Author Topic: Cup is half full. A lesson for all of us. (Read 1833 times)

trash heap · « **on:** October 06, 2014, 06:47:42 PM »

There is a very young gifted teen bowler at my local center. Has a solid 200 plus average, but he wants more. Who can blame him. His biggest stumbling block is his brain.

Just as example. He is bowling is final game of league bowling. Has a something like a 150 in the 7th frame. Needs to strike out to get a 240 game and a 700 series. Strikes in the 8th and 9th Frames. 10th Frame leaves a 4 pin. He so ticked off that misses the spare. 207 Game. His series was 674.

I am seeing this trend over the next few weeks. He leaves a single pin and he gets so upset he screws up and misses. Usually affecting him for the next several shots.

Well I happen to watch his third and final game this past Saturday.
Frame Count:
1. Strike
2. 7 and picks up Spare
3. Strike
4. Strike
5. 9 and picks up Spare (Stoned the 9 Pin)
6. Strike
7. Strike
8. Strike
9. 9 and Picks up Spare (Not a great shot, but the 5 pin was moving/wobbling)
10. Strike, Strike, 8 Count

Final Score = 236. He wasn't happy. So I told him. You were a stone 9 and wobbling 5 pin away from a 280 game (Actually 278). He is right there. Things are going good for him (cup is half full), he is just a couple frames away from throwing some real big scores. Keep it up! Once I put it this way, it didn't seem so bad.

We sometimes only see the negative in bowling and forget all the good things we do.

Joe Cool · « **Reply #1 on:** October 07, 2014, 08:48:25 AM »

I've actually changed my approach to this way of thinking and it's helped a lot. I had the front 7, then a "pocket" 7-10 (obviously not a great shot). Picked up the 10, finished out the game with strikes. Years ago that would have ruined the rest of that game for me. people came up feeling bad for me; I said you give me 12 shots that could have been strikes every game and I'll take my chances.

I also believe (and we often don't think about this either) that you do get more good breaks than you do bad breaks if you're rolling the ball well. Sometimes we feel entitled to a strike anytime we're near the pocket. A lot of times we get strikes that weren't perfect and feel they were deserved and when the pin didn't come flying across to take out the 10 pin we think we got screwed. What's the saying? 90% of the game is half mental?

REmarcaBOWL · « **Reply #2 on:** October 07, 2014, 12:09:37 PM »

Great reads...

Going over the original post, I easily felt like this kid was me 3 weeks ago during big league (5man 52 team) sweepers in Las Vegas.

South Point Casino, fresh oil. I couldn't have asked for a better shot. Absolutely lined up to the 1-3 pocket all series long. By far the most competitive league I am in, knowing that "it's 279 per game or higher" to feel secure.

I started off each game with a 4 bagger then went dutch as I lost carry on 1 of 2 lanes. Watching many close by string 7-8, I became discouraged and started missing single pin spares. Although, a bad practice to do so, I told myself that even had I picked up those spares I missed and stayed clean, I'd still not have been able to cash via round robin... and as I am typing this I've realized how I've succumbed to money and failed to up-keep my game smdh #newlessonlearned

Author Topic: Cup is half full. A lesson for all of us. (Read 1833 times)

trash heap

Cup is half full. A lesson for all of us.

Joe Cool

Re: Cup is half full. A lesson for all of us.

REmarcaBOWL

Re: Cup is half full. A lesson for all of us.