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Tips from Tom by Tom Blasco

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Article Archive #3

• Mental Toughness
• The How’s And Whys Of Your Inner Workings-The Brain, Your Nerves, Your Emotions
• Mental Training: Improving Concentration
• What's Really Involved

Mental Toughness

Nine characteristics of mental toughness. They are a set of behaviors and beliefs about yourself, your work, your sport, and how you interact. A person who is mentally tough looks at competition as a challenge to rise up to rather than a threat to back down from. Like physical skills, mental toughness can be learned through quality instruction and practice.

CHARACTER. Value of and the forging of strength, reputation, respect, admiration and the long lasting happiness that comes from sacrifice, pains and effort. The pleasure humans take from rising above the pull of self-desires, were we gain the acceptance and affection of others.

CONSCIENCE. Our capacity to judge ourselves in moral terms and to conform to those standards and values that we make a part of our inner being, is also motivated by good feelings such as pride (in our fulfillment of goodness), compassion, empathy, love, and identification (seeing ourselves in others, thereby imagining how our actions would feel if directed onto us).

COMPETITIVE. A competitor will find a way to win. Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up.

CONFIDENT. Confident athletes have a can-do attitude, a belief they can handle whatever comes their way. They almost never fall victim to self-defeating thoughts.

CONTROL. Successful athletes are able to control their emotions and behavior. They focus on what they can control and don’t allow things that are out of their control to affect them. The hallmark of mentally tough athletes is the ability to maintain poise, concentration and emotional control under the greatest pressure and the most challenging situations.

COMMITTED. Mentally tough athletes focus their time and energy on their goals and dreams. They are self-directed and highly motivated.

COMPOSURE. Mentally tough athletes know how to stay focused and deal with adversity. How a player manages their emotions can determine whether they win or lose. A mentally tough player will say to himself, “OK, if I’ve got to beat the other guy and the pins too, then fine - I’ll do that.”

COURAGE. A mentally tough athlete must be willing to take a risk. That’s what peak performers do. As the philosopher said, it take courage to grow up and to achieve your full potential.

CONSISTENCY. Mentally tough athletes posses an inner strength. They often play their best when they’re feeling their worst. They don’t make excuses.

Competition is won or lost on the six-inch playing field between the ears. Practice the nine C’s of mental toughness. Learn to love the competition.

The How’s And Whys Of Your Inner Workings-The Brain, Your Nerves, Your Emotions

Bowling is a reflex game and since reflexes emanate from the subconscious (your ROBOT), or mental side of your being. So what in fact are we doing--conditioning our reflexes, to respond to our pre-programming. The more successful bowler will use his conscious mind -- rather, he concentrate on four keys: (1) Visualization, (2) No negatives, (3) Laser Eye Targeting, and (4) Ignition-Proper Breathing; allowing your pre-training and pre-programmed subconscious to reflex your game. It’s the same pre-shot preparation for every shot and frame. These sound pre-programmed fundamentals allow you to forget that part of your game and concentrate only on the task at hand, the present, the here and now--which is winning.

HOW DO WE LEARN OUR SKILLS?: Our sport requires well-tuned motor skills and a highly developed sense of spatial orientation, or exactly where our body is in space from moment to moment. Both of these functions are primarily the concern of the right brain, and they learn by imitation and repetition. So what is necessary to create your potential in your sport; three words - practice, practice, practice.

Bowling is an acquired sport in that the skills needed to excel must be developed through learning and practice. Even though you may be a super star athlete with great physical skills such as jumping, running, strength or endurance, you have no immediate advantage when it comes to displaying your bowling ability. The skill assets of bowling - accuracy coupled with ball power - are the only areas in which a bowler can improve. All your learning (mentally, emotionally and physically), practice, refinement, honing and adjustments you do in your delivery is directed toward improving one or both of these two skills assets. The challenge to throw accurately and with power becomes an external balancing act for a player.

Everything you learn physically, mentally, emotionally, verbally, visually, hearing, smell, touching, is stored in your brain; than summoned up, issues orders to duplicate and patterns (imprints) in long-term memory by repeating the correct movements over and over.

When you first started this game, you often got frustrated because you were thinking about the mechanics of the game. This is normal because the left brain is active in the learning process. But as your movements are repeated and corrected and repeated again, they become indelibly etched on your long term memory until conscious effort is no longer required to perform them. When your skill is so well learned, almost instinctive, it will seldom be lost, such as riding a bike.

