I understand it can be a pain, sort of like the first week or two for league secretaries - tons of interruptions between shots. But how much concentration do you need? Do you seriously need to concentrate the entire 5 minutes between shots? You should only need to focus once you step on the lane getting ready to make your next shot. Once you step up, forget everyone else, concentrate for 5 seconds and throw your best shot. I may not be in the business, but why can't it be that simple?
You would think it could be that simple, but when you're in the middle of a conversation with somebody, your focus becomes that conversation, and it's hard to flip flop back and forth every single shot. Plus when you know so much more or develop coaching tips from watching other people, you use them yourself, so at least my head can get pretty cluttered with things. When you're in the business, the way you sell coaching is bowling good yourself and when somebody asks how you did something or why you did it, having a good, relatable answer. The way you sell bowling balls is by making them look good. When I'm bowling, I'm in the mindset that our team is at the USBC Open, and I watch every shot that everybody else throws and we all talk, we all pay attention, give each other feedback, etc. When you're in the business, you can't just drink pitchers, watch the game, and shoot the shiatzu. You're being held to a standard by everybody else in there, so if you aren't seen to be at the top of your game, it affects business. If somebody else is getting caught by the transition, and I made a move ahead of time because I've been watching everybody else, and that somebody comes and says, "Hey, why is my ball all the sudden going nuts and yours isn't?" That either gets them interested in the ball you're throwing, or interested in learning something. Like I said before, if you're in conversations with everybody else, you can't watch the other people throw the ball, you can't watch the transition, you always have to catch up to what's going on. If you're doing something different, or trying to focus on something, it's hard to bounce back and forth, especially if you're deep into a conversation with somebody. I stay busy enough keeping the team on track on our pair without having to help everybody else out. My wife gets mad enough at me that I'm too busy helping everybody else to watch her, and I have another buddy that if I bowl with him, he has some trouble seeing some things, so he's always in my ear, but if I keep him on track, he's a possible 250+ no matter what he's bowling on. It's not like just hanging out back in the bowlers area having a drink and a casual conversation with somebody. And I suppose it's gone on long enough that I get pissy at the drop of a hat because I'd like to have just one league night where I can do that, just have a beer and a casual conversation and just take my time.
And with LGD and his comment, I don't doubt that's how it comes across. But while other people don't get why pros get so bent out of shape when somebody moves or coughs or Belmonte crinkles a water bottle, I get it completely. Most people don't get super focused or into it when they're bowling, and once you cross that line when you start watching absolutely everything that's going on and keeping track of yourself, in addition to what's going on with your team and what the other team is doing to the lanes, that's full time concentration. So no, I don't need 5 minutes of concentration for myself, but if I'm having a conversation and wasn't able to see some transition that gives me a bad result on a good shot when I could have seen it and moved, that pisses me off, and it makes me look bad. I just live bowling, and when you REALLY get into something and make it your life, you get weird, and the stuff that really sets you off makes other people laugh. My wife calls me Sheldon, if that explains anything to anybody . .
But again, I've gotta relate to people better, and if nobody understands where I'm coming from and LGD says I'm a prima donna . . I've gotta take that constructively. I've either got to figure out a way to do both, or just cut something out. I can't afford to be a douche and run somebody off because they don't understand where I'm coming from. But at the same time, everybody that's not in the business doesn't give us the benefit of the doubt, it's like raising a teenager. If they decide something "isn't a big deal," like going to a party with no adult supervision at 9 on a Friday night, because they don't foresee themselves doing anything wrong, they'll argue up and down with you, not thinking that maybe you know something they don't. We can do so many things right for people, but if something happens they don't understand, or if a ball doesn't fall off the press and fit perfect and automatically find the pocket, WE are the idiots, and anything we say is just seen like we're trying to talk our way out of our screw up, rather than actually knowing something they don't. We put a LOT into what we do, and it's hard to always take it nicely when somebody who shows up once a week and averages 170 is cussing us saying we don't know what we're doing because he's trying to play up 10 with a Defiant . . It's like having a job that you can't get away from. I'm constantly getting texts and facebook messages from people asking when I'm in the shop next or asking what ball they should get, or what's coming out next. It's like being on call 24/7, and I'm sure there's some of you that understand that. It's just a whole different world and sometimes I'd really like to just be able to have some quiet.
