|
|
There will be times when you are
confused by all you know. Your bowling life will be like this: You've
moved left. You've moved right. You've looked farther down the lane.
You've targeted the dots. You've changed balls three times. You've
tried forward rotation. You've tried side rotation. You've changed
speeds. Nothing has worked. Now you are more confused and frustrated
than you were before you started making all these adjustments. The
pressure to hurry up and score is incredible. Can you feign an injury?
There has probably been a time in your bowling career you have been
so frustrated you thought "I've tried everything I know and nothing
has worked." If you have been there, you know how to define the
word panic. When your evil non-bowling twin, Mildred, says that
to you, she is putting all your adjustments in the discard pile
instead of back in your deck. With all the things out there working
against you, (you, your opponents, lane conditions, where the moon
is, etc), you need every edge you can get.
The more you know about your game, the more weapons you have available
for your use. You know that practice is the best way to get intimate
with your game. Practice is not two four-letter words! You can get
to know your game in competition, but the price you pay is much
higher.
Don't just try something in practice once and blow it off. Try it
again and again. Make sure you give it a fair chance. After a while,
you'll probably begin to see what difference and what benefit the
experiment might have for your game. New things aren't awful. They
feel different, not wrong.
I can't tell you how disappointing it is as a coach to hear, "Fix
me but don't change anything." If nothing changes, you will continue
to do what you have been doing. Many people define comfort as whatever
they are used to doing. That doesn't make it right, that just makes
it comfortable. Sometimes, when you work with a change in your game
and get 'comfortable' with it, doing it the old way becomes not
just uncomfortable, but you wonder how (and why) you ever did it
that way!
Changes feel different before they feel better. If it didn't feel
differently, you wouldn't be changing anything and you'd be the
same player you are now. If you wanted to stay the same, why are
you taking lessons, reading this article, subscribing to magazines,
drilling new equipment, watching other bowlers, asking questions,
hanging around the pro shop, etc? The change, regardless of how
subtle, becomes a part of your weaponry as a player. You may use
it all the time or not have to use it often. Whichever it is, you
only have to know two things about its impact on your game: what
it will do and most importantly, when to use it.
When you try something in competition and it doesn't work, your
tendency is not to try it again. You know whoever finds it first,
wins. There is great pressure to get lined up so sometimes we tend
to try something and eliminate it too quickly. After all, it didn't
work, why try it again? The fact is that it didn't work AT THAT
TIME. That doesn't mean it won't work now!
With modern lane conditions and equipment, there is constant transition
on the lane. Whatever oiling pattern was put on the lane before
anyone started bowling has nothing to do with now. A lane pattern
is developed. Every ball thrown on a lane changes that lane. A ball
that didn't work in practice may be just the thing by the middle
of the second game.
Let's say a ball didn't get up to the headpin in practice. Back
in the bag it goes and out comes a ball with a little more back
end reaction. What are you going to do when it begins to finish
sooner because of the breakdown of the oil or the amount of play
on the lane? How far left will you go? How hard will you throw it?
How many splits are enough? Meanwhile that ball in the bag is giggling
at not having to go to work. A day off, yea! You just shot 226,
180, 168...
What if you have decided, based on your reaction in practice, to
use forward rotation? When you tried side rotation in practice,
the reaction was not what you wanted, but forward rotation got the
job done. When your shot starts going a bit longer, the 2 is a little
slow to fall or a weak 10 stands, what will you do? You've already
tried side rotation and it didn't work, so now what? Change balls?
Change lines? Move your eyes? Move your feet? Both? How many frames
will your opponents wait for you to find it?We seldom remember everything
we know. One of the most beneficial things I have found that you
can do for your game is to list every single adjustment you know
- everything from moving your wrist ¼" in the starting stance to
moving three arrows with your feet and eyes, from targeting the
reflection of the heads of the pins to targeting the foul line,
from taking your thumb out 1/8" to changing weapons.
The problem comes when all those adjustments you've tried have been
discarded and you are out of options. If you had put those adjustments
back in your deck, you'd still be playing with a full deck. ? You
would not be out of options and what you tried early might be just
the thing now.
Sometimes you get confused by all the things you know. Instead of
helping you conquer the condition, you just become more befuddled.
In the heat of battle, it's sometimes difficult to remain clear-headed.
Let's make a list! Yes, a list. I know that you know too much to
write it all on your shoe or the outside of your wrist brace….
This list will help you stay focused and calm as it provides an
organized and comprehensive resource of what works for your game.
When making this list, you will find it helpful to also note when
you might use these adjustments. For instance, name all the things
you know to do for no back ends. You can tuck your pinky, spread
your index finger, set the ball down early, use more loft, look
shorter, change to your ______ ball, move outside, etc.
What other condition might elicit the need for one of these adjustments?
Well, you might need more loft if the heads are dry; you might want
to get the ball down sooner if the front part of the lane is oily;
tucking your pinky might help you stay behind the ball longer; spreading
your index finger might give you more side roll; moving outside
might be something you do when the midlane is giving you poor reaction;
the ____ ball is what you usually use on fresh conditions and although
this is not fresh, it is acting like it…
Most adjustments can be used to accomplish more than one thing.
If you make a spreadsheet of the adjustments you know and all the
different times you might need them, it can help keep more clearly
in your mind what to do and when to do it. My spreadsheet has all
the conditions I might face down the left side column and every
adjustment I know across the top.
I have been on conditions where I struggled as we all have. The
list can help. Let's say the heads were really flying and I couldn't
seem to get the ball far enough down the lane. I thought I had tried
everything I knew and was still frustrated and ineffective. When
I looked at the "dry heads" condition and checked every adjustment
to see which was applicable for me, a revelation! No wonder I was
getting confused. I had forgotten some things (looking at the dots
on the left side of the lane, for example) and was overusing others.
Making the list is an interesting task and you might be surprised
at all the things you know. Sometimes you don't know what you know.
Writing everything down somehow seems to make it more real. It is
quite a confidence-builder to look at all you know written down.
You know so much, no wonder you're confused!
Don't forget instinct moves. They are just as valuable and important
as the 'rut' moves. 'Rut' moves are those moves you always make
- one right for a weak 10, one left for a 4 pin - the stuff you
have always done. Instinct moves are the "I have no idea why I feel
I should stand here because it makes no logical sense but I'm going
to do it" and voila! It worked! If you list ALL you know, including
instinct moves, you won't forget any of them when the heat's on
and you're uptight or scattered. No more driving home thinking,
"I should have tried..."
Elite players have hundreds of subtle adjustments they use constantly.
Their inventory is huge but more importantly, it stays huge. If
what they tried didn't work, they put it in reserve for later. If
they discarded everything they tried that didn't work, they would
be reducing their options. They would never give that advantage
to their opponent. Neither should you.
The elite player diligently and frequently practices adjustments
so they'll know what each will do and when to use it. Therefore,
their adjustments generally work because they are so very familiar
with what those adjustments will do on the lane. You can attain
this same confidence in what to do and when to do it with practice
- an exercise that will be worth it to you when it's showtime and
you make the right move at the right time instead of a mindless
'let's try this and see if it works'. As a coach, I really hate
to hear, "So then I tried the swirly green ball since the masking
unit had green in it and the others didn't work…" In my experience,
making a fashion statement like that seldom cashes. The following
chart was made by one of my students.
 |
