Beginner from intermediate...

[WolfGirl1980]

Hi all I am new to the board but not at bowling I always been a casual bowler then couple of years ago I picked it up seriously I started bowling on a league wih my friend I bowled a straight ball then like 2 years ago I started bowling a fingertip ball I bowled for a ball one summer and got a ball that hooked and got drilled fingertip I did ok with that ball I got my first 200 game in my life with that ball but I fell like it was a fluke cause I never got it again I came close but didn't get it and finally I ended up getting worse cause last year we dropped our teamates cause they were not a fun couple to bowl with and my dad could not bowl with his knees the way they are he had to have knee replacement surgery his knee was wore out it was bone on bone no cartilage left in his knee well anyway we wanted to make sure the couple we both with before wasn't gonna bowl so we wouldn't hurt there feelings and so this year my cousin is league secretary so he got us a team cause last year we couldn't get one together so my cousin todd put us on a team and through the year I have become more intermediate in practice I have bowled another 200 oh and I have bought another ball an ebonite cyclone ball 12 pound I use a straight ball for the 10 pin I just learned how to pick that up and 7 pin is easy for me just everything out in the middle on spares is hard for me except when I am haveing a good day or night and just getting lucky today I am going practicing any practice tips its at a different alley then the one from my league cause this alley has free practice from 10 till 2 its amf and my friend bowls at amf and I bowl at kingpin jeffersontown lanes, louisville,Ky but latley at practice I been getting 180's and 200's and in league I do crappy any suggestions is it that i am practcing too much or too little or that I need to practice earlier in the week cause I live for bowling its the only thing that makes me happy, I am bipolar and manic depressive and a borderline everything else in the mental health book even autism so I kinda have a lot going on in my head they said reason for everything is I have brain damage at birth so thats the reason for the mental health problems but anyway back to bowling it kinda effects my game in tuning everything around me out cause its very hard for me to do I do better when no one is watching me and when in league and I know its for the team and people are watching I choke I get nervous and everything and crack under pressure I can't tune them out. Also not to mention its hard to tune yourself out of your head by trying to not to think too much. So any practice tips anything at all please post them here.



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[e-tank]

Welcome to the board! What helps me on the approach is to sing whatever song is in my head to myself. That way im not thinking too much. I can just look at my target and release

[J Anderson]

As I see it you have three problems to deal with; Pressure, Spares in the middle of the lane, and Accuracy.

Practice should always have a purpose, and you shouldn't really worry about the score. Pick a few things that you want to work on for each practice, and then maybe reward yourself by trying for a nice 200 game at the end.

For accuracy, pick an arrow and try to hit it every shot for one game. Ignore any pins left after the first ball and just try to hit the same arrow again. Keep track of where you wind up at the foul line because even if you get to the point of hitting the arrow every time it won't help if you're releasing the ball from a different spot.

For spares it helps to have a system, and most of the time straighter is better. Assuming that your target for hitting the ten is somewhere in the center of the lane, if you move your feet 3 board to the right and aim at the same target you should hit the six pin. Three more to the right and you'll cover the 3 pin and the 8 pin. I will often take one game of practice and work my way from the 7 pin or the ten pin across face of the rack on the first ball of each frame, i.e. aim at the 7, then the 4, then the 2 ,then the 1, the 3, the 6, and the 10. You basically get to shoot two spares each game.

As your accuracy and spare making improve your confidence should improve as well, and this should help with the pressure. In addition you can try using your imagination during practice. Imagine that each shot in practice is in league. Your team needs you to make this spare. Likewise you can use your imagination in league. Before you pick up the ball, close your eyes and imagine that its just practice, no ones watching, just you and the ball vs the pins. You can also look into some basic relaxation techniques. The most basic is to take a deep breath and then slowly release it, Repeating several times if needed.

