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Keeping in mind that we all like
to do what is comfortable, let's define comfort in bowling. Comfort
is whatever you are used to doing. Period. It is not necessarily
right (or wrong), it's just comfortable. When a student is working
on changing something, I so often hear, "That feels uncomfortable."
We really need to think in terms of differences. It is different,
not wrong. It will feel differently before it feels better. If it
didn't feel any differently, nothing is changing and no improvement
will be made.
There is a part of your game that is your most common error. Everyone
has one (maybe more) of these. This is usually something that was
'comfortable', you changed it, and under pressure you revert to
it. You and your coach must identify each of these and figure a
key or trigger or distracter that prevents or delays that reaction.
It could be that when you are tired, you slow down. Another could
be that when you have to play deep, you tend to sail the ball to
the outside. A third might be that you are inclined to have a tight
armswing when you need to convert the bucket. (What you would hope
is that you don't leave the bucket when playing deep and you're
tired!) Once these areas have been identified, you and your coach
can experiment and try different things until you find a fix. It
could be drinking more water when you are tired (which is one of
the most invigorating things you can do), working on different body
alignments until you discover what allows you to play deep but prevents
you from throwing the ball out into the weeds, and shooting the
bucket from every dot and every arrow until it is a no-brainer for
you.
I can't let that comment about water go unembellished. We all know
that water is important. I just want to share a few things with
you about how REALLY beneficial to your bowling, (not to mention
your life), it can be.
It is thought that a majority of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
Some researchers think it is likely that statement applies to half
the world's population. In many people the thirst mechanism is so
weak that it is often mistaken for hunger. Even mild dehydration
will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%. One glass of water
can shut down midnight hunger pangs. I think it works on those 10
p.m.-just-before-you-go-to-bed pangs as well!
Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. When you feel
those 2 p.m. nap yawns coming on, get a glass of water. You'll find
the fog lifts and you can concentrate and function better. This
actually works anytime you get foggy, not just at 2:00 in the afternoon.
A small drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory,
trouble with basic math, difficulty focusing on the computer screen
or a printed page, as well as remembering where you were standing
on the right lane.
Research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly
ease back and joint pain. Drinking five glasses of water daily can
decrease the risk of certain types of cancer including colon, breast,
and bladder. It's worth a try. At worst, you'll just have to say,
"Excuse me," a little more often.
I'll try not to sprain an ankle jumping down from my soapbox. Anyway,
it is a rare individual indeed who can repair their game in competition.
For us mortals, repair kits are available during our lessons with
our coach, not in the heat of the battle with the lane condition
and pins. Let's say you are pulling the ball frequently, for instance.
So what? If you have a place you store the fix for that error, go
get it out of that mental file drawer and happily proceed to 'no
pull' heaven. If you don't have the key to that drawer or you suspect
it's empty, you don't have time to analyze and dissect why it's
happening. Move to where you're pulling it! If you can't hit what
you're looking at, look at what you're hitting!
This means that I think you should move so that your body alignment
is with the area of the lane with which you are struggling. That
should, first of all, get you more comfortable. Then one of three
things will happen:
The move will fix whatever was off in your physical game and you
can move back;
You can just stay there if the move worked;
You can keep moving if you keep pulling it.
Whatever. The point is that you not continue to stand there and
pull it thinking, "On this next shot, I am going to throw it better."
If you could throw it better, you would already be doing that. And
another thing (you feel some finger wagging here?), you shouldn't
say, "Don't pull it." That wonderful body of yours cannot not. It
only hears "___ pull it," and obedient and helpful as always, it
does just that.
HAS ANYONE SEEN MY LOST TIMING LAYING AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE?
I urge you to go to a Tour event anytime you can. Get there early
enough for the practice session (you miss a lot of interesting information
if you don't watch this part). You will see that for the first shot
of the day, the athletes put their hand in the ball and just start
walking to the line. They throw the ball at a reduced speed and
watch it down the lane. They don't get set and don't aim; they just
roll the ball and observe.
Well, now let's think through this. These people make their living
bowling. If they do not knock pins down, they don't get to eat.
They, probably better than anyone, understand the 'whoever finds
it first, wins' axiom. Therefore, it seems to me that what works
for them in that regard is perhaps something us mortals might try.
Therefore, I urge you to make this part of your warm-up routine.
After you have checked approaches and the fit of all your equipment,
put your hand in the ball and just start walking toward the line,
just like the pros. Just let the ball go. You don't pause or get
set or throw full speed. You don't know whether you took 16 steps
or 6. The ball knows when to get into the swing. Put your hand in
the ball, walk toward the foul line, let the ball go, and watch
it all the way down the lane. This is your routine for practice
or competition.
