Another in a long line of Sports Psychology articles.If you believe,it makes it easier
to achieve.
"The Striking Mind"
Right Brain Vs Left Brain (The Mental Game)
By Rev. Joe W. Commerford, Ph.D., C.Ht
What is the Mental Game?
The Mental Game is the part of sports that is the least understood. Most of the coaches and teachers will tell you what they think the mental game is all about, and as you perfect your performances with many hours of practice, you too will believe you know the Mental Game. As long as you continue to only practice the physical (mechanics) part of the game, you will have some success, and you will have many failures.
How many times have you practiced long, hard, tedious drill after drill to develop muscle memory, and on the day of the competition you don't perform even close to your skill level? What is it that makes us perform in practice like a champion, and then on the day we need to perform we choke? The answer is in the Mental Game. Without a strong Mental Game the Gold Medallist would be just another also ran.
This course will teach you exactly how to access your Mental Game every time you need it. No more guessing when will you perform well and when will you perform poorly. Just by learning these natural techniques you will always be at the peak of your game. If you have ever executed a perfect shot, the muscle memory of that shot is still recorded in your subconscious, along with all the not so perfect shots you have taken.
The World's Most Complex Computer
The human mind is the most complex computer ever designed. It records every single incident that happens to us. Your subconscious mind has already recorded every single event that has ever happened to you in detail. All the feelings, the sounds, the smells and emotions attached to each event have been recorded and stored in your subconscious mind. How many times have you tried to think of someone's name, no matter how hard you tried, the name would not come to mind? Then when you least expected it, the name popped up out of no where; the no where, was your subconscious (the world's most complex computer). If you have ever driven for several miles and all of a sudden you realized you didn't remember any of the drive, you were guided by the world's most complex computer (your subconscious mind).
How can your subconscious mind operate a vehicle without your conscious thoughts telling you what to do? The answer is VERY WELL. It does it automatically, when the conscious mind is kept busy with other thoughts. Can you begin to imagine NOW, how hard it would be, to know which muscles it would take to get out of a chair? Which muscle would you ask to do what and when? You would sit in that chair the rest of your life, because the conscious mind can only think of seven chunks of information at a time, give or take two. It takes hundreds of timed muscle movements to get out of the chair, and only being able to think of seven of them at once, how long would you sit there?
The subconscious mind has unlimited storage capacity, which is why the Mental Game works so well. Every successful performance has been recorded in your subconscious mind and is waiting for you to ask it to repeat. That's exactly right, every successful shot you have ever completed is a recording in your mind that can be repeated again and again and again. Not only can it repeat past performance perfectly, it can create future successes without you actually having to perform the shot physically.
Several documented studies have been done on the development of motor skills by visualization. One case study involves a classroom of students who were asked to participate by shooting baskets from the foul line of the basketball court. There were a total of thirty students who participated in this study. On the first day of the experiment each of the thirty students tried to make as many baskets as they could with only twenty shots. Each student's totals were recorded and then they returned to the classroom where they were divided into three groups, A, B and C.
GROUP A:
Had to practice shooting baskets from the foul line everyday for 30 minutes.
GROUP B:
Had to sit comfortably in a chair and for 15 minutes mentally picture themselves making perfect shots from the foul line. Then they had to actually practice physically for 15 minutes shooting baskets from the foul line.
GROUP C:
Had to sit comfortably in a chair and practice mentally shooting perfect shots from the foul line. They were to practice mentally for 30 minutes everyday, without touching a basketball.
The three groups continued their practice session each day for ten days. On day eleven they were taken to the basketball court and each student shot 20 times from the foul line and the results were recorded and compared to the original scores.
GROUP A: IMPROVED 10%
GROUP B: IMPROVED 22%
GROUP C: IMPROVED 33%
Imagine
An improvement of 33% in shooting and never pick up the basketball! Imagine the power of your subconscious mind. Imagine you have this same power! Imagine!
Perfect Practice Every Time
The reason we practice for any sport is to perfect rhythm and timing. While perfecting rhythm and timing when we practice, we also create a data base of successful and not so successful shots. Why is this so important? When you are attempting to perform under the pressure of a tournament, or any condition where you are shooting for score, it is imperative that you rely on the past successful shots that are stored in your memory. Therefore, when you practice mentally you should only practice perfect shots with perfect results.
Bowling
In the sport of bowling the subconscious has time at the point of release to make final adjustments to the delivery of the ball, which causes the ball to hit the pocket creating a perfect strike. This natural action happens automatically and is so important, if you are going to score high consistently. When allowed to function without interference from the conscious mind, it never fails to execute a perfect shot.
One of the exciting aspects of bowling this way is that no two shots are exactly the same. With the ever-changing lane conditions during a match, you never have to take the lane conditions into account. Can you imagine bowling without thinking of the lane conditions? The subconscious computer does all of the thinking for you automatically. You will always be throwing strike after strike after strike, while the other bowlers are thinking of where they are going to move next, you will be thinking of striking. While they are making change after change you will always be executing your shot the same way each and every time, allowing your subconscious computer to make the changes needed automatically.
Your automatic foul line correction system will keep you on target throughout the entire game, series and tournament. With proper training you will consistently be in the winners circle.
You probably want to know how soon can you start using this wonderful gift of yours? The answer is most exciting; the subconscious mind can be used immediately. If you can close your eyes and take three deep breaths; you posses the natural ability to perfect the mental game.