[Tampabaybob]

WolfGirl - You have many challenges that many bowlers don't have to contend with yet with all of that going on you're still able to shoot games in the 180 to 200 range. For that I congratulate you on your perseverance. As far as your league bowling goes, John had a very good suggestion about breathing patterns. Try this....before you pick up the ball take one deep breath, hold it for a couple of seconds and then slowly release it. Once you get up on the approach, take another deep breath just before you take your first step, and release it slowly as you head toward the foul line to release the ball. There were studies done on using this technique and it greatly improved the bowlers accuracy. If I can find the article I'll PM it to you. I believe it was a study done by Kegle, using Webber College bowling team members. Very difficult to relax under most circumstances let alone having other issues to deal with. Try this technique and see if it will help you. Good luck and let us know how you're doing.

[WolfGirl1980]

As I see it you have three problems to deal with; Pressure, Spares in the middle of the lane, and Accuracy.

Practice should always have a purpose, and you shouldn't really worry about the score. Pick a few things that you want to work on for each practice, and then maybe reward yourself by trying for a nice 200 game at the end.

For accuracy, pick an arrow and try to hit it every shot for one game. Ignore any pins left after the first ball and just try to hit the same arrow again. Keep track of where you wind up at the foul line because even if you get to the point of hitting the arrow every time it won't help if you're releasing the ball from a different spot.

For spares it helps to have a system, and most of the time straighter is better. Assuming that your target for hitting the ten is somewhere in the center of the lane, if you move your feet 3 board to the right and aim at the same target you should hit the six pin. Three more to the right and you'll cover the 3 pin and the 8 pin. I will often take one game of practice and work my way from the 7 pin or the ten pin across face of the rack on the first ball of each frame, i.e. aim at the 7, then the 4, then the 2 ,then the 1, the 3, the 6, and the 10. You basically get to shoot two spares each game.

As your accuracy and spare making improve your confidence should improve as well, and this should help with the pressure. In addition you can try using your imagination during practice. Imagine that each shot in practice is in league. Your team needs you to make this spare. Likewise you can use your imagination in league. Before you pick up the ball, close your eyes and imagine that its just practice, no ones watching, just you and the ball vs the pins. You can also look into some basic relaxation techniques. The most basic is to take a deep breath and then slowly release it, Repeating several times if needed.

to J Anderson I don't know bowling terms yet so if you could take what you said here and put it in laymen's terms as if I didn't know bowling terms or the numbers of pins cause I don't I only been bowling in leagues for 5 years I know I should know them by now but I don't I am slow I have brain damage since birth I am ADD and and a learning disablitly well the learning disability is that I am slow but I am willing to learn I got a whlple bunch of bowling apps on my phone one that gives you bowling terms so I will look at it today and if you revise this in to simple terms make it easy to understand for me I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Sara

[75lockwood]

to J Anderson I don't know bowling terms yet so if you could take what you said here and put it in laymen's terms as if I didn't know bowling terms or the numbers of pins cause I don't I only been bowling in leagues for 5 years I know I should know them by now but I don't I am slow I have brain damage since birth I am ADD and and a learning disablitly well the learning disability is that I am slow but I am willing to learn I got a whlple bunch of bowling apps on my phone one that gives you bowling terms so I will look at it today and if you revise this in to simple terms make it easy to understand for me I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Sara

I'll try and help out here:

"board" refers to each of the wooden boards on the lane, if you look at the lane there are 39 boards across (see below image for reference)



so when he refers to moving 3 boards, he means take the position you start at normally (you should be lining up on the same board every frame) and count 3 boards left or right and line up there.

Rack: slang for the pins

Arrows: part way down the lane there are a set of arrows (see above picture again) these are used for aiming



What John is trying to explain is a spare shooting system, the idea is to line up how you normally would to shoot a strike, then for every pin left of the head pin (pin in the center) you want to move your feet right 3 boards and aim for the same arrow. similarly for every pin left of the head pin move your feet 3 boards right and aim for the same arrow.


Stealing this image from bowl1820


Hope that Helps!

[WolfGirl1980]

I get it now thanks for the help I will use it tomorrow thanks for the help tomorrow I practice cause its free practice at AMF Derby Lanes Tuesdays and Thursdays and Rose bowl AMF is Mondays and Wednesdays and my friend's league is tonight so we go tomorrow on thursdays or tuesdays but we usually go thursdays. but thanks for the help I do appreciate it.

- Sara