The trick to getting that first 600 series........

[Hammer]

I am the anchor on our team and I don't watch the score. The way I look at it when I get on the approach I am always trying to throw a strike. So if I get it I get it. Looking at the score and seeing that maybe I need to get two strikes for us to win isn't going to make me get two strikes. It will put pressure on me to get two strikes and that can start tension and steering of the shot instead of just setting up and throwing the shot more relaxed. I even told my teammates to never tell me what we need as I am going on the approach. Thinking about what your team needs to win as an anchor can be a bad thing. But going up there without thinking about what your team needs and just thinking about throwing a good shot is easier on the nerves. Then after I am done I look at the scoreboard and see if we won or lost and what my game was. After 26 years on this league I always bowl one frame at a time and don't worry about the next frames coming up. It is too hard to bowl ten frames at once. I have been the anchorman for 26 years. I wish I would get put first at least one time and let someone else take the burden of anchor. What a bunch of chickens.

[scottymoney]

The anchor on my team got up and needed 2 strikes and a 9 in the 10th for us to win. He got 2 strikes and an 8 and we tied. I then asked him if he knew he needed a 9 to win. And he said no why didn't you tell me I would made sure to get it. I almost punched him then. Seriously you didn't go up there to throw your best ball?

[billf]

He did his best. Good bowlers usually believe that they can get whatever number they need. It's partially true but what they don't understand is they will over-focus and tense up and ruin the shot.

[scottymoney]

Last night I came close to that 600....... 586, I stopped watching the board and just focused on congratulating teammates and not thinking about it. I stopped trying different things and just stayed consistent.
The 600 is coming soon. Our entire team had a crappy 2nd game and I would have had that 600 is I didn't struggle with a 140. We all rebounded nicely and had a 1007 last game with handicap to win by 212 pins.

[Big Nick]

There's some really good advice in this thread for those that are still looking for their first 600 series. I've managed to squeeze out two 600s and they each came under entirely different circumstances. When I threw my first 600, I started the night off with a 256. I was amped up thinking that a 600 would be a breeze, and I wound up shooting two sub par games due to fixating on score. Luckily I pulled out a 602 that night, but only had one game over 200 all night.

The second 600 started out with a 187 that was one frame away from being clean. After that I quit paying attention to score... in fact, a 600 wasn't even on my mind. The second game was a hustling 200 that took three strikes in the tenth to get there. The final game, I was totally relaxed and focused, and I was throwing absolute bombs and wound up with a 240. After the game was over, I knew that I had gotten a 600 but I had to look at the score re-cap to know for sure. I was quite surprised with the scratch total. 23 more pins and I would have gotten a 650.

[BrandonKR]

My friend bowled his first 600 last night, 621! He's been working really hard over these holidays and I've been practicing with him every week, so glad to see him get there