Mental Game

Excerpt from Bowling Fundamentals - Second Edition By Michelle Mullen

2/6/2020


A successful bowler must physically execute the skills necessary for knocking down the pins and also control the mental side of bowling. Developing a strong mental game will help you become a good bowler, whereas a great mental game will help you become a great bowler. The better your physical game is, the more important your mental game becomes to your success. Developing your mental game is just as much work as developing your physical game, only it’s invisible. However, the effect on your performance are not.


Your mental game involves remaining calm and relaxed under stressful conditions. You may be just bowling for fun and need to strike to shoot your highest score, or you may be competing in a league and need a strike to win for your team. You may simply need to figure out how to adjust on a difficult lane condition, or you may be in a tournament trying to qualify for the finals. You can learn to conquer any challenges in the face of pressure by learning how to stay calm and focused.


Controlling your emotions helps you stay on task and focus on what you can control, without worrying about what you can’t control. You can control your own performance, but you cannot control the performance of another bowler or even the outcome of a game or tournament.


Be flexible and adapt to your environment. You will be bowling on different lanes, in different bowling centers, and on different lane conditions. You have to learn to adjust, and this includes expanding your comfort zones. This is a mental process.


There are many possible thoughts that can go through your mind at any time. Learning to discipline your thoughts and create more effective thoughts is the cornerstone of a sound mental game, and it will help you bowl better.


Developing A Shot Making Routine


Developing a shot making routine will enhance your ability to repeat your technique. It involves both a physical and mental regimen and is as important in bowling as it is in golf, another game of repetition.


A shot making routine is a physical ritual paired with a mental process that is used for every shot. Preparing the same way for each shot improves your ability to repeat your technique. Professional golfers go through a consistent routine before every shot because they have to make good shots, over and over. Consider these tips to develop a sound pre-shot making routine:


-As you approach the bowler’s area on your turn, imagine a curtain drops behind you to separate you from everyone else. Channel your focus on the upcoming shot.

-Visualize the path of the ball to the pocket or spare.

-Use the same ritual every time you pick up the ball and set your stance.

-Clarify and simplify your thoughts. Commit completely to your strategy.


As part of your mental process, you should also have a postshot routine to analyze the outcome and react appropriately to it for the next shot. Here is a suggested postshot routine:


-Assess the outcome. Note ball reaction and any flaws in execution.

-Refocus if you left a spare to shoot.

-Strategize your next strike shot before you leave the bowler’s area, and decide what adjustments, if any, you will make on the next shot to make it more successful. Do this before socializing between shots while the shot is fresh in your mind.


You may have determined that you simply did not focus properly on the last shot so you resolve to do so on the next one. Or you may have determined that the ball hooked too much because you drifted, and so rather than adjust where you stand, you resolve to walk straighter next time. Or you may decide that you made a good shot, but need to make an adjustment because of the lane condition. This is the time to engineer the move you will make for the next frame and commit to it.


Note: Adjustments are always a series of educated guesses. That’s all you ever have. So as long as your decision makes sense, commit to it without second-guessing it. This commitment and clarity will help you make a better, more relaxed shot. Because of your strong resolve, the quality of the swing may ever determine the success of the next shot, even if the adjustment was not dead on!


Consider a golfer who is trying to decide between two clubs. His caddy can influence the mental frame of the golfer based on his reaction to the decision. If the golfer makes a decision on his own and the caddy questions it, the golfer may doubt his decision and not be as relaxed and trusting when he makes the shot as he would if the caddy had expressed clear approval of the decision, even if he wasn’t sure either! Committing to a questionable strategy with all your heart can lead to a better outcome than making a perfect decision but committing only halfway to it. The effect of that commitment on the quality of your physical shot can affect the outcome.


Don’t be too concerned if sometimes you just don’t feel like doing your shot making routine. I get it. You might be too upset from your last shot or distracted by the lucky shot your opponent got, or you might just feel lazy. This stuff takes a lot of energy to do every time! Again, working on the mental game is just as hard as working on the physical game; it just happens to be invisible. Some of the best bowlers I have competed against on tour stuck relentlessly to their routines. This does not mean that it was easy to do. It means that they had trained themselves to do so, so that it had become automatic. Because of this, their mental games were very strong and their shot making was superb.