Bo-Fish Bowling News the Positive Source for Bowling Worldwide

Tips from Tom by Tom Blasco

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Article Archive #1

Fast Feet

“Fast Feet” - one of the biggest problem areas in the game. A problem that plagues every bowler from time to time.

“Fast Feet” is when the feet are ahead of the swing during or at the end of the approach. This problem could be so slight that the bowler only feels alittle awkward or off balance or that the bowler could be turned sideways at the end of the approach.

“Fast Feet” may also effect other areas of the bowler’s game; dropping the shoulder, inconsistent releases, lack of follow through and inability to stay down with the shot and maintain balance at the foul line in the post position.

The correction? You must determine the cause(s):

- POOR BALL PLACEMENT (PUSH AWAY)(TIMING MOTION): Ball placement is essential to timing (swing with feet). Poor placement in regards to “fast feet” is directly related to the key step - 1st step in a four step delivery and 2nd step in a five step delivery. Another problem to be cautious of is pushing the ball in an upward direction from a waist high position.

- SHOULDERS TOO FAR FORWARD: Causes too much bend at the waist and not enough bend in the knees. The result is that the ball gets down to early which allows loss of leverage (power) and an unbalanced feeling in the approach.

- KEY STEP TOO LONG: This causes all your steps to be too long and allows the swing to float through the approach resulting in no power. Five step approaches must watch length of second step.

- WALKING ON TOES: This causes additional speed in the approach and may also cause the shoulders to be too far forward. Both together result in loss of leverage.

- MUSCLED ARMSWING: When applied correctly is a useful tool, but when done incorrectly it is detrimental to timing, leverage and overall consistency of the armswing. It may also cause injury and pain in the wrist, arm and shoulder.

These are some of the more common problems associated with “fast feet”. You can see that the timing of footwork and swing is very delicate and can be easily upset. Sometimes it can be a combination of problems. Since we have some of the causes, let’s go to the solutions.

- POOR BALL PLACEMENT: A simple movement that slowly places the ball toward the target in a downward direction. You try to time your ball placement to begin when the heel of your key step touches the floor. A tip.......think to yourself during the key step to step then place the ball.

- SHOULDERS TOO FAR FORWARD: In the stance shoulders should be erect with knees slightly flexed. As your approach begins, the knees should gradually deepen their bend as far as possible upon sliding without causing strain. At the end of the approach, the waist should be slightly bent - forward. A general rule....the deeper the knee bend when sliding, the less the waist needs to bend.

- WALKING ON TOES: Place the heel first and toes last in each step. This allows a smoother and less jerky approach and slows down the entire approach. It will also create more leverage upon release because the approach builds momentum from the back to front movement of your feet.

- KEY STEP TOO LONG: Take a normal walking step, the rest of the steps will fall into place. Five step, remember the first step is for momentum and should be shorter than your key step.

- MUSCLED ARMSWING: The ball should swing from the shoulder with a minimal amount of muscling. Work on relaxing the armswing. A tip....Make believe your arm is like a wet noodle and let the noodle swing freely from your shoulder allowing the weight of the ball to direct the swing throughout the approach. This is extremely effective if you can learn to realize and use the relaxed armswing, immediately after you place the ball with you key step.

Concentration along with the ability to recognize the problem will help you recover from “fast feet”. Take your time with learning to develop the sensation or feeling. Walk through one and two; or one, two and three than just let the rest follow. Learn that learning your game in segments not only helps develop your overall game, but builds character and discipline.

Remember also, concentration is basically being aware of what your body is doing and enables you to achieve what you intend. It also helps you avoid making the same mistakes twice. However, if concentration and awareness don’t completely alleviate your problem, seek the assistance of a good instructor. Since you can’t physically see yourself bowl without the aid of video taping, and instructor will
become your eyes.

LEARNING

Motives - a need or drive that is stimulated and seeks to be satisfied, to take action.
Need - becomes a motive when they are stimulated or aroused.

Motives have two categories:

1. Biogenic Needs. The needs for food and physical comfort and arises our physiological states.
2. Psychogenic Needs. The need for appreciation and self-esteem, and arises out of psychological states.

Maslow’s Theory of Motivation: Your needs are as follows:

1. Physiological - Need for food, drink, clothing, sex.
2. Safety and Security - Need for protection and order.
3. Belongingness and Love - Need for affection and acceptance.
4. Esteem - Need for self respect, prestige and status.
5. Self-actualization - Need for self-fulfillment.

Perception: The uses of the five senses, and how we interpret the stimuli.

Personality and Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud believed the mind and personality consisted of three parts:

1. The ID, where basic, sometimes inappropriate, drive exists (the part of us always seeking pleasure).
2. The SUPEREGO, acts as a conscious, develops moral standards and places a check on instinctive, sometimes inappropriate drives (our sense of right and wrong).
3. The EGO, acts as a control center, achieving a balance between the drives of the ID and constraints of the SUPEREGO (our part that keeps us in touch with reality - the intellectual part).

Attitude. A persons tendency to act in a certain way or to hold an emotion or feeling about something. The three parts to attitude:

1. Beliefs. What you think about what you do.
2. Evaluations. Judgments you make.
3. Tendency to Act. Whether you accept or not accept what you are doing.

What separates, the player, from player’s - is ATTITUDE! Attitude determines how well you do it. Ability is what you are capable of doing. Inspiration is your change to Awareness, through self-motivation. Motivation determines your attitude when you would rather do one thing more than another particular thing at a particular time. Nothing you do comes easy. It comes from careful preparation, lots of practice and
meticulous planning.

