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Tips from Tom by Tom Blasco |
Student And The Master
It’s sort of like Yoda and the young Jedi discussing the trials and tribulations of playing with and understanding the mentality of playing our great sport.
Young Jedi says:
“Our discussion last night was intriguing, especially about good versus great, anxiety during competition and being aware of the changes our body goes through (tension, excessive sweating..). I look at how I’ve changed my own game in the last year compared to what I was the years before; I look at myself now, and probably didn’t believe that I was like “most everyone” back then.”
He follows with: “Anyways, all of this is true. I know that I must breathe when I start having those uncomfortable feelings after I throw a bad shot or I’m not comfortable with my alignment. I know its not effecting me as much as it did a year ago, meaning I feel comfortable most of the time, but those same feelings are always around, especially when I bowl the first game of any competition, regardless of how big it is. That tension/nerves do go away after the first game and then I get relaxed. When I throw a couple shots and I don’t have a read, my brain starts thinking if this is the right approach or if I should try something else. I know this is my conscious brain thinking of alignments to make or maybe a cover stock change. But at this time, I feel like I want to grind it out, and that if I move, I have the “fear” of having a more negative result instead of thinking it will be “positive.” Also, when I am in this situation, (e.g., not really knowing where to line up exactly and knowing this line is not working, or is it??). That one huge question I believe I use the most, and it is really devastating. My subconscious may be in there too making suggestions, and its always hard to listen to my subconscious. Its like the conscious brain is a huge speaker with 1,000,000 watts of power blasting this one loud note, and my subconscious is like the tiniest of mouse’s squeaking, that you could barely hear, but probably not over all the noise that my conscious is making. I believe that this scenario is one of my BIGGER pet peeves that I just found out. I HATE the feeling of throwing a few shots and knowing its not a good reaction, and thinking constantly about where I’m going to line up next or change, but not doing it cause I have so many choices and so little time since I keep going up to bowl and the time is dwindling. Bowling is a problem solving sport, and I feel that by doing this and delaying, but knowing I must have an answer for the next shot, it puts a huge burden on my shoulder.”
“Master Yoda, what are the solutions or ways I can make decisions faster and better?”
Master Yoda responds:
“Remember, my young Jedi what I’ve said about “good versus great” or “good being the enemy of great.” Good, is like second best and maybe even average as compared to great. Great is one of our goals, just as is excellence. Great signifies being the best of the rest on a regular basis, not just once in a while. You want to think about being great instead of good become it serves your psyche - mental game. Just look at what your posture is and how you think of yourself when you say the word “GREAT” than say the word good and tell me what you feel or see.
You have grown a lot of the last few years, not only chronologically but maturity wise and psychologically. However, you are still in your infancy but moving forward. A lot of different things you’ll experience only require you developing a belief system, just like believing in God. You can’t see or feel him, but you know he’s there. Because you believe. Yes, today you do have a different belief in yourself and your abilities. Your perception of yourself and how you fit into the starting field is much clearer. You have a better understanding of were you have come from and know if you do the required skills of the game - you can only move to the top of the field. Can you win every time you play - NO, but you can play great and be considered great because you are always at the top of the starting field.
The tension and nerves you feel as you begin to play are normal and in many cases useful because they aid in your concentration, relaxation and focus of play. However, when you let your brain become active as you do when you throw a couple shots and don’t have a read, you transition into an area that creates distraction, self-doubt, confusion and unsure ness (you are going to the dark side). You allow your conscious mind to restrict your movements or decision making process and are afraid to take a risk. I know you don’t want to take the risk because your looking at the hear and now, not the big picture. This is part of your belief system. Also, what harm would one shot do if you took it. Your not going to lose the pocket because you know your alignment, your not purposely going to throw it bad because you know how to deliver the ball, your not purposely going to use a hand position that you know isn’t going to work, your not going to make the ball hook more on dry conditions or use a broken wrist position on very wet and flat conditions because you know the appropriate adjustment and when to use different hand positions - your just going to make one shot - see what it does and than decide whether it helps you or not. If it works great, if it give you another look - great, if it doesn’t work than go back to what you were doing and attack the problem from a different angle.
