Trouble keeping my eye on my mark

[josheaton16]

I know a lot of people have this problem, but for me it seems when i really try to focus on my mark the rest of my approach falls apart. Even if i hit it, it is usually a bad shot. I feel like when i focus to much on that, I don't throw my normal ball, either my ball speed will go down or lose revs. When i just go and throw without looking at my mark, as long as the rest of my approach is good, i can normally hit the right spot. Does anyone else have this problem? And how would you fix this?

[J Anderson]

My guess is that you are not yet at the point of having bowled 10,000 games. I suspect that your approach is not yet automatic. You still need a bit of concentration to keep everything in sync. I'm not sure that any tips will help the problem. As your approach becomes more automatic the problem should go away.

You could try taking a deep breath as you sight your target and then relax just a s you start to move.

[TCJ]

I have the same problem. I've always gone by feel to hit the right spot and I don't even look at a specific point on the lane when I throw. It's worked out well for me, but I've found that I have to change it when I started bowling on the sport shot. There is so little room for error that I have to pick a mark on the lane and try to hit it even though I struggle with consistency in everything else when I do so. I can't give too much advice for how to do it than to just keep practicing. That's what I'm doing and little by little I'm getting better at it. I think it just has to become something that's a habit for you so that after awhile you will shoot at that mark without having to concentrate so hard on it. Once you can accomplish that, it shouldn't affect the rest of your game. That's the hope I have for myself.

[josheaton16]

TCJ, I agree i have been bowling that way since i was a kid, that's how I have always done it. It is hard to break bad habits lol.

John, that makes sense but i feel like my approach is pretty automatic. I don't ever think about any specific thing when i make a shot. But when i try to focus on that one thing it throws me off. I don't know maybe its not as automatic as i think lol

[J Anderson]

TCJ, I agree i have been bowling that way since i was a kid, that's how I have always done it. It is hard to break bad habits lol.

John, that makes sense but i feel like my approach is pretty automatic. I don't ever think about any specific thing when i make a shot. But when i try to focus on that one thing it throws me off. I don't know maybe its not as automatic as i think lol

While some coaches say you should focus like a laser on your target, you may be trying too hard to focus on it.

[Greenday]

When i just go and throw without looking at my mark, as long as the rest of my approach is good, i can normally hit the right spot.

When you say the right spot, what do you mean? Are you referring to a very specific spot on one single board? Or are you talking about hitting a target region? (Hitting the 12 board at the arrows vs. throwing between the second and third board) If the latter, then generally, as long as you throw the ball well, it'll hit where you want it to go. That's probably why when you are focused on the approach and release you do well. If you move on to a sports shot, it'll no longer be good enough to just throw a good shot at a general region. Some sports patterns are tough enough that missing your target by one board will be disaster.

My learning process in bowling has come down to one thing: pick just one single thing to work on, practice the hell out of it until it becomes natural, then pick another thing and work on that. My approach was the most important part for me to perfect and I still tweak it every so often. Getting the pushoff correct. Letting the arm swing back without muscling it and giving it a little extra oomph. Not muscling it forward and trying to amp up on it. Waiting to release the ball around my toes. Waiting to turn my ball until I reach the release point instead of at my backswing. Hand position in general. Finger positions.

Master the approach first. If you can get that right, it'll help most of your issues. And the hardest part is to be honest with yourself. When I target practice, I stare at my target until after the ball rolls over it. If I can't say what exact board it went over, I wasn't focused on my mark. Once I get in my stance, the only thing I look at is my mark. I stare at it all the way through my approach, through the release and FINALLY look up once my ball is passed my mark. It has made a huge difference to my accuracy.

[budda]

Even if you are an "area" bowler, you still need to pick a mark to look at, not just a area of the lane. Start by picking marks at the first set of dots. Take a breathe and go. Don't watch the ball roll down the lane. Watch your mark. Then start moving a bit further down the lane. The point is to look at your target and watch the ball roll thru it.
For me, nothing works if you try to hard. Just pick and dot or an arrow and watch the ball roll over it. The important thing is not to lose it when you start your approach, so try not to blink.
I get up there, set myself, take a breathe and blink. find my target and go. watch the ball roll over your target.
Good luck

[josheaton16]

I'm not really sure if I hit a single board or a area but i would guess your probably right about the area. I don't look at a specific mark so i don't know. I just do everything off of feel. For instance i may pull the ball and it might even hit the pocket but i can tell by my release if i pulled it a little. I just have a lot of trouble staying focused on a single point on the lane. It's definitely something I need to work on.