Raising your level of play is done with knowledge. Knowledge of your physical, emotional and mental game. Knowing yourself and your reactions to your emotional being in all situations, circumstances and events. Knowing that teaching your muscles to respond in a consistent pattern is as important as having a free mind. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and know when to be flexible enough to adapting your style to changing lane conditions, playing environment and distractions from friends, family and fellow competitors.

Know thyself. It is just as important as knowing your game, your movements, your feelings and the sensation of bowling, “with the feeling of no feeling.” A video may help, but understand and knowing yourself will help more. Learning that every experience you have delivering a bowling ball will fit somewhere in the overall master plan of life and sport. However, learning is hindered by anxiety, arousal, distractions, if those threats that causes the anxiety, arousal, or distractions cannot be controlled by the subject.

You must know whether or not your favorite playing angle is inside, 2nd arrow or on the gutter. If one or the other is not conducive to your game, you must know how to adapt to play these angles and still be competitive. You must be able to recognize if the heads are hooking; or the track is hooking early; or carrydown is changing your shot. You must be so fine tuned that you know if you add one piece of tape to
your thumb hole, it will snug it up and help you create a little more skid through the heads and a better grip on the ball. You must know that pin placements and mass bias positions relative to your positive axis point (PAP) will help you play different angles with carry and that the shell of the ball has more influence that all the
weights. But the most important of all the things you must know, you must know YOURSELF, the operator. The operator, mentally overrides everything the operator does physically.

Everyone looks for the quick fix. There isn’t any. It comes from your day by day mental, emotional and physical construction. Once your convince yourself and believe in yourself, than you will start on your road to success, provided you have the right attitude. ATTITUDE is of utmost importance and you must be willing to sacrifice.

You must be motivated or motivate yourself to reach out for your goals...it must be something you really want and it must be realistic. You must be goal setting oriented, starting with small goals and arriving at your larger goals.

You must be a positive thinker and believe in yourself. You should always strive to do what’s right, to do your best and treat others like you want to be treated. Look within yourself, see your achievements (goals) and successes, build your feelings on these achievements and grow. There’s OPTIMISM, a positive attitude. Combined with realization, practicality, you the person and you the bowler make failure only a
temporary set back. With set backs you keep your mind open, and with your open mind you’ll eventually succeed. When you’re confronted with the pressure situation remember you create the response to the situation, new and old. Conscious worrying or negative thinking will have a definite effect on your performance and your life situations. You must control your emotions and you can’t think about earlier shot
or get the “ifs”, “should haves”, “could have”, etc., they are gone. The trick than is to keep your conscious mind out of your game plan and let the pre-recorded data in your brain through by muscle memory - perform.

How do you develop muscle memory? Through practice naturally, and knowing that you are not just throwing ball after ball, after ball at a target. Take the time to stop and think about what you are teaching yourself. Realize what you (mentally and emotionally) and your body (physically) are practicing. Remember, too, bad habits will come easily if you don’t maintain your self-discipline, and that you will
eventually need a set of eyes or video to help you through a rough period.

Your competitive edge and pressure situations are present in every game you perform in. How do you maintain these? One answer is good sound quality practice concentrating on near perfect movements along with your muscle responses that are being recorded in your subconscious over time. You repetition of muscle movements becomes recorded through your central nervous system which creates and reinforces
your muscle memory activities. From your repetition, your brain and body learns and knows what to do when you have to throw a soft shot, change wrist/hand positions, locations on the lane, and so on.

Be organized, feel your commitment to your shot, yourself and your goals. Maintain your self-discipline so your feel good about yourself. Be committed and realize your goals are within achieving and more important than yourself.

Know that you are important, but that there comes a time when your goal and that cause you represent have more importance. You forfeit your rights as an individual. When you walk off the lanes, you’re an individual and you have rights.

14 General Areas of Psychology:

1. The development of the individual organism, including heredity and maturation.
2. The role of the sense organs, including vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, pain, and temperature, as well as the senses that detect bodily movement and balance.
3. The nervous system, including the central and the peripheral nervous systems and the muscles and glands that cooperate with the nervous system.
4. Perception, the process by which we come to understand the world in which we live.
5. The processes of learning and memory, which enable us to understand and cope with our environment, on and off the lanes.
6. Consciousness, the process of awareness and the events that alter awareness.
7. Motivation, the unlearned and learned drives that impel action or inaction.
8. Emotion, the bodily conditions that we identify with feeling and that affect every thing we do.
9. The higher processes of language, thinking and problem solving.
10. The observable and unobservable behavior that we call intelligence, and its testing.
11. The specific characteristics of the individual that we refer to as personality.
12. The ways in which the individual adjusts to demands of the environment.
13. The many varieties of behavior pathology (disturbance).
14. Social behavior, the interaction of people in groups.

Fear of the unknown happens to everyone at some point in their lives. Bowling in front of your home town crowd; bowling against your idol; and bowling against what you have been told are the best players in the world, creates fear - fear of the unknown, some might even call it anxiety or apprehension. Your hands shake, sweat, and get cold. You feel nervous, can’t remember things, make technical errors, mental and physical preparation abandon you or resemble the slightest distinction of a thought and your overall performance has you talking to yourself. You have a general discomfort that dominates everything else including your overall game plan to becoming a champion.

Research shows that these physical reactions are the same for fear, anger and excitement. It’s your mind that determines how you react to the various stimuli while standing, observing, playing (post and pre game time) and walking off the lanes after a shot. The great Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu (399-295 BC) said, “When an archer is shooting for nothing, he has all his skill. If he shoots for a brass buckle, he is already nervous. But if he shoots for a gold ring, he goes blind or sees two targets - He is out of his mind!:

Realize this about the archer - YOU. Your skill has not changed. But the prize, the competition and your emotions divide you. You care. You think more of winning than of making the shot. And the need to win drains you of power.