You are absolutely correct about the conscious brain being a huge speaker. It’s the left side of your brain and it is calculating data you are receiving from all of your senses, to include all the data your subconscious is trying to send you by represent the mouse squeaking. And yes, it is overwhelming and will drown out the subconscious because of a few different things, the first being, you’ve never recognized opening the door to your subconscious, but yet I’ll bet you have done it; secondly, fear and self-doubt. They keep filling your conscious mind with more date on top of all the data your already processing between shots. It’s almost a sense of panic - my favorite “panic syndrome.”
I can understand the feeling you are experiencing and why its your BIGGER favorite pet peeve. I can understanding your sense of urgency because you have many choices and only five shots per lane. I can understand your viewpoint about going up to bowl and not knowing if your decision will be good or bad and time is dwindling. What I can’t understand is: if you know all these factors or elements of carrying this pet peeve than why would you put so much emphasis into them and attach the fact that time is dwindling. It is wise to deal with them one at a time and slowly but surely eliminate them that they don’t become a distraction. First of all, time is never dwindling, none of use are bowling for the present, we are all bowling for tomorrow. If tomorrow happens to be today, so be it, we’ll return again tomorrow for something bigger and better than yesterday. Secondly, I think your thought processes are cognitive to how must of us play the game today and the only problems I see with it, is you see it as final because you think its going to affect the total outcome and I’ll give you that for this instant. I don’t view it as final because if we lived 50 life times we would never develop enough experience with making a decision to make a shot, a game, a series, a block - and the outcome FINAL. I see that to be true, asking the player that just shot 900. What’s your next goal? His reply, “to shoot 1200 or back to back 900s.” Yes, its true you can make a decision and it be wrong and you lose the match, but I bet you’ll never make that decision again - that’s experience. Making a decision is predicated on our experiences, it sort of like “choking.” If you’ve never been there how can you “choke?” Give yourself credit for making the decision - right or wrong, the only thing we want to do is make the decision quicker - not ponder it. Our game is in a state of constant flux - it’s changing all the time even when we are playing on it and in it. How could you possibly think you made the right decision to play a particular line or select another ball when right at the time you decided to complete the task the surface was changing or your opponent threw a three bagger?
You said, young Jedi, “I must have an answer for the next shot, it put a huge burden on my shoulders.” Again, it’s not the next shot unless it’s the very last one of the game or series or block. You need an answer for a shot or we can say, “based on my experience and playing capability I think I can attempt this on the next shot” you’re saying the same thing except your allowing yourself to be more relaxed. Now, you’ve taken all the heat off your (conscious) self and allowing your subconscious to open up and help you play the game - the way it knows how to play.
So see Master Student, this information won’t provide every answer to become a champion. However, it will provide you with different way of thinking and taking the heat off yourself in becoming a peak performer and giving yourself the opportunity to be a champion. All of this information is open for discussion. The most important thing, is that, it increases your overall knowledge and give you a better understanding of yourself and hopefully gets you to understand that you, as well as every other human being, are very complex apparatus’s that require - NO HEAT, NO THINKING (CONSCIOUSLY), MINIMAL DISTRACTION OF ANY KIND - and lots of relaxed concentration and focus to the task at hand. “
So now my young Jedi take your skills to the lanes, employ the knowledge your have attained and become the champion/player you desire to be.
-- As one of Bowler Journal's Top 100 Coaches (2005/2006/2007), the owner and operator of Bowler's Corner in Satellite Beach, FL since 1975 and the member of bowling's leading organizations Tom hardly needs an introduction. Tom offers expert tips primarily geared to other bowling coaches but are also useful to amateurs, league and professional bowlers.
Tom is a member of and certified with numerous organizations:
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