The Was Horrible

[littlelegs]

I've been in a bit of a bowling funk the past few weeks. The problem was simple enough once I realized...I was over-thinking just about every aspect of my game.

Something you can get away with when no at the alley but when you're doing it as you stand on the approach it's not a good thing. The problem I had was the worse it got, the more I tried to work out and correct what was wrong and so the worse it got. A catch-22 style downward spiral.

Just over a week ago I finally came to my senses and scores are now back into the 180ish range with quite a few 200+'s (OK not brilliant but as I've posted elsewhere, I've been changing a lot over the past 18 months or so and have only really just settled down into the current much improved style). The only change I made in the last week or so, was to realize what I was doing (over-thinking) and to switch the brain off when standing on the approach and let muscle memory kick in. Any small mistakes or corrections needed (and I still make plenty ) are thought about prior to grabbing the ball.

What a horrible few weeks though. The frustration simply making it worse as time went on. Now, with a little luck I'm back in time for a couple of tournaments coming up and even have the bonus of a better handicap :P

[J Anderson]

For a while my mantra when shooting corner pins was "don't think"

[littlelegs]

It was really getting to me for a while hence posting a lot less recently. I'm with you on the corner pin thing too - I'm usually pretty good with 10 pins (use a spare ball and stay well behind it minimizing the hook). However, when I'm playing bad the same will happen there i.e. I'll start to worry and over think where the balls going and usually miss. Once I put myself back on auto-pilot though (and make sure not to lift my eyes - a really bad habit of mine) single pin spares are rarely missed.

[JaMau24]

Currently, I'm in a bowling funk as well.. My teammate gets on my case when I act this way. He's a fantastic bowler, averages 230+, and he's been there. He knows what its like to over think and been burned by it. Currently I'm struggling to get through it. Instead of seeing a positive of making a great shot, and crushing the pocket, I see the negative of leaving a 10 pin. Then Because its still in my mind, I don't have enough focus on the 10 pin and miss my target, and then I'm mad about that, miss my target and throw a split, and the process continues..

My biggest problem is, I expect so much from myself, I know and believe I can do so much better, and when I don't, I get frustrated. I bowled league last night and I was awful. I've read some good tips in other threads about forming a good mental game and I'm going to put to use. My teammate always says, "Don't think, just do!" and he's right. I get to caught up in what I want my score to be at the end of the game, or what I want my series to be before I bowl, that I get frustrated when I leave an open frame, or leave a ringing 10, or stone 9. I know I just need to take it 1 shot at a time, and its a process. I will get on track and get over these problems eventually. I've already taken steps ahead, but cursing under my breath and feeling disappointed in myself just doesn't cut it. It drags the rest of my game, series, and most importantly, my team down.

I put league bowling up on a pedestal. Before league yesterday, bowled a 278. After league yesterday, bowled a 279. When I'm in league though, I feel I need to elevate my game, and thinking like that only makes me lower my game. I've already read the good tips in the "Practice King" thread that I'll be putting to use as well.

So that's where I'm at. Hopefully we'll both get it taken care of. I just have to remember to loosen up, have fun, focus on your shots, focus on the positives, and don't dwell on the negatives.