Training your brain how to think during a competition is an important skill to learn and learning to believe in what you trained your brain to think is also an important skill. Learning and believing that no one shot is more important than the first one you deliver is important. Learning and believing that the most important shot of a 300 game is not the last one delivered, but the first one thrown. Learning and believing what you tell yourself before and while you perform greatly influences the quality of your performance. Learning and believing that every shot your deliver is important, whether it’s a strike or spare. Learning and believing that before your walk out on the competition floor, remind yourself that you have trained in the most effective way you know and now is the time to trust what you’ve learned. Learn and believe, you can always improve, but right now for this tournament, you have done the best you can to get ready.

Remember you have trained for so long, you no longer have to worry or be concerned about your mechanics, physical adjustments or different methods of delivering the shot - your body knows what to do. When you perform, you can trust your muscle memory to do most of the work for you. No effort or thought is required to bring back all that you have trained.

Single out just one aspect of your performance that you want to focus on. Think about this, not when you are performing, but before you step up on the approach. Some people, for instance, might want to think about a solid stance or the grip of the ball. Others might want to concentrate on their balance at the foul line or height of their follow through. Choosing more than one item to consider, however, would only burden your ability to concentrate, so choose carefully and stay focused to the thought you’ve created.

Once your competition starts, do not judge yourself as you are performing, it’s something you can do later. Simply observe it without verbal description. When you are about to make the shot, for example, do it with commitment and dedication and then feel it as you are doing it. There is nothing verbal about this process. It’s all about feel and self talk.

Do not think about how the crowd is reacting to your play, either. Worrying about what your teacher/instructor or family is thinking further removes you from the moment at hand and your performance - another distraction that will take away your ability to concentrate on what’s going on in the present and staying focused to the task at hand - making the shot.

Finally, enjoy! Yes enjoy what you are doing. Don’t forget that your performance is the time when you can finally share what you have trained so hard to learn and believe. This is a time for gratification and not a time for correcting errors or other faults. Competitors tend to be too self-critical in performance. Your place of training is the place for that. Competition is the time for celebrating your skills - mentally and physically.

All of us as bowlers are interested. All of us ask the same questions relating to the importance of ball reaction elements. Here is a listing I've been accumulating for over 5 years relative to this subject and in the order of importance, as I review them. Trust me I didn't dream them up, they come from numerous repetiable sources doing this much longer than I have.

Ball Reaction Elements

1. Cover stock
   1. Surface (Highly Aggressive, Very Aggressive, Mild; Dull or Shiny)
   2. Sanding
   3. Solids vs. Pearls
2. Track Flare (Axis Migration; High Flare vs. Low Flare Balls)
3. Bowler's Style (Boomer, Tweener, Stroker and all those in between)
4. RG Factor (High RG vs. Low RG)
5. Differential
6. Core Torque (High, Medium, Low)
   1. Bowler Created Torque
   2. Axis Tilt and Axis Rotation
7. Other Ball Applications
   1. Balance Holes (Tilted or Straight; On or Below Axis or Equator)
   2. Top Weight
   3. Center of Gravity (CG)
   4. Pin In vs. Pin Out
8. Mass Bias
9. Static Weights
10. General Ball Knowledge (Length, Back End, Hook)
    1. Deceleration
    2. Drilling the Ball
11. Ball Reaction Generalities (Based on Bowler's Style and his bag of tricks

I went out and threw nothing but strikes - I don't need to practice. My house shot is so easy and I strike at will. Sound familiar.

I went out and worked on learning to walk straight. I also worked on playing angles and hand positions, I even worked on playing rollout. Today, I worked on speed control from hard to soft speeds. Yesterday, I worked with my equipment learning what each ball does and how it reads the lanes. I even put tape on my axis point so I can see the ball more clearly relative to its skid, hook and roll factors. You know last week I was even concerned about the span of my ball since I haven't had it checked in a a long time and I lost 35 pounds. A weight gain or loss will change your span -- you should have it checked.

We all hear about practice and the lack of practice and all the different reasons why we do or do not. We can easily fall in the same trap that is sounding the land, "that there's no need for practice because it is so easy." We even got to the point of blaming the bowling balls for making it easier. And, we point the finger at the proprietors for making easy house shots. We seem to have all the reasons for not practicing.

However, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. It may not be extremely bright but it is there. I have bowlers and have met bowlers that actually do practice. Asking them why they do practice, most of them reply:

• to improve what they already know now to do,
• to learn new skills and methods of approaching the game,
• some want to increase their skills to become more tournament eligible and competitive.
• some reply that they want to get better so they can play in their local classic or scratch league, have desires to bowl in high school or college or are thinking about bowling in megabucks tournaments or joining the PBA down the road,
• some say they are learning more about themselves and how to handle pressure situations.
• some even believe they are learning more about the mental aspects of the game and throwing bowling balls in pressure situations.

As an instructor, with only a slight glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, I feel real good. I feel good because there are rays of light, one here and one there, but they are there and that's a comfort too me. At least there are some that still appreciate our game and sport for what it is, "the ultimate challenge -- man against himself," in sport and life. It's comforting to know that some players still believe in:

• The essence of making a shot, even though the lanes are dead easy,
• still realize the value of hitting a target,
• learning new skills and methods to make them more competitive not only in there own environment, but on the road as well,
• playing to win all the time -- no mercy, no free gifts, no dumping games or frames,
• the mental controlling the physical game and becoming more aware of it,
• taking lessons to learn more about the game.

Now that I can see this light and I have students that are interested in becoming better players, I can continue my quest to build the best players in the world. But more enjoyable is realizing that I have contributed in some manner to not only my players becoming better bowlers, but better young men and women and than grown adults.