BORN ATHLETES: Genetic inheritance is the single most factor in determining your sports potential. Your genes set certain limits on your athletic ability. Qualities as the shape and size of bones and muscles are genetically determined and strongly influence what sport suites best and how good you can get at any of them. No two people equally trained will have the same athletic ability, one will clearly be more athletic than the other. An explanation for this seems to be that the brain and nervous system of the better athlete have some how been genetically programmed for faster reaction times, smoother, coordination, and other traits that are important for athletic achievement, such as agility, running, speed, manual dexterity, and various kinds of strengths.

GREAT PLAYERS: People blessed with many natural motor skills and a knack on learning quickly. Usually very rare. However, the question must be as to why, one bowler exceeds over 100 others in the same tournament, with all others being exposed to the same conditions, the same training, the same equipment? Some believe it is strictly the “Winning Attitude.” Others believe it deals with early childhood patterns of success and failures that carry over into adulthood - a youngster who is use to winning and use to being a success as a child carry this into their adult years. These people enter every contest with the idea of winning - not being second, but being first.

Usually, this is the same individual who practices his skills at every opportunity, who studied, trained and forced himself to work harder than his peers. Pro bowling has shown us that level of excellence, competence and ability are about the same but one group of players constantly and consistently - WIN.

The reason could be in two areas: First, mental attitude - the unconscious drive to succeed at any cost, irrespective of what it takes physically to succeed. Second, the ability through professional training and instruction; hard practice to develop an extremely well-disciplined game and to program and store this knowledge in the subconscious mind with conscious practice. Then, when your vast storehouse of knowledge is needed, the conscious mind need only trigger the subconscious and the end result, SUCCESS.

So how is a super bowler developed? One answer is that trained bowlers finally understand the process and allow themselves with their ability to believe that their subconscious actually dictates the physical reflexes necessary to bowl. They understand the theory and relationship of the teachings; visualize the mechanics and accept everything you learn in whole. They also believe this is a mental game; not mechanical. This is part of a winners arsenal. Winners will always find a way to win and losers will always find another excuse and another way to lose.

MENTALLY, THE RIGHT MOVES: Your ability to perform your skills at your level of performance and achievement is brought about by the conditioning of your mind, not your body. Actually your performance under all conditions is really a reflection of how your training has fine-tuned the way your brain regulates the movements of your body.

All the data from your receptors travels along your nerves into the brain in a continuous stream. Only a minute amount of this data is selected for retention and the rest fades away within a second. One theory has it that the retained bits of data are sent to your short-term memory. When they don’t match or can relate sympathetic resistance - remember the odd feeling, out of balance - this is it. Now your brain decides upon a reaction, consults the long term memory again to call up the patterns of learned motor skills that are stored there, and finally issues the commands that get your body moving in the required way.

This process, the initial sensing to the movement by the body, usually takes less than a half a second. The reaction time can also happen (plus or minus) in a few hundredths of a second.

MIND IMPORTANCE IN SPORT: Scientists are become more aware of the fundamental role of the mind in performing athletic skills. The minds basis in athletic skill works in two ways. First, the brain acts and the body reacts upon the flood of information reaching your senses. Some brains do this faster and more efficiently than others, and the athletic ability (yours) depends in part upon how quickly or surely the brain responds to signals and then directs the body to move. Your bowling skill performance is controlled by the mind in a more subtle way. Top players talk about “mental toughness” or “mental preparation” as being the difference between winning and loosing, playing well or poorly. No two athletes (players), relate to or can define this attitude. One thing for sure is that the outstanding players learn how to tune out distractions and pressures and concentrate on the moves of the game and the present. Also, there is a fine line between concentrating too hard, which causes the player to tense up and make errors and a kind of automatic and relaxed concentration which allows peak performance.

Some describe this desired attitude as “mental energy management.” Thus, the total player brings into play not one specific function of the mind but a whole array of mental activities; cognition, emotions, both conscious and unconscious responses to signals received by the senses. So along with your physical prowess you can improve your athletic performance by training your mind as well as your body.

EXERCISE & BOWLING: Overall exercise will definitely help your bowling game, but more importantly it will make you feel better. Usually you’ll have a better self-image. It also help you to be less anxious, depressed and more able to cope with stress. It can also help delay memory loss, and keeps reflexes and reasoning powers shaper. Exercise causes the brain to releases certain pleasure producing chemicals and a group of neuro-chemicals that trigger physiological reactions. The sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine systems, adrenal medulla cause the heart rate to increase more oxygen to the brain, and your eyes to dilate for improved sight.

