frustration

[striker12]

yeah music is a good thing helps your relax but dont lissen to no hard music like heavy metal or rap thats sjut messes wiht your mind, lissen to something smooth idk i lissen to my gf ipod and not sure what songs are on there i jsut lissen to them and i go out and do my shot and back to lissening even if i have a spare shot i get back into my stead form cause i might or mgiht not get the pin/pins but i can get it latter if i leave it up again cause i will know wher to adjsut too.

also thats good how when u leave the parking lot u talk about something else another thing that helps is think in your mind what are you going to eat for supper tonight but do that after your done bowling soo your not distracted from bowling on food and get hungery while you bowl but it takes your mind off how you bowled today unless you bowled good that u can remember but any bad games get them out of your mind.

[resstealth]

Thanks everyone for the input, I will try some of the advice given to me. Especially the music and talking to my teamates imidiately after about something other than the shot.

And yes being over competitive in competition has always been a part of me whether it was tennis, or bowling.....BUT I also play ice hockey and not once in the 2 years that ive been playing ice hockey have I gotten frustrated I don't know if it is because it is immensly physically demanding and i have no time to think or if its because i have a group of 20+ people there with me.

And no it does not affect my life outside of the alley for the most part. sometimes if my fiance comes and I get upset she will try to "talk to me" about it but sometimes that just upsets me more. But as soon as we leave the parking lot we talk about other things

You have to understand, bowling is truly a finesse sport, whereas hockey is more physical. Its like when I was playing college ball, I pitched and played left field. I was always spot on in the outfield, but I would get in my head at times pitching and my game would fall apart.

[JerseyJim]

I have a 10 second rule, I give myself 10 seconds to vent over a bad frame, and then I just put it out of my head. I'll move on to concentrating on my next shot.

[JaMau24]

I play ice hockey as well, and don't get mad like I do or have gotten in bowling. I think the reason is, the concept of bowling seems so easy. What I mean is, you know HOW to throw a strike, & you know WHERE you need to throw it. Its so freaking simple in your head, and it's frustrating when you don't execute what your mind thinks is so easy. In reality, its not as easy as our minds believe.

Hockey is much more of a team sport than bowling in my opinion, not to say that bowling isn't a team sport, but I just think its more a team sport. There is always something going on, so you don't have a lot of time to think about what you did bad. They really just don't compare at all.

[billf]

Bowling is a sport where no matter how it's scored or what type of match, it really is just you bowling against yourself. Your opponent doesn't try to block you, no teammate giving you a handoff, just you, the ball and the lane.

[striker12]

billf has a good one bowl agenst yourself.

just think your the only one bowling and all you have to do is beat your avg which is a simple goal too do but think i want to beat my avg by like 10 pins dont go too high or you wont get it, but just think of your avg ause if you cna get your avg then your not letting your team down at all.

another thing is if you make a open just keep it in mind of where you where standing and where you finished at the foul line and how many boards did u miss by cause then u jsut think for that second where to go too just in case you end up leaving the same pin/pins.

[vgw]

Frustration is obviously not easy to deal with. When I bowl bad, it can go worse if I dwell on it. If the game is going so bad, I would try more drastic different shots/balls to find a new line or see what works if my normal adjustments no longer work. When the new game starts, I try to do a reset and clear my mind to start fresh. I would suggest trying to **** focus to figure why you are bowling bad. Are you missing easy spares, and if so, why, maybe you are not hitting the proper mark, using the wrong ball, angle or line, not making the correct type of adjustment? Your teammates or other people you trust can probably provide you with suggestions. Plus, if they pick you up and you win the game, that's even better.

And like how others are stating, it's helpful to have a regular pre-shot routine to keep you grounded. Focus on the game and fundamentals, rather than focusing on the negative aspects.

[martin]

i think this should help.. http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip2.htm

[JerseyJim]

Something from one of the great bowling coaches in the US, Susie Minshew. You can find a number of her tips on her website http://www.strikeability.com.

"Your game is constantly evolving. It will not stay the same and it won't always be sharp. Just when you think you don't have another 134 game left in you, out it comes. Peak performance levels are cyclical. That's what causes slumps. Bowling great doesn't last forever and neither does a slump."

[Gordon325]

Thanks again I will check out that site in more detail tomorrow! Thanks again. I'm gunna try making a throne to take a deep breathe and imagine something unrelated to bowling just before I begin my approach.