Webster's definition of skill, "1. Great ability or proficiency, expertness that comes from training, practice, etc., 2. An art, craft, or science, esp. one involving the use of hands and body b.) Ability in such an art, craft, or science 3. (Obs) knowledge, understanding, or judgment."

Webster's definition of skilled, "1. having skill, 2. Having or requiring an ability, as in a particular industrial occupation, gain by special experience of training."

Webster's definition of skillful, "1. having or showing skill: accomplished, expert."

A message of great importance is in the opening paragraph. It's a message missed by many participants of our game/sport, missed even by our own industry (coaches/teachers, proprietors, communicators, etc.), missed by the average lay person watching the Pro Bowler Tour or viewing a professional event and missed by the media itself. Everyone says bowling is easy and I won't argue that to a point, but it is not easy for all the bowlers that have the desiring or wishing to be at the professional level, or just become better bowlers. If it were so easy, the tour's would have PTQ's every week, bowlers would be falling over themselves to get in the tournament. The professional bowlers (men/women/seniors) are highly skilled athletes that perform in a higher gear and are a special breed of bowler by themselves possessing the necessary skills and talent that allow them to perform, with grace, consistency, efficiency and excellence, at that level.

Many people, to include beginning students, smile and laugh at me when I welcome them to my DOJO. They smile and are even slightly embarrassed when they receive their first sensa strike. In many way I view the performance of our professionals with the finesse, power and execution of a martial artist. The attributes and skills they produce and procure, the precision they exhume, the power they create with nothing but movement and momentum, and the forces they utilize puts our professional bowlers far above the average player in all events, situations and circumstances.

A. You might ask what a DOJO has to do with bowling instruction. Here's a small clue -- a DOJO (or Place of Enlightenment) is where a martial arts student makes contact with themselves, there fears -- anxieties -- reactions and habits. They learn about themselves. In addition, it is where, when learned well, that the opponent is not an opponent, but a partner engaged in helping you to understand yourself more fully in different events, situations and circumstances. It is a place where a source of self-enlightenment is available and learning occurs. Sounds familiar in many respects to the lessons students take when they approach a professional instructor (a sense).

So how is this done? What makes our professionals and the skills they possess so far ahead of our regular lay bowlers? Thousands of repetitions and practice, practice, practice. Literally, repetition of a single movement hour upon hour, day after day, month after month and year after year to developing and improving skills already utilized and learn more when the opportunity presents itself. Professional bowlers realize long before most of the lay bowlers will, they are developing their physical skills and they are also developing and improving their mental skills. Their attention can be directed to the simplest of things, a feeling, a sensor perception, a simple thought, and use of their intuition that makes them great players. They are so fined tuned and highly skilled it can be something as simple as knowing what their natural tendencies are in critical situations.

So how do we become like these players? First, be ready to learn. Second, actually with the same processes, but you need to understand and be made aware of how and why our bodies move and how we learn. The human internal system that extends throughout the body that is responsible for movement. The brain, spinal cord, cells and other fibers make up what is know as our nervous system. It is within this system that firing neurons cause an exchange of chemical information in the spinal cord that is then sent on to the motor cortex of the brain to be interpreted. This information is then communicated to the appropriate muscle-group or groups to create the desired movements.

A. Bowlers who are trying to improve may be overlooking what medical, physical therapy, and bio-mechanical students have learned: the human body knows how to move. It not only knows how to move, but it can also correct inappropriate patterns of motion if our conscious mind does not interfere. Two elements of athletics are effort and motion. Effort and motion, no matter how fine, require muscle. Understand that muscle tissue can only pull. Muscles work by contraction as it pulls the bones of our skeletal system through predesigned or observed patterns of movement. To understand the bodies capacity for movement (without conscious thoughts) you must view deep within muscle fiber and membrane where hundreds of strands of protein are laid down in an orderly parallel fashion. It is these strands that contain the capacity for movement.

The signal for movement comes from a motor nerve transmitted to end plates on the muscle fiber. The process starts with the sensory organs receiving information that ignites a burst of activity. A tremendous amount of sensory information comes through the muscles themselves.

One early decision required of the central nervous system is just how much muscle will be required to accomplish the task at hand. It is inescapable that our bodes are often smarter than our minds, if we could learn to trust it.

Proprioception is the sense that tells us where our body parts are in relation to their environment and to each other. It give us the capacity to have smoothly coordinated movements. In close relationship with the organs of balance in the inner ear and with sight, the proprioceptive organs aid us in keeping bodily equilibrium.

Muscle spindles send signals to the central nervous system rather than receiving signals from it. They help the body decide how many motor units to devote to a task. There are also proprioceptors located in the ligaments and the capsules of the joints called joint receptors.

Joint receptors signal to more conscious levels of the brain that do the muscle spindles. It is the joint receptors that provide most of the information to make the controlled movement possible.

Finally, the Gogli tendon organs located near the junction of muscle and tendon. These too are activated by stretch -- at very high loads -- but they signal the muscle to relax rather than to contract. They are the opposite side of cybernetics of movement, inhibiting muscles to prevent injury.

The sum total of all the firings of all the receptors within the musculoskeletal system, tell the athlete what his body is doing, what the relationship of the body parts are and where they are headed.

When muscle is contracted or stretched its temperature rises. As the muscle heats up it becomes, within limits, stronger and more efficient. Warm muscle fibers simply slide over each other more easily than cold ones. Furthermore, if the muscle is pre-stretched before contraction, it stores a certain amount of elastic or potential energy. In fact, pulling muscle group after muscle group toward their optimum stretched length, in effect, waking up the motor nerves, preparing them for the rapid fire activity that will be required of them to snap back with maximum force.

