T o o d l e s

[Judy clemons]

t-alking
o-ver
o-nes
d-elivery
l-oudly
e-xcludes
s-trikes

your up on the approach, your focused in on your target, you take your first step, now in your swing all the sudden out of no where you hear yelling behind, beside, or where ever
does not matter what was said, your ball has already gone down the lane with out going
over the intended target due to the startled nerves from the loud shouting from an
obnoxious person who may be doing it intentionally because they want to get into your
mental game to blow your score.

How does one deal with this in league play when you can not afford to have someone
messing with your mind... How does one stay composed and focused when something
like that is going on. It is obviously too late once the ball is in full swing so what
would be the solution ?

[classygranny]

Practice stopping in your approach. I practice at home with and without ball. When walking just force yourself to swing your arm as if bowling and then suddenly stop your feet. When I actually do stop I always turn my body towards the ball and bring my left arm (non-bowling arm) up to support the swing of the ball. It's easier on the shoulder that way.

Otherwise, just try and focus through it. Sometime during practice, if you are with other people, have them be distracting on purpose...the one I'm not over yet, is when I hear my name - it always screws me up.

AND, I love the "toodles" - very creative, such as you are!

[vdubtx]

How does one deal with this in league play when you can not afford to have someone
messing with your mind... How does one stay composed and focused when something
like that is going on. It is obviously too late once the ball is in full swing so what
would be the solution ?

If you know for sure that someone is targeting you and messing with you while you are in your approach, I would confront and call them out on it. If that does not work, certainly speak with league officers as this would be frowned upon.

[Gunz1911]

Definitly takes practice. While blocking out all sounds is good, you sometimes wanna make sure not to block out everything. Point being, when you line up on the wrong approach and luckily your team notices and yells at you to stop. Definitly being in the military helps with tuning almost everything out, but certain words or names will always make you stop dead in about .02 seconds.

[JPbowl]

As long as no one is yelling my name im good, With the league environment there's roudyness, drinking, yelling here and there.
Most annoying when you get on a pair next to people who have to yell and clap for every strike... c'mon

[Gunz1911]

As long as no one is yelling my name im good, With the league environment there's roudyness, drinking, yelling here and there.
Most annoying when you get on a pair next to people who have to yell and clap for every strike... c'mon

I think the only time that annoys me is the people that have high averages and are just show boating. If you're not that good and strikes come few and far between, then yeah go ahead and enjoy it. Like my wife, the only person I know that while trying, has scored a 0 for a full game... now she is doing better and can average close to 100, but she still gets excited at strikes, specially a string of them.

[Tampabaybob]

Judy.....We've all been in situations where someone or even a team is extremely loud. I've even seen some people do it purposely to try to distract someone on the approach. Definitely not a very good situation to be in. Let me tell you what I have done to evade this problem. When I am getting ready to get up and standing in the "on deck circle" (the area next to the ball return), I try to focus 100% on my shot. I completely block out, sounds, movement, and any other distraction around me (i.e.; pin chaser going down the center of the next lane to get a pin out of the gutter). I have at times had to have guys grab me from behind to stop me from going because of this concentration. Once I step on the approach I'm in my own world....don't hear anything or see anything. Takes a lot of practice, but it can be done. Unfortunately, these types of noise distractions will always continue and you either condition yourself or try to wait them out.

[billf]

What noise? I was sleeping on an M-1 tank once when it fired and it didn't wake me so yelling doesn't affect me, not on the approach anyway. And when it comes to trash talking, I've learned to do that with the best of them. Get them back and they will stop.
All's fair in love, war and bowling!

[Gunz1911]

When someone starts trash talking you. Just crush 10 into the pit, turn around and just raise your eye brow. Nothing shuts people up like a cold hearted bad@$$.

[Tampabaybob]

'
When someone starts trash talking you. Just crush 10 into the pit, turn around and just raise your eye brow. Nothing shuts people up like a cold hearted bad@$$.

True, this comes from inner strength. If your mind set is to get up, avoid any and all distractions, you're one step ahead of many bowlers.

The one thing I try to teach is that "It's YOU, the BALL, and your TARGET". That's it. Focus on those three things and it'll be a game changer for you.

[Gunz1911]

Be the ball.... Listen to Mr. Miyagi.

[Tampabaybob]

Be the ball.... Listen to Mr. Miyagi.

You got it right Gunz !!!!

[Judy clemons]

alrighty pin pals I will take your advice to heart and will start trying to apply some of these suggestions the next time I am out on the lanes, of course some of the other suggestions will have to be taken with a grain of salt...lol!
but I seriously and sincerely thank you one & all for your responses I appreciate your time and knowledge always.

[GeoLes]

The lesson I learned from "The Karate Kind", when Daniel is getting the stuffing beat out of him in the Tournament. He is on the verge of quitting because he is scared and in pain. Mr. Miyagi has no problem with him quiting because he is truly defeated, but not because he is afraid. He gives Daniel one piece of advise.


DANIEL-SAN......