Once you have been taught the correct way to use the most explosive piece of equipment you own; you will never bowl the same again. Each and every time you roll the ball it will be different than the time you rolled it before resulting in a strike. The sport of bowling will never be the same. It will be more fun, and you will score higher than you ever thought possible with little effort on your part. As you perfect this system, you will become the person that everyone else is trying to beat. Notice I said trying to beat, they will have to bowl the best they can to even have a chance to win over you. You will always have the correct speed, line and carry to the pocket and record strike after strike against all opponents.
Perfect practice only requires you to close your eyes and picture a perfect strike. Feel the ball, hear the sounds of the bowling center, smell the lane oil on the ball, and see the whole surroundings. Imagine other bowlers in the picture, they can be bowling on the lanes next to you or just watching the bowlers from behind. They can be bowling on the same pair of lanes you are on. Hear what they are saying, and you will then be visualizing the same atmosphere as when you bowl in person. The Mental Game is just that, a game that you have to play in your mind over and over until you are perfect in every way possible. Each and every shot you take must be executed perfectly with perfect results. That is the only acceptable mental practice allowed from this moment on.
If you find yourself not performing the mental practice perfectly, you will not get the full benefit of the Mental Game and your performance will suffer. If you do perform perfectly each time you mentally roll the ball your scores will go up rapidly and you will start winning more and more.
This is the most important rule of "The Mental Game": Each time you mentally execute a shot, it must be perfect with perfect results. NO EXECPTIONS TO THIS RULE.
This is the easiest way to practice any sport, close your eyes, and make a perfect shot. Do it again and again and again. Perfect timing; perfect swing, perfect speed, perfect carry and a perfect score. Nothing less than perfect will work, you cannot fail, as you are the one who is visualizing the perfect results of the perfect execution of the perfect shot.
Take Responsibility
Who is responsible for your performance? Is it your coach? Is it the pro shop guy who drilled your ball? Is it the guy who does the lanes? Is it the ball manufacture? Who is it? How important is ball drilling? How important is your knowing about lane conditions? How important is your knowing what ball to throw under which lane condition at what time? Is it a full moon or a half moon? How many of these things do you blame when you don't score well?
Most of you will pick one or more of these excuses for your poor performance, when in reality none of these things have anything to do with you rolling the ball down the lane. The only thing that can consistently make you score high is developing your ability to allow your subconscious computer to make the foul line adjustments necessary to hit the pocket shot after shot, which results in strike after strike after strike. The key to high scores is more strikes and the key to more strikes is the utilization of your built-in computer to execute the proper release for you.
Programming Your (Subconscious) Computer
Where does the subconscious get the data it uses to make the foul line adjustments? Remember the subconscious records every single shot you have ever rolled down the lane. Also remember, the subconscious computer is always going to give you the results you visualize, as it does not know the difference from a real event or an imagined event. That is why when we practice mentally, we have to practice perfect shots each and every time we practice. This type of practice will program the subconscious computer to only execute perfect releases resulting in perfect pocket hits and perfect strikes.
This type of programming is very easy to do as long as you get in the habit of expecting perfect results each and every time you visualize the shot. When visualizing a performance, you need to hear the sounds and smell the smells if you are to create a virtual reality. The subconscious cannot determine the difference from that which is real from that which is imagined. This creates a unique situation for the serious athlete who wants to become the best in their sport. The fine line between a champion and an also ran is the ability to perform under pressure. With a fully developed mental game you will always be performing to the best of your ability and winning more and more events.
Perfect practice; perfect results; perfect scores will become the normal outcome, not the rarity. You will develop the attitude of expecting each and every shot to produce a strike, if you do not strike you will know that your subconscious computer will make the automatic adjustments, resulting in the next shot being perfect. All of this will happen without any effort on your part once you have mastered the mental game.
Can It Be This Simple?
Can this game of bowling really be this simple? Can this game of bowling with the confusing oiling patterns, different weight blocks, cover stocks and custom drilling, strokers, crankers, spinners, down the boards, swing the ball, hit the wall, reverse blocks, christmas trees, etc.? Can it really be so simple that all you have to do is think strike in order to score high? It not only can be, it is.
This has been the focus of my research and the results are astounding. With the high performance bowling balls marketed today it would be costly to go out and buy the newest ball on the market every time a new ball is introduced. Imagine, being able to consistently bowl scores of 200 and higher with any ball, even a plastic (what some of us refer to as) spare ball. Imagine if you did not have to be concerned in making a decision as to which ball to use. Imagine, knowing you have the best ball in your hands for each and every shot you make. Imagine if I were to tell you that where you stand on the approach is not that
important anymore (of course you have to stay behind the foul line).
With only one session, I have been able to train bowlers how to throw strike after strike with only their spare ball. Without knowing where their feet were on the approach they are able to shoot higher scores than they did when they carefully placed their feet on the approach for each shot. The game of bowling is really simple as long as you allow your subconscious mind to make the foul line adjustments required to perform consistently and score high.
Developing Awareness and Feeling for Success
With the development of the mental game your awareness will also develop. Awareness of what, you might ask? Awareness of where the ball is at all times. Develop awareness of all that is going on around you.
When the ball is in your hands and not sitting on the ball return, you must be totally aware of where it is at all times. The moment you pick up the ball, information is being fed to your subconscious computer. This information is vital for the subconscious to be able to make perfect foul line adjustments at the moment of release, resulting in perfect shots each and every time you roll the ball.
Remember that you must pay attention to where the ball is not where you want it to be. Once you start your delivery, the only thing you should be thinking about is where the ball is, NOTHING ELSE.