When you do this, you will notice that your timing is its most exquisite.
It should be - you're not thinking about it! Mildred is not being
critical or judgmental - you're on cruise control. You just do it.
For some people this is very difficult. They are so programmed that
they cannot be free enough to just start walking and let go of the
ball. If you are one of these people, I urge you to work on loosening
up the formality of your stance and approach. It can really free
up a swing which affects carry which affects scoring.
Sometimes we get so caught up in all the myriad adjustments we have
tried, we allow the lane condition to take our game away from us.
If this has ever happened to you and you are feeling desperate and
lost, this warm-up routine is an excellent quick fix. If you feel
your timing or your stroke is gone, just go. That's right.
Just go. Pick the ball up off the ball return (that's 'lift' in
the modern game), look left and right to be sure you have the right-of-way,
and just start walking to the foul line as if it were your first
shot of the day.
I can't tell you how many people have looked at me skeptically when
I teach this method of recovering your feel. Yes I can - all of
them. That number is the same for those who come back to report
that they are thrilled that it worked - everyone who tried it. Some
people think that when you do this you are bowling like you don't
care because you aren't getting set and doing your pre-shot routine,
etc. When those folks start paying your entry fees and carrying
your bags, you can be concerned about what they think. In the meantime
you are doing whatever is necessary to get your feel back.
Another method for restoring lost timing is to shoot your favorite
spare shot, the one you seldom miss. When you leave this spare,
you don't get that sinking feeling in your stomach. You are quite
confident you will make it. You have this confidence because there
is no fear. It can be a 2 pin or 3 pin or even the corner spares.
Its degree of difficulty for you is infinitesimal. You throw on
automatic pilot. The FEEL of this shot can sometimes jar your muscle
memory. "Oh yeah, following through, that's the difference" or "Speed!
That's it. I'm being tentative."
When your flow goes away in competition, try one of these methods.
Don't get set and think too long or stare fiercely at your target
determined to really nail it this time - just go. Doing this will
usually help you get the feel back. Your bowling angels and your
body know how to bowl. Get out of their way!
I LEFT PART OF MY GAME AT HOME
Ever felt that way? I arrived at a tournament once and discovered
I had evidently forgotten my left side spare game at home. It was
as if I had never shot a left side spare in my life. The lane looked
all off. I knew I usually stood over here somewhere and threw over
there somewhere but it all looked wrong and I couldn't get the feel.
And then there was the time with one and half games to go and I'm
the bubble, the thumb slug falls down into the thumbhole.
Maybe today is the day it feels like you are pushing every shot
outside. Actually, that was in the first two games. Now it feels
like you couldn't get the ball to the outside unless you faced six
lanes away. Whose ball is in your bag anyhow?
Stuff happens. Again, you usually can't fix things in the heat of
the battle. You'll just have to go with what you brought today.
It is no different than bringing your bag into the center and opening
it only to discover you've brought the wrong bag. As soon as the
panic subsides (are we equipment-dependent or what?) you just move
around until you find a place where the equipment you brought will
work. In fact, sometimes you discover you didn't bring the wrong
bag at all. What you had been bringing was the wrong idea.
What we usually do in this situation is stand there and determinedly
keep throwing where we WERE effective, thinking the magic will be
back in just a second. We are sure the shot WAS there which means
it IS there. Maybe not. Maybe you are throwing the same shot that
you were throwing and maybe you are not. The reality it that what
you are doing isn't working.
The greatest lesson here is about staying in the moment. We usually
think that past behavior of the ball predicts future behavior. Not
so. Don't judge. Observe. This moment says that in order to get
the ball to the outside you need to face six lanes away. Okay, so
do it. Facing six lanes away cannot possible be any more embarrassing
than the last few shots you've attempted.
At that tournament where I thought I had no left side spare game,
what I really had was quite different. I realized I had not brought
my old, dependable left side spare game with me. It was time to
get radical. So, radical for me at the time was to stand on the
left side of the lane and throw down the boards at left side spares.
It felt a little awkward but certainly no worse than the foreign
territory of the right side of the lane! It worked and I learned
about alternative thinking and panic attacks and getting in ruts
and all kinds of things from that experience. It's always about
the learning.
Anyway, the point is that you fix what you can fix during competition
and when you or your stuff can't be repaired right then, you go
with the flow and try something different. You'll always learn something,
even if it is to mark your bags more carefully. Learning what not
to do is just as important as learning what to do. |