YOUR MOST IMPORTANT SENSES: Sensors in the muscles, tendons, and joints provide the brain, through the nervous system, with constant updates on the position of your arms, legs, upper torso, mass in motion, shoulder rotation, weight transitions, etc. Your eyes, supply a wealth of data ranging from spatial orientation to strategic information.

The inner ear give you your sense of balance, with hearing almost acting like eyes in the back of your head. Learning to interpret sounds or seeing particular pins leaves can become and are a valuable edge in our sport.

IMPORTANCE OF YOUR WILL TO WIN: Sometimes the goal of winning detracts from your task at hand. The critical factor in success is your ability to focus your concentration on the game or frame at hand, shot after shot.

In the heat of competition your short-term memory is constantly monitoring choices as to which pieces of information are significant. When you are totally focused to the task at hand you’ll make those choices faster and better, freeing part of the mind to plan the shot and anticipate actions and reactions, to includes adjustments, ball reaction and other aspects of the game that affect your overall play.

Some players have the ability and power to tap the sources of psychic energy that allow them to concentrate and anticipate. Some coaches and instructors talk of motivation - or desire as a key variable. Your desire to perform at a level approaching absolute perfection is a trait shared by all super athletes.

YOUR MIND-CHOOSING TO REMEMBER: Short term memory is like a scratch pad where you check your math or jot down a phone number. You keep the details only as long as you need them, than the barely noticed images fade immediately.

Long term memory - your permanent recording device must have images and get your full attention. Usually associated with something novel, noisy, wonderful, horrifying or of special interest causing you to focus on it. It may than start on the way to becoming established in your memory.

Your long term memory is almost never lost. This problem may be your retrieval system. Your memory may link the information you want to a special event or circumstance, it eludes you and you are left with the “tip of the tongue” phenomenon; or you have suppressed the memory.

Kinesthetic, or physical motor memories, are the longest lasting. There is a belief of the three memories; immediate, short term and long term. The immediate memory; names, faces, dates, images or situations or what my ball did and how it went through the pins. Two things happen, the perception can be lost after a few seconds, or the perception gets your attention and is transferred to the short term memory where it can last from 30 seconds to a few hours. The length of time we hold depends on our special effort to retain it.

MIND PRACTICING: Visualization, it’s been around ever since athletes were tested on their physical skills. It is mentally rehearsing the moves and timing necessary to achieve a superior level of performance. The training of visualization stresses three steps: setting a goal, learning to relax and visualizing a successful outcome. Controversy of players exists. Some learn by watching a film or video, others feel they learn more by feel (doing), than an image.

Since the brain can be fooled easily - to think it’s performing a function when it is actually not, under visualization, specific movement performance techniques or personal endeavors create neural patterns in the brain. The more you see it mentally, the more ingrained these neural patterns become. Since it’s the brain that tells the muscles what to do when and how to move, the stranger the neural pattern, and the more perfect the movement.

Anyone can use visualization to achieve modest goals, improve performances and heighten their enjoyment of their particular sport.

BRAIN ALTERING: Learning anything involves a change in the brain - thinking, mental challenges, hard work and it takes huge amounts of energy. Thinking is accompanied by dramatic short term changes; bursts of electrical energy surge through the brain and muscles when active and cause alterations that are more or less permanent. New connections are created between brain cells and pressed into action. Stimulus (pictures, sound or other thing to the senses) to the brain creates electrical activity. There is a noticeable change in the voltage between the electrodes on the scalp when being tested.

KNOWING: Committed to memory is a valid definition. Knowing is the end of a chain that begins with perceiving (by the senses), continues through thinking (by the brain converting external events into images and symbols such as words) and ends in remembering (which stores information in memory for later retrieval).

Knowing is also knowing the “how to” thought process itself (inquiring and analysis). This is used to cover every mental activity that is commonly regarded as thinking or knowing; perceiving, recognizing, learning, conceptualizing, imaging, problem solving, reminding, reasoning and judging.

HOT STREAK: WHAT IS IT? Focused, Being in the Grove, The Zone, Dead Locked, Got the Stroke, Locked in, all terms relating to the athlete (player) almost flawless and seemingly perfect performance. Some psychologists believe that find the hot streak is the payoff of endless hours of practice and timing. No athlete maintains the hot streak forever. Why? Because the conscious mind gets involved in the performance process. It becomes the villain. It always want to help you, and usually messes you up. The answer lies somewhere in the more primitive areas of the brain, below the level of consciousness, where training of required skills is recorded in the motor memory. The hot streak, done by instructions from these areas may directly control visual and motor coordination, without passing through the conscious mind.

