how well they bowled once they knew they were out of the cut.
Start that way from the time you lace up. Think of what you can
do with perspective like that!
4) If you have been hit by a flying
fear grenade and have recognized it, undo the effects.
a. Use a clearing deep diaphragm
breath as part of your pre-shot routine in order to tell your unconscious
mind that all is okay now.
b. Shift your mind from negative
images of non-desired results towards what you intend to have happen.
Positive self-talk and positive imagery can save the day, e.g."I'm
going to that area on the lanes, and here's exactly how I'm going
to do it".
5) Make a decision about what you
are going to do and trust it with everything you have. Focus
on what you intend to do. Make a decision to believe in yourself,
what you are doing, and the line you are using. If you see what
you want to do in your mind's eye, fear will have to take a seat
on the sidelines. At that point you become a very very dangerous
competitor!
6) Make the distinction between caring
about your bowling instead of worrying about it. Of course
you care about bowling great, making shots, and winning. Dangerous
bowling says "care but don't worry". Observe the difference between
worrying and caring. Read these two statements:
a. If I coach you I care very much about how you are and how you
bowl.
b. If I coach you I worry very much about how you are and how you
bowl.
The attitude between those two statements is vastly different.
If you don't need anything you are rich. If you have a sense of
humor about life every competition becomes a dance with the universe.
If you become desperate you invite all the demons of your mind to
assault you. At that point you are only dangerous to yourself.
There is a popular saying that translates
easily to the game of bowling:
Compete like you don't need the money or the glory.
Love the game as if you have never known failure or defeat.
Bowl like absolutely no one is watching.
Roll your shots as if each one is a work of art.
And compete like there is no tomorrow.
What a wonderful dangerous way to live life that would be!! Use
the six steps to Samurai. There is no part of you that will ever
regret it.
This article appeared in similar form in the December, 2002 issue
of Bowling This Month. |
