Well you know the things your doing wrong. Id go to practice and video yourself to see if there are things you are doing wrong that you dont feel but may see on camera. When you go to practice start on the basics from the beginning. Work on your timing through your approach and on staying relaxed. Let your body do what it has been trained to do and not over think it.

It is best to video yourself when throwing the ball great, good, and when in a slump. This makes it easier to see things you were doing at each point and how to get back where you want to be.

Focus on your timing and a consistant release. Once you feel that coming together then focus on accuracy. Spares is the biggest factor for nationals. If you are solid on spare shooting the scores will follow. Most of all dont over think anything. Yes it is nationals but it still comes down to playing your game .

Try and put up a video so we can see. I think the best help I ever get is when I read mark bakers book. It's simple and can help someone from 160 to 230. You can get the kindle version for like ten dollars I think

Don't feel too bad...I'm in the same boat as you.  It can be tough to work through, but like others have said, video yourself and try to see what /where things are going wrong.

We go the 17th...hope to have some things together by then.   

I would make a trip out for a practice session and focus on 2 items (notice: neither of them are score).  1) Timing.  There is nothing that will throw off everything you do more than timing.  Personally, I tend to get the ball moving a bit early, resulting in early timing.  This crops up a whole range of issues (many of which you mentioned above).  When making a change, I typically try to exagerate the change, so it has a better change of sticking (seems to help with me).  On a 5 step approach, don't start the ball moving until step 2 1/2.  On a 4 step approach, step 1 1/2.  The idea, generate "later" timing.  2) Release behind the ball. To improve staying behind th eball, I like to envision my hand on the inside of the ball (palm facing outwards).  I will even throw a number of shots this way (essentially generating a back-up ball rotation) to groove in the feeling.  BTW, this is a wonderful way to flatten out a shot for corner pins!  When I go back to throwing regular shots, I try to keep the "hand inside" feel until it passes my thigh (whether that actually happens or not is another issue).. Depending on the roll I'm trying to generate, I will also work on trying to move from the inside (9 oclock on the dial) to the back of the ball (5 oclock) during the release.  I never end up actually rolling the ball end over end, but helps against chicken winging and coming around early.

These may or may not work for you (some suggestions to think about at least), but seem to be leading causes when I start throwing the ball "bad".  Its amazing how much more confidence you have when you feel like you are throwing the ball well.     

Good luck in sorting out and good luck at nationals!

Scott

No worries about the help. Thank you all for the replies and suggestions. I am at 206 on Wednesday night and 200 even on Thursday night.

My problem isn't spares. Over a whole season i am 95% on my single pin spares and it is usually left side spares. I miss more 7 pins than anything. I can throw any ball dead straight. That is why i don't take a plastic ball with me.

Practice tonight  and tomorrow, then next weekend also. Thanks guys i appreciate the time you take to suggest things for me to try.