So to move the body, the nerves stimulate the muscles, the muscles move the bones. At every juncture, at every step on that progression -- external stimulus, sensory receptor, spinal cord, cortex, motor neuron, end plate, muscle fiber movement -- there is room for improvement.

When we learn to trust and use the information our nervous system gathers, progress with our game is accelerated, skills are learned more quickly and successful patterns begin to develop. You must realize your brain rehearses all movements, 4,000 milliseconds before it actually happens.

A. The human mind has a reliable feedback system that can effect body action in such a way that it can alter patterns of motion while the body is moving or about to go into motion. When our feedback system begins to overuse words or think too carefully about actions we make, the mind cannot be creative or make a decision in time to act or respond in our pre-performed manner.

B. Your brain provides a very reliable and accurate system of telling the body what to do. You must also realize your brain will never make a mistake. Everything your brain does is based upon imprints you have developed since you were able to see. Your brain actually learned by seeing. Studies have shown communication is on 5% words; that 85% of the information your brain receives and has stored has come from the eyes, and 50% of what we hear is forgotten immediately and usually misinterpreted when verbalized.

C. So how do we learn? There are three ways to learn motor skills: (1) what you feel; (2) what you see and (3) what you hear. Which is most effective? The most effective way is what you feel, followed by what you see and what you hear.

1. Feeling. Above all, practicing a movement or movements through dry-run drills or certain drills given to you by your instructor. Remember: A good delivery comes by repeating fundamentally correct moves.

2. Seeing. Secondly, we want you to watch the swing of pro bowlers or your instructors and perceive what they do is common. This will help you form the right mental image because your actions are guided by the images you see. This is called the "Positive Modeling Phenomena" and is accomplished by your human nervous system, where the brain accepts images. We literally learn by watching and duplicating. Distinguish the differences in your swing to your instructor on the lanes or from videos of the pros.

(a) How is it done? Your brain acts like a complex switchboard, with 45 miles of nerves, which monitors hundreds of incoming and outgoing nerve impulses at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. The brain mathematically transforms observed images and movements into neuromuscular commands, through waveforms, that guide the body to reproduce as closely as possible the observed movement(s). By some miracle, the nerve currents in your body are "trained" to repeat nerve paths. This miracle is called "Fourier Analysis" and is performed by the brain, through your central nervous system. The nerve pathways when stimulated are capable of developing habits patterns, both negative and positive (preferably positive), which start from birth through your life and are reinforced from physical practice.

(b) How does it work? There are three levels:

(1.) Watching role model athletes, using images of the desired movement.

(2.) See biomechanical correct images with good form and proper leverage.

(3.) Experience action. In addition to the nerve currents in the body, another mystery follows the functioning of hundred or thousands of tiny receptors in our muscles, ligaments and tendons. In the learning of our game/sport, or the reeducation of certain muscle groups, these receptors act as reports. They immediately notify the brain of the movements, tensions, and relaxation in numerous muscles and tendons of the body. So, at the subconscious level, our brain directs the tightening and loosening of muscles which allows us to move and make our shot preparation.

3. Hearing. The final step is to allow yourself to absorb new and different ideas for delivery the ball correctly. In classes you instructor will teach you to achieve a sense of rhythm, timing and balance in your approach if you are willing to adapt these skills. It is important to remember, when you are learning new skills or movements, they should feel different because they have not been imprinted or recorded into your muscle memory. Old skills and movements, which are recorded in your muscle memory, will feel natural and no different from when you did them on a regular basis.

D. The Fourier Analysis -- for you information. Your nervous system reacts as the object you see or the performed skill goes to the brain for mathematical breakdown. Your senses, eyes and ears send the images to the brain with mathematical precision; transforms the images into a spectrum of electromagnetic waveforms whose frequency range represents the minute details and neuounces of the observed object or movement. The transformation of an image or movement into spectrum of waveforms is accomplished by a complex mathematical operation performed by the brain and the entire central nervous system called a Fourier Analysis. In reality, your brain doesn't see an image of an object or motion but is sensitive and responses to a spectrum waveform frequency that representing the object, in the form of shapes, and the timing, rhythm and tempo associated with the movement.

This combination of timing, rhythm and tempo is what determines the frequency of the waveforms. As the objects or images are corrected into a spectrum waveform, your brain breaks the wave pattern down into their component frequencies. If you have a similar set of frequencies stored in your brain memory from a previous experience, than the incoming spectrum of waveform will trigger the similarly stored memory of the motion.

During this memory replay nerve impulses that carry the blueprint (imprint) of the motion travels from your brain to the nerve endings and muscle groups that regulate the skilled movement. Your muscles than go through mild almost unpreceivable contractions associated with the skilled movement. Everything you watch a movement performed at the same timing, rhythm, and tempo of a movement stored in your brain memory, the image triggers the memory blueprint (imprint) of the motion and your nervous system replays it as if you have physically performed it.

The more you watch the perfect movement or see the process in your mind through mind zapping, the deeper it becomes depressed in your nervous system and muscles and the more likely you are to perform it as a positive habit.

Skill development applies to bowling as well as all sports -- not strength, speed, endurance, power, agility, quickness, balance, flexibility, or kinesthesis or feel, these are traits of athletic endeavors. Many people say that our highly skilled player's make bowling look easy and move so easily. Maybe that's why they are on TV (paid to play) while others only watch. The top players are well above their peers, and light years ahead of the rest of the bowling community. Becoming a good professional bowler or athlete is not as easy as good players make it look. Many youngsters start from scratch without the benefit of parents or siblings with sporting interests. Their contact with knowledgeable friends and coaches, watching other athletes play, helps guide them, but they may never discover the fundamentals of their selected sport, to include bowling.