"FOCUS"

[vdubtx]

Be the ball.... Listen to Mr. Miyagi.

I only think of Ty Webb in Caddyshack when I hear "Be the Ball" :D Na,na,na,na,na,na,na.

[Gunz1911]

I only think of Ty Webb in Caddyshack when I hear "Be the Ball" :D Na,na,na,na,na,na,na.


All we need is a gopher to Come out and blow someones ball up!

[Tampabaybob]

The lesson I learned from "The Karate Kind", when Daniel is getting the stuffing beat out of him in the Tournament. He is on the verge of quitting because he is scared and in pain. Mr. Miyagi has no problem with him quiting because he is truly defeated, but not because he is afraid. He gives Daniel one piece of advise.


DANIEL-SAN......


"FOCUS"

Shouldn't that be.........

GEORGE-SAN.....

"FOCUS"

[scottymoney]

What noise? I was sleeping on an M-1 tank once when it fired and it didn't wake me so yelling doesn't affect me, not on the approach anyway. And when it comes to trash talking, I've learned to do that with the best of them. Get them back and they will stop.
All's fair in love, war and bowling!

So Bill, you are not only blind but also deaf? Can you taste anything?

[Tampabaybob]

Bills' got more issues than you can count, I think. He's like a walking Medical encyclopedia !!

[JPbowl]

Keep your eyes on the lane, Theres a couple of 180-200 bowlers that i know who look around WAAAAAAAY too much.
When im waiting for someone next to me i may rest my foot on the ledge of where the approach starts and have been asked to move my foot.
Now why are they focused looking behind themselves and down at my feet? no friggin clue.

[billf]

So Bill, you are not only blind but also deaf? Can you taste anything?

Scott, that's almost funny lol
The eyesight issues came later. The others are all service related including 10% hearing loss (selective hearing is genetic) and a loss of smell which affects taste buds. Strong smells I can smell but not the subtle ones. Helps with the wife's cooking :)
The VA said it was due to being at the oil well fires but there was a CIA document that said it was from when some idiot decided to blow up the chemical weapons taken from the Iraqis. The 30,000+ servicemen who were down wind were effectively gassed by our own people. It's the suspected culprit that has caused over 20 of the 29 of us that were together to die from brain cancer.


Bills' got more issues than you can count, I think. He's like a walking Medical encyclopedia !!

Bob, I don't think I'm as bad as Michael. There are plenty of people worse off and it's nothing yet that I can't live with. Hope you were including the mental side too

[J Anderson]

Keep your eyes on the lane, Theres a couple of 180-200 bowlers that i know who look around WAAAAAAAY too much.
When im waiting for someone next to me i may rest my foot on the ledge of where the approach starts and have been asked to move my foot.
Now why are they focused looking behind themselves and down at my feet? no friggin clue.

I have a friend who has the same issue with other peoples' feet. He claims that its because there are a couple older bowlers in the league don't always observe lane courtesy so when he sees a foot on the back of the approach he's afraid that someones about step up, grab a ball an go while he's about to start his approach. Again one of those times when I am so tempted to rest my foot up there any time he's next to my lane.

[classygranny]

Keep your eyes on the lane, Theres a couple of 180-200 bowlers that i know who look around WAAAAAAAY too much.
When im waiting for someone next to me i may rest my foot on the ledge of where the approach starts and have been asked to move my foot.
Now why are they focused looking behind themselves and down at my feet? no friggin clue.

I always do this...I've never been told it was an issue, tho. I try and be aware of some of the guys that use all of the approach and not lean over to get my ball or anything that I thought might be distracting. Wonder if I should try and stop this...could be a hard habit to break as I tend to use that time to make sure my left foot is going to slide?

[Tampabaybob]

I'm not sure if they still do this, but when I was shooting PBA regional tournaments, the rule was..... you give 2 lane courtesy on BOTH sides. You know how frustrating that is to wait for 4 lanes? I hated it. It took forever to shoot a single game, and boy if you dared step up on the approach when someone two lanes away was up, you'd get a look that would kill.

[classygranny]

I'm not sure if they still do this, but when I was shooting PBA regional tournaments, the rule was..... you give 2 lane courtesy on BOTH sides. You know how frustrating that is to wait for 4 lanes? I hated it. It took forever to shoot a single game, and boy if you dared step up on the approach when someone two lanes away was up, you'd get a look that would kill.

The rule currently reads..."17.4 Lane Courtesy and Double Jumping. Competitors must observe one (1) pair lane courtesy at all times. Competitors may not "Double Jump." Double jumping occurs following a delivery when a competitor on the same pair delivers his or her ball before one (1) competitor from the pair to the right and one (1) competitor from the pair to the left have made a delivery, unless those competitors are not ready to bowl or they give way."

If this is done correctly, it does speed the game up with giving lots of courtesy (or as some of the x-players say-it really works well if you are striking, but spare shooting takes forever)...will never make it to the leagues, at least in Phoenix. Maybe some of the scratch leagues would adopt this, but it is getting harder and harder to find those around here.