Mental Game Help

[JCasey1992]

Hi,

I have reached a point in my game where I am relatively fundamentally sound. However, I often lose focus and make a bad shot. Does anybody have any tips to improve focus on my shots?

Thanks,
Casey

[J Anderson]

Hi,

I have reached a point in my game where I am relatively fundamentally sound. However, I often lose focus and make a bad shot. Does anybody have any tips to improve focus on my shots?

Thanks,
Casey

I'm probably not the best person to offer advise on maintaining focus. I lose it far more often than I'd like to admit.

What I have read is that repeating a pre-shot routine helps to establish and keep focus. It often includes a brief positive statement about what you are about to do. Mine is often "short first step". It could be your target, it could be about your swing, it could be anything as long as it is a positive statement. The physical acts of the routine tell your body that it is about to roll the ball the way you have practiced. The statement focuses your mind on one thing that you want to do well.

[billf]

John, that positive statement is not very positive. How about "I'm going to take a perfect, short, first step"? Just playing. I'm the same way. I can teach it better than I can do it.

Make all your decisions before you get on the approach. Don't allow second guessing. Get into your stance, breathe in through the nose, out the mouth. All the while sing a song in your head. This will help allow your mind to keep distractions away. If you need to slow down, pick a slower song, speed up, faster song. Most people lose focus because we allow too many things to enter our thought process which distracts us from our original objective.

[eugene02]

John, that positive statement is not very positive. How about "I'm going to take a perfect, short, first step"? Just playing. I'm the same way. I can teach it better than I can do it.

Make all your decisions before you get on the approach. Don't allow second guessing. Get into your stance, breathe in through the nose, out the mouth. All the while sing a song in your head. This will help allow your mind to keep distractions away. If you need to slow down, pick a slower song, speed up, faster song. Most people lose focus because we allow too many things to enter our thought process which distracts us from our original objective.

nice statement! for me, when i'm up i'm just thinking. okay, i need to go towards this arrow in that direction than the ball will bite the lane at that point and get a strike.!

[billf]

nice statement! for me, when i'm up i'm just thinking. okay, i need to go towards this arrow in that direction than the ball will bite the lane at that point and get a strike.!

That's what you do before you hit the approach. Once on the approach you need to clear your mind and just let the practicing take over.

[eugene02]

That's what you do before you hit the approach. Once on the approach you need to clear your mind and just let the practicing take over.

for me when i go up thn i'll set my marks on the arrow and let it go there.. than the ball will be just nice to the pocket.

[martin]

for me personally, this helps.. http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip2.htm

me myself, my first "key" is "OK good pushaway" and my second "key" is "thumb out"

[billf]

"One reason this works well on high pressure shots is because you keep your mind busy. You don't have time to have negative thoughts or worry about tossing a bad shot. Your mind is simply too busy thinking of your keys and doing them well." Excerpt from the Ron Clifton link above.

Pretty much the same thing just I'm big on the positive statement. Ok is mediocre, middle of the road, average. I have always over done the positive to ensure the negative can't creep in. I just sing in my head and let most of my mind go blank.

[CoachJeffrey]

Hey Casey,

You're not alone. How many bowlers do you know that lose their focus and throw a bad shot? One way to improve your focus is during practice. Another way is to prepare ahead of time for a bad shot and decide if you are going to react (negatively) to it or respond (positively). Your response can set you up for the rest of your game or match.

I agree a preshot routine is one the best advice I can give any bowler. It is something that you get to create that is a perfect fit just for you. Let us know what works best for you regarding your focus, OK?

[TheSheibs]

One thing I do is close my eyes, imagine the ball being let go, rolling over my mark, curving into the pocket and getting a strike. Sounds like a lot but I am also take a deep breath in my nose and out my mouth when I do this. I do the same thing with spares only imagine picking it up with a perfect throw.

[Marty]

This is where I was about a year and some change back. Always close and distractions got in my way. From the bowler a few lanes down out of my peripheral vision or the sound of a cackling beer drinker behind me, I would tune in on those things and just blow pressure shots. There are some good tips on here, and if you don't mind, I'll just add my 2 cents. I have been bowling tournaments since the age of 19, but never won the big dollars until I learned how to focus and relax on the lane. Since I read some mind control tips, I have an Amateur Bowling Tour championship, 4 top 5's, and a few big dollar strike shots during special events. That was in 2010 and I am 50 now and at the peak of my game with a 210 average. Not the greatest, but I jumped from a 185 in one year.

So, with that said, here is how I focus. It's all about routine. I rarely look at the score or my competition when I am up to bowl. I clean off my ball and think about relixing my body. I don't look at the lanes until I am at my spot on the approach. I have learned to look down the lane at my break point, and then I bring my eyes in to my board / arrow and visualize my line to get back to the break point. Once I am set, (as mentioned earlier in another post), I take a deep breath through my nose and out my mouth. Now here is the key ... most of the bad shots we take are the ones we pull. Pulling a shot or tugging it means we rushed the shot by pushing the ball forward from the backswing too soon. So after you have taken your breath, try to place your mind on concentrating where your ball is during your backswing. Even though your mechanics are good, paying attention to this keep your mind in a good place. Once you reach the peak of your backswing, concentrate on keeping your arm and hand as relaxed as possible through your shot towards your target. Key word: relax.

Little kids can run up on me, music can be on, and someone could drop a ball on the approach and I am not phased. Relax, deep breath, focus on backswing, relaxed your arm and hand, target your board. This gets you in the zone. I hope this helps at least one reader as it helped me. Good luck and knock em dead!

[ursus]

Lots of good advice. I find myself easilly distracted. One good trate I have is not letting a bad shot affect the next one. I have such a poor memory that I have completely forgotten by the time I get up to the line again:D

[billf]

I practice on Saturdays during the birthday parties on the lane next to them. Giving all that ruckus I have learned to focus more. Luckily so far I haven't been hurt or hurt an errant child. Mean but short of serious injury I wouldn't feel bad about it. The parents seem to think that the alley is a baby-sitting service and let the kids RUN every where.

[eugene02]

I practice on Saturdays during the birthday parties on the lane next to them. Giving all that ruckus I have learned to focus more. Luckily so far I haven't been hurt or hurt an errant child. Mean but short of serious injury I wouldn't feel bad about it. The parents seem to think that the alley is a baby-sitting service and let the kids RUN every where.

i bowled last week when 10 ppl about 5 kids came to play beside my lane.. when i was on the approach, i took a first step.. suddenly a girl run it.. i was like WTF! thn i moved down.. on the approach they can stand as many as 5 ppl on the approach... -.- damn bloody stupid..

[aussiedave]

i bowled last week when 10 ppl about 5 kids came to play beside my lane.. when i was on the approach, i took a first step.. suddenly a girl run it.. i was like WTF! thn i moved down.. on the approach they can stand as many as 5 ppl on the approach... -.- damn bloody stupid..

One thing you can try eugene when you get a crowd on the adjacent approach is drop a bowling ball close to someone's feet. You have to be sly about and and make it look like an accident, but I bet it has the desired effect. ;)
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[GeorgiaStroker]

One thing you can try eugene when you get a crowd on the adjacent approach is drop a bowling ball close to someone's feet. You have to be sly about and and make it look like an accident, but I bet it has the desired effect. ;)
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Even better sit and talk to your bowling ball, tell it how much you love it, give it a little kiss, offer it french fries, etc... Pretty soon the kid's mothers would be dragging them out of there.:D