The following factors that when learned, allow players of all ages to be more successful in their bowling and sporting endeavors:

A. Develop a routine. Pregame to help eliminate distractions and get you mind on the task at hand. Repetitive pregame drills help do this as do moments alone in thought. Develop a ritual that helps you get mentally ready to play and play well. At game time have a ritual you repeat time after time in your pre-shot preparation, into your stance, through your delivery to your follow through and observe the ball going down the lane through the pins. Prepare yourself to read the ball, it's roll, it's reaction and it's roll through the pins. Use this information in preparation for your adjustments based upon the ball reaction and the language of the pins.

B. Concentrate on the task at hand. Get your mind on the game or match you are playing. Maintain your focus, so you don't get your attention away from the game, i.e., block out spectators, antics of other players, bleachers, coaches, parents, friends, peers and other things.

C. Watch the ball. Open your eyes. Focus on your ball crossing over the target and it's roll down the lane and through the pins.

D. Be ready. Bend your knees. Maintain your flexibility. Be relaxed as possible. Most sporting activities actions begin from the bent knees position and bowling is NO different. Get a jump on your opponent by bending your knees so you can act instantly.

E. Move your feet. Move your feet with a steady rhythmic motion. Remember, start your approach slowly and build your speed as you approach the finishing position and the foul line. Your feet get your body in position so you can execute the skills needed in that particular situation properly. Developing good feet in bowling provides balance and leverage and allows you to perform the skills in your game at a slightly faster than normal pace.

F. Anticipate. Study the game or match and your opponent. Learn to recognize the actions of others so you can predict (or guess) what will occur next or when the action will come your way. Develop the ability to read the actions of your opponents.

G. Expect the ball or the action to come your way. Every movement and moment of every shot, expect the action to come your way. It is a poor excuse to say, for example, "I did not think the ball was going to react that way." Play every shot like it's the only shot of the day. Then, know what to do and you will not make errors because you were surprised.

H. Get in shape. As we play more skillful players, it takes more than just good bowling skills to win. Both mental and physical conditioning becomes very important. Work to improve your biological fitness. Develop your strength, endurance, speed, power, agility, quickness, balance, flexibility and your kinesthetic feel for the skills in bowling.

I. Play offensively - always offensively and aggressively. It is common for players to fall into passive patterns or play. This is referred to as playing not to lose rather than win. When this occurs, opponents tend to take the momentum. Practice aggressively.

J. Determination. It is never over, even when you are down to the last shot in the tenth frame. You can still come out on top if you keep playing hard. Quit and you are finished. Hang in there, build your character, winning or losing.

K. Going from bad to good. When you play well, all of the skills of bowling seem easy. This has been referred to as "in the zone," "got the stroke," locked in," etc. When the game is going your way, winning is easy. When the game is not going your way, it is easy for beginners to become frustrated, it's easy for skilled players to take a negative attitude. We begin to play in an "I don't care" manner, or just plain quit. That is absolutely the wrong thing to do. When players struggle with one part of their game or another, this is the time to become intense. Bear down and work harder than ever. Concentrate on your skills and the target. Things will change and you will being to play better. Work through the game and match game slumps. It will make you better the next time out and when your game is sour.

L. Mistakes. Physical mistakes such as errors in release, lane reading, swing, timing, etc., are a part of the game. They will happen. Practice diligently and they (errors) can be kept to a minimum. Strive for excellence. However, mental mistakes are real killers. They include not preparing for a shot, making the wrong shot, or lining up in the wrong position. Do not let mental mistakes irritate you but do not repeat them.

M. Play tough opponents. Individuals can elevate their level of play by going against players who are more skillful than themselves. Certainly, no one wants to get hammered day in and day out. Yet, it is good to practice regularly, or any time the opportunity arises, against others who are highly skilled. Learn from these experiences. Competition forces you to elevate your game. It breeds success.

N. Perfect practice makes perfect. Practice the basic skills, do them correctly, and repeat them regularly. Work on the little things, too. The more you do this, the better you will play.

O. Finish strong. When your opponent is losing, keep the pressure on them. Finish them off without stirring them up.

P. Enthusiasm. Play with a passion for the game. If you are just going through the motions, you might just as well do something else. Get yourself ready and fired up to play. Do not depend on others. Be ready to play. Try hard and play fair.

Q. Say NO to THAT. Repeat this message over and over. Stay away from drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and do well in school or at your job.

R. Have fun. Sporting activities, like bowling, is enjoyable, and that enjoyment should not be limited to just winning. When you stop to think of it, exactly one-half of those who play each day lose. If we must win in order to enjoy our game, then our view is too narrow, particularly when considering the recreational play of children and adults. The joy of playing is the competitive environment, friends, hard work, and the exhilaration that goes with victory. Most of all, just getting the opportunity to participate in competitive bowling and play the game is fun, never mind bowling with and against the best in the world or being one of them. FINALLY, do not criticize beginners for doing the wrong thing. Help them learn what they need to know so they can do it right, but more IMPORTANTLY, remember you were a beginner and maybe still are in comparison to some.

THE MIND: The mind (brain) is a terrible thing to waste. This one MIND - The Conscious - The Superconscious MIND - is the origin of all thought, which is created by emotions. Your direct guidance and intuition comes from the Superconscious MIND through the subconscious MIND. Remember that the subconscious is open at both ends. At one end, there is the inflow of creative ideas from the Superconscious and, at the other, the instructions you receive are from your conscious phase of mind. Your reasoning and conscious mind tricks you by distorting your perception of reality, induces expectations and fear and cause your AWARENESS to be faulty, and subsequently, your actions.

