Bowling Frustrations

bowlingball.com, Originally Posted: 10/4/2014; Updated: 8/30/2022

There are so many things which can cause you to experience bowling frustrations that unless you learn to control your emotions, you can tumble quickly into poor performances.


Allowing the inevitable frustrations to remain with you can prolong your chances at getting back on track. Frustrations can develop from a variety of reasons. You might be getting an unreasonable number of pocket “taps” more so than normally.


You might be getting such a poor ball reaction that any adjustment you try does not seem to work. You may be watching your teammates struggle in league or tournament play and it begins to wear on you if their attitude becomes poor and they constantly complain. You might be upset that your local bowling center does not provide consistent lane conditions or does not take care of the approaches making sliding smoothly a difficult task.


There are any number of reasons why you can become frustrated while bowling and are, therefore, susceptible to falling below your best levels of performance. To avoid frustrating circumstances getting to your head, use the old philosophy of “Zen” and learn to relax and chill out.
Take a step back a minute and take a look at why you may be pushing or forcing yourself perhaps a bit harder because of these frustrating circumstances.


Examine what you can do to overcome negative emotions. Purposefully reduce your levels of tension short of meditation or getting into a trance of some sort.
When you get your nerves tangles with emotion, learn to breath slowly in and out and release tension.
Rely on controlled breathing, on inhaling and exhaling slowly, to steady your nerves.


Anxiety resulting from getting upset or overly frustrated can cause you to get out of your proven routine for bowling success.
It is important to understand that your brain is the real key to getting your physical motion working effectively and overcoming nerves or bad emotions.
Regardless of your ability, your mind can instruct the rest of your body to react smoothly and with precision when encountering out-of-the-ordinary emotions.



Good bowling performances are derived from being well practiced and from being mentally focused for competition.

Remember that your brain commands your physical body motion. Allow yourself to rely and trust in the messages your brain sends to your body. Take a deep breath or two and exhale slowly and then focus on making one good shot at a time ignoring past frustrations and bad breaks. Focus on the next shot.

You will find you have the power within to overcome bowling frustrations and bowl well when it counts.