[Tampabaybob]

I know a lot of people have this problem, but for me it seems when i really try to focus on my mark the rest of my approach falls apart. Even if i hit it, it is usually a bad shot. I feel like when i focus to much on that, I don't throw my normal ball, either my ball speed will go down or lose revs. When i just go and throw without looking at my mark, as long as the rest of my approach is good, i can normally hit the right spot. Does anyone else have this problem? And how would you fix this?

Some good comments here....let me add a couple that may help you out. First you say when you concentrate on your spot everything else seem to fall apart. Here's what I teach. BEFORE you pick up your ball and get on the approach, the area at the back of the ball return is YOUR "on-deck" circle. THAT's where the thinking should be happening. It's here that you're doing your self talk, deciding which spot/arrow to target, speed, stance, etc. You should also be taking a deep breath, holding it for 2-3 seconds and slowly exhaling. NOW pick up your ball, get your feet situated, and look at your target. Thats it ...DON'T THINK. Just execute the shot. Many times we can narrow down a problem by bowlers trying to over think what they're doing.

2nd thing. (and maybe you already do this) From the split second your eyes go to your target, DO NOT BLINK YOUR EYES UNTIL YOU RELEASE YOUR BALL !!" The micro second it takes for you to blink is enough to miss the target you want to hit.

Basically in a nutshell is relax, get that stare in without a blink and I think you'll see some improvement. Good Luck.

[TCJ]

Here's something interesting I noticed:

I've been working on trying to focus on a target. I pick the arrow, keep my eye on it and try to watch the ball go over the target. Only thing is I rarely get to see it go over! I thought I was getting better at it, but this past time I always seemed to miss my mark by much, much more than I usually do, even if on off days. So I tried something else. Now I' pick the arrow, watch it, but halfway there, I switch to watching a board (which relates to an arrow) AND my arm to make sure my arm follows through up the line of that particular board. Then I watch my ball, and sure enough, it's going over the mark more often than not. Maybe it's a fluke, or maybe I'm better at using boards than arrows. Either way, I'll do some more experimenting to see if it was a one time thing or if I can consistently do that.

[vgw]

I think it's a good move. While many people do use the arrows, the distance may not work for everyone. Plus with the arrows, they are not at the same distance from the foul line. I use boards myself, but at the same general distance that the arrows are at. Some people use the dots that are closer and some people use marks past the arrows.

[josheaton16]

Bob I definitely agree I'm overthinking it. But if I don't think at all i don't look at my mark. So I'm not really sure how to fix this. If i overthink and focus to hard on hitting my mark its bad, and if i just execute i throw i good shot but miss my mark lol. Thanks for all the suggestions I'm going to have to practice and see what happens.

TCJ what do you mean by watching a board? Out on the lane or on the approach? I have tried to watch the dots at the end of the approach and i would do ok but i could hit that spot but still not hit where i wanted to at the arrows.

[TCJ]

TCJ what do you mean by watching a board? Out on the lane or on the approach? I have tried to watch the dots at the end of the approach and i would do ok but i could hit that spot but still not hit where i wanted to at the arrows.

I mean watching a board around where the dots (see image) on the lane are. If you've ever seen Wes Malott bowl, you'll notice that he's focusing DOWN and not at the arrows when he bowls. That's more what I started doing.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73748140/BowlingLane.jpg

[josheaton16]

Ok so it's a little closer to the approach than the arrows. I think for me that might be part of it, is that the arrows are too far. I may also have to try that lol i'll try anything. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Tampabaybob]

Here's something interesting I noticed:

I've been working on trying to focus on a target. I pick the arrow, keep my eye on it and try to watch the ball go over the target. Only thing is I rarely get to see it go over! I thought I was getting better at it, but this past time I always seemed to miss my mark by much, much more than I usually do, even if on off days. So I tried something else. Now I' pick the arrow, watch it, but halfway there, I switch to watching a board (which relates to an arrow) AND my arm to make sure my arm follows through up the line of that particular board. Then I watch my ball, and sure enough, it's going over the mark more often than not. Maybe it's a fluke, or maybe I'm better at using boards than arrows. Either way, I'll do some more experimenting to see if it was a one time thing or if I can consistently do that.

I would be the first to tell you, whatever works for you....do it. Every person is different and not every person sees the same as another. Until it stops working for you, use it, and change it to suit you needs, and conditions. Many years ago I did something similar. I created my "own way" of shooting spares. (I'm talking about 50 years ago !) I've since taught hundreds and hundreds of bowlers my system with great success. So that's why I'm telling you to stick with what you're doing, and try to improve on it. Good Luck, let me know how it's working for you.