One characteristic all great bowlers have is knowing how to
grind it out in competition. I have seen some of the most talented bowlers come
out on the short end of the stick because they do not have the discipline to
grind it out when things are not going their way. When a bowler is struggling
or dealing with an unfamiliar situation they should always use it as a learning
experience and never give up. I have seen bowlers start a tournament or league
session with a bad game and immediately accept that this is going to be a bad
night or tournament. Sometimes our egos get in the way and we are afraid to
fail so we avoid situations that are unfamiliar or situations that push us
beyond our comfort zone. To improve we must not get too comfortable, we should
learn to push ourselves a little and compete against better bowlers and on
conditions that challenge our abilities more.
When you are in competition and you find yourself on
difficult lane conditions you must have a mental and physical game plan. Your
physical game plan is to try to select equipment that will allow you to keep
the ball in the pocket area and leave spares that are easy to pick up. Even if
your carry is not as good with that piece of equipment it may be a better
choice if you can keep it in play more and not leave a lot of splits and spare
clusters. Your mental game plan is to be patient because in many cases the lane
condition will open up and become more favorable. Try to avoid negative
conversations about the conditions and look at it as a challenge. When you are
bowling tournaments and moving from pair to pair, some pairs will be tougher
than others and you will want to just stay out of trouble. If you remain
patient and don’t get frustrated you will be better able to take advantage of
the easier pairs.
The ABC, WIBC and Team Challenge tournament conditions are
much more demanding than league conditions and will test anybody’s patients. No
matter how much you may struggle you should always try to learn something from
that experience so that you will be better prepared the next time you run into
a similar condition. Learning to grind it out is learned behavior and you
cannot become a better player without failing sometimes first.
For more PRO TIPS visit: http://sport-r-us.blogspot.com/2013/02/pro-tips-breaking-out-of-slump.html