The sport of bowling is both a physical and mental endeavor. The following techniques are provided to help develop new skill(s) that will stay with you the rest of your life; a sense of consistency and direction providing you take the time to practice and let these new skills become part of your game. CAUTION: If you try some of these techniques, they will initially make you feel different with your bowling ball. This is a normal reaction. If you are attempting to become a better bowler or educator, go with the flow. If you are bowling just for the sake of bowling and the proposed techniques don't fit your game, try to be as relaxed and comfortable as possible with your current game and adopt some of the other techniques.

1. Preshot Preparation: Always be ready to bowl. Don't let your fellow teammates have to find you and get you back to the bowler's circle. This is extremely important in developing a rhythm amongst your teammates which contributes to better scores. Also, know what you are going to do before you step up on the approach to take your stance. This is not the place for thinking; your concentration and focus should be on your target and your ability to roll the ball at and over your target. Hot Tip: Look at your target, but don't aim at it.
2. Take Your Stance: When you take your stance, ensure you stand in the same place on each strike shot, be at your point of origin. This will help you determine whether the ball is or is not hooking, so you can make an adjustment, if necessary. Hot Tip: Follow the ball - if the ball stays right, move your feet right; if the ball hooks left, move your feet left. A lefthander would do the opposite. Next, ensure you place your fingers in the ball in the correct manner each time (up to second joint for conventional; up to first joint for fingertip), always fingers first with a slight amount of finger pressure as you grip. Place your thumb in the ball, all the way, and let the ball be placed into your comfortable starting position. Establish a firm wrist position, with minimal bend or flex forward or backwards. Ensure that part of the ball weight is absorbed in your opposite hand, this will help relax your bowling arm and allow you to develop a good ball placement position and free swing. Now, take your body weight and distribute it across the bottom of your feet, with most of the weight on your non-starting foot. Once in this position, two things should be accomplished. One, ensure the ball is lined up with or just inside your bowling shoulder fairly close to your body. Two, ensure your bowling elbow is tucked into your side or resting on your hip. You should now be ready to deliver your shot and begin your approach.
3. Ball Placement: From your relaxed position you should start the ball and step toward your intended target. This is called the pushaway, ball movement, ball placement or disengagement position. Do Not, I repeat, Do Not use a death grip (grip the ball tight) in this motion. Use only enough grip to get the ball into swing and back. Allow your grip and swing to be as free as possible. Move the ball, out, down, back and forward (toward the foul line) in as straight a line as possible.
4. Body Position: Once you start the ball moving, allow the ball to swing as freely as possible and minimize the amount of muscle you use. Remember your relaxed grip. Try to keep your upper body (waist to head) fairly erect and your lower body (waist down) relaxed and flexible. Allow you knees to bend as you approach the foul line, making you ready for the release position.
5. Release Position: Allow your body to arrive at the foul line with good knee bend on your slide foot, back fairly erect and your swing headed for your target. Let your thumb release the ball as quickly as possible, on the apex of your swing (the very bottom), and follow through to your target with the remainder of your armswing. Always try to follow through to your target. You'll be surprised what it will do for you.
6. Get Ready for Your Next Shot: Now that you have completed your first frame, get yourself ready for the next shot. Stay involved in the match, cheer on your teammates, give a high five or whatever. You'll see the bowler in front of you has just completed their first shot, now take a few seconds to go over what you are going to do - mentally review you shot. Yes, mentally visualize your shot and what you are going to do. One important part of the mental game is not to let your conscious mind get involved or beat yourself up if you throw a bad shot; I can't; I should have done; if I did; doesn't fit in this game. Keep the negatives out. Be as positive as you can be, even if you did only one thing right. Make each shot as positive as possible, have confidence in your ability and yourself and have fun. Now, pick up your ball, take your position on the approach, take a deep breath through your nose, exhale through your mouth, use relaxed concentation to see your target and take off.

Good Bowling!!!!!!!

As a teacher of the game I'm constantly asked, "what makes a good bowling instructor/coach" or "teacher of the game"? Besides playing a lot of different roles in professions with shingles on their walls, good instructors/coaches, in my opinion, must possess three critical attributes to be successful.

First, they must posses a good understanding of the game and how it is played in all of its environments.

Second, they must have a sound anatomical structure of a bowler in their minds, whether it be a cranker, tweener, or stroker.

Third, they must have a good eye.

For many years and still today, great instructors/coaches do not necessarily have to be great bowlers. This should not detract from the individual's abilities because they possess the attributes described, with the eye becoming the most important. As a matter of fact, some of the best bowlers have made terrible instructors/coaches.

How many times have you see or been around educated players or tour representatives, that know a players game, and listen to him provide direction or instruction. He tells the player to move here or move there, to do this or that, change balls, or play out on this pair instead of in, and the player takes off. There's a lot to be said for this. They can see something going on the player can't see or can't read.

Because bowlers operate in a 40" x 15 1/2 rectangle, they sometimes become not just closed minded but closed sighted. Yes, the player can't see or lose their feel, they create their own form of tough mindedness or tunnel vision. Part of it is created by bad play, anxiety and the famous "panic syndrome". Generally speaking, when a player is in the heat of competition their focus is to the task at hand - hit the pocket, don't lose the pocket, keep the ball in play. The players concentration becomes so intense they begin to deliver the ball just a little hard than normal, their speed sometimes increases, or they loose sight of the ball rotation and the breakpoint. Thus, while the player is generally attempting to create to feelings he has created over years of doing and practice and making the proper decision about what he is doing at that time, the player sometimes becomes distracted by his own mixture of play. What the player sometimes forgets is the other set of eyes.

The other set of eyes could be just about anyone; coach, friend, wife, bowling buddy and even bowling competitor. That set of eyes, after watching the player game after game, year after year may have the key to what ails you - only because they have a totally different perceptive of play. The extra set of eyes has a bigger view of what is going on with the player and even the lanes. Just a casual comment from the outside perceptive can work wonders by allowing the player to get back on track and provides, the player, with an added insurance policy when all is not going well. A certain air of confidence and trust can be developed, in the extra eyes, and generally will reveal how closed sighted we become as players. Give yourself the opportunity to expand you horizons by a simple comment or gesture. Know that we as players can't always see and read everything that is going on around us. Just the simple confirmation from your other set of eyes can put you back on track quickly and back into competition.

And, you might ask what do I do without a set of eyes? You do as I tell my students and bowlers, jump back out of your skin and look at you the bowler. Yes, you physically have to take the time to step back and analyze what you are doing, seeing and thinking. First, you RECOGNIZE the problem, ANALYZE what you are going to do, PROCESS the data in your computer (mind), then MATERIALIZE it, and let it go. You have to become separate from the person throwing the ball. Than get yourself relaxed, settled down, re-focused, develop a plan, and go for it. Trust me - it can't be any worse than you are already doing.

If you don't think this to be true, just think of the ball reps on the tour, a friend or fellow bowler that by virtue of a suggestion or comment has put your adversary back in their game and allowed them to perform successfully.

This past week I had a student (Senior National Tour) - pretty good player. Averaged 230/237 last year, around 217 on tour. Overall game is pretty good. Good armswing, great upper body, timing motion pretty good, release is very consistent. In addition, this student had a really good skills package and good mental game. He could adjust speeds, play different parts of the lane, had three or four releases that were quite functional, could walk dead straight, walk left and walk right, use open and closed shoulders very effectively - a pretty sound student.

So I asked him, after watching him play, what he thought was his problem. His reply, "I'm not happy with my feet" and went on to explain different feelings he would have while playing. How his feet would be great for a while than all of a sudden they would be short, or he would lose the feeling of his timing and periodically couldn't finish solid at the foul line. He admitted to me this was an on-going problem that creep back into his game time and time again.

He's a five step player, so I began to watch the movement of his feet and left everything else alone. We only concentrated on his feet and the movement of the ball into the second step. After observing 10-15 shots I noticed the length of his first step changed, by inches, and it did change the movement of the ball into the second step. Hence, a small but critical part of this individual's timing mechanism.

Since timing is so critical to this individual's play and he was looking for a more sound footing and a solid release position we had to come up with a method for this player to achieve a feeling of comfort and a sense of success.

Remember, I said, this was a pretty good player. Early in his demonstration of his skills' package he showed me a method he uses to soften up his overall movement and game when the lanes are very wet or he wants to open up the lane late at night. I was really impressed with this capability. His feet were solid and he rarely missed the finishing position. But during this movement, I noticed he had a shorter sliding first step with a very easy and relaxed ball placement into the second step. So again, I reviewed his normal set-up, what he described as his "A" game and it was obvious the first step became the key. He was heel toeing it with length on one shot, heel toe shorter on another, etc., etc., consistency was definitely not there.

So what I introduced was using his method to soften up as part of his "A" game approach. Needless to say, once he was able to repeat the movement the results were outstanding. Consistency of movement resulted in an extra 1/2 mile an hour ball speed, playing angles became more usable, hitting power and carry power increased, confidence grew to another degree. End result, better starting movement, more sound feet and a better finishing position and a player with a new mindset to achieving his goals.

Now we will have to wait and see what rewards are reaped by this player.

Moral of this story is - even the best player's are always looking for ways to improve their game. They are always looking for the edge to make them more competitive, better trained, and more successful. So you can teach old dogs new tricks.

We constantly hear as players about the mental part of the game. USA Bowling has devoted pages of material and data on preparing Team USA mentally to ocmpete Internationally. Dick Ritgers Bowling Academy has devoted large segments of its material on preparing the athlete mentally to compete. I personally have devoted hours, months and years and even printing volumes of material dedicated to the mentality of play. So much so, that somday I hope to publish a book about it and it has lead to my returning to school to enhance my education in sports psychology. So without writing a term paper or a paperbook book, let's look at simple form of the Psychology of Play.

The Psychology of Play

What is your Psychology of Play? Is it grip it and rip it? Is it terrorize your opponent and the pins? Is it coast to coast every time - regadless? Or, is the stay in the pocket, maintain a routine, minimize panic syndrome, remain focused to the task at hand and stay the course with the skills I've learned?

A thoughtful approach to your psychology of play. Every player has some sort of game plan (mentality) - beginner and pro alike. Beginners may have an approach just to do the best they can at a given moment because they are playing with friends, better players or trying to impress their girlfriend.

Good players, on the other hand, develop a game plan for practice that takes what they've learned into league, tournament and tour play. Good players create scenarios, they create situations, they create the event or circumstance while they are practicing. They learned their natural tendencies and what their response would be to a particular situation, make their physical or itnernal adjustments and let it go.

Good players are always attempting to:

• repeat shots, especially great shots. They know repetition is not thinking about a physical movement but attempting to create a feeling of the great shot.
• repeat good thought processes, especially emphasizing the elimination of negative feedback or vibes.
• maintain their focus and concentration to the task at hand, thereby minimizing distractions.
• hit the pocket and not be extremely critical on a fortunate carry (strike).
• use the skills they've learn to their advantage and not criticizing themselves if it doesn't always work.

The Psychology of Play could be an endless list of affirmatives. The whole point behind it is for the player to have a designated game plan between their ears. You don't have to brag about it or tell all your friends about it, just have it and use it to be a successful player and champion

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