CHOKE; WHY?: The 10th frame one shot for the title and the money and through the nose - 4-6 split. Instantly, you hear, choked or can’t perform in the clutch. Why a sub-standard performance for an instant or an extended periods - STRESS. The tournament, your practice session; thought patterns, athletic competition, all contribute to STRESS. Your ability to control this stress through concentration is part of the challenge you’ve accepted and of the sport. Stress affects the pendulum swing of the bowler, the movement of the players legs and even the release. It is difficult to master and monitor. When stress gives way to panic or even mild anxiety, you can lose concentration and perform poorly.

Relaxation, meditation, breathing, Yoga, Zen, Self-talk are techniques being taught and used by today’s athletes to help prevent the stress of first time situations, the sport and competition. Self-hypnosis, psycho cybernetics, muscle memory, biofeedback, autogenic training are also being taught and used. Regardless of what technique you use, the whole idea is to use a system that diverts the conscious mind to a natural relaxing response to the stress. Get yourself focused to the here and now-the present.

An exercise such as closing the eyes and breathing deeply, affects the hypothalamus and decreases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, one of the body’s main activators. This brings relaxation and enables you to regain control of your emotions. Training can help you learn to trigger this response.

ANGER AND PERFORMANCE: Anger, frustration, self-pity, all negative emotions have a bad affect on athletic performances. They create tension, drain energy and divert your attention from the task at hand. Many recover quickly from set backs and use distraction of all kinds to shield the mind. Mental strategies are employed in training which are designed to help them keep a positive attitude whether the problem is an irritant by an opponent, lapses of concentration, or the general tension of the event.

Occasionally, an athlete uses anger to elevate their playing level. It becomes a positive force, not a negative emotion, but this is a rarity.

FEAR AND ANXIETY - THE SAME EMOTION: NO!! Fear a reaction to a real threat (specific); Anxiety - feels a lot like fear but can occur without a specific cause, the source is vague.

Fear may also function as a protective device that we could have learned from our early childhood through our adult years. Therefore, we are careful, alert and try to avoid them if we must face them.

Anxieties can be beneficial in that they arouse and motivate us to be fully prepared for greater responsibility. Too much anxiety can diminish performance. Anxiety is excessively hard to control because it’s normally coming from within for no apparent reason.

People tend to emotion in their own natural level of anxiety, which may be higher or lower than the next person. Apprehension is a state of anxiety usually caused by a specific circumstance or situation, which sometimes causes us as players to become brain dead.

EMOTIONS: Emotions are different from rational thought (cognition), from information known through our senses (perception) and from strong information (memory); yet our emotions interact with all these mental functions. An explanation of emotions has to consider three factors: (1) what triggers or arouses, and emotion; (2) how, having been aroused, body and mind respond or express there reaction; (3) how our physical and mental responses further color the way we experience an emotion. The mystery of emotions involves: arousal, expression and experience.

What triggers emotional responses? Anything! So what happens to us? Massive change. Let’s take a look at what happens, when you are bowling a game or match and you’re locked, and all of a sudden the lanes change; a disturbance in the crowd, or something out of the norm interrupts the expected course of things.

What happens at least for a moment or two, is automatic and out of control of the conscious mind. Several gut (visceral) reactions occur, amount to a bodily arousal that, if intense or prolonged is identical to stress. The heart beats faster, the liver is stimulated by hormones to release more energy - giving sugar into the bloodstream, changes in breathing pump more oxygen to the body and muscles, the stomach and intestines tighten (giving “butterflies”), the pupils of the eyes dilate, saliva dries up but sweat flows more freely and skin surface contracts causing a crawly feeling or “goose bumps”.

Very quickly, these bodily events register in the conscious mind. The next step how the mind reacts - depends entirely on the thinking and memory process of the individual.

Can our minds arouse our emotions? YES! We don’t even have to be bowling to create our emotional response to a situation, circumstance or event. Memories of past experiences or great success and how we felt can be effective emotional arousers. How we think and how we remember can intensify the feeling. You mind alone can cause visceral reaction, just like the real thing.

Emotions are necessary for life and they present themselves on both ends of the spectrum as a villain and a worthy part of life. They often begin with the internal and external events that provoke us. Many of the emotions inspire us to improve our lives and the lives of others. They are necessary to enjoy great art and literature or rooting for your favorite ball team.

How many emotions are there? No one can agree on the number because they shade into one another. There could be dozen’s or thousands. A short list of the most common are: acceptance, anger, anticipation, disgust, fear joy, sadness, surprise, greed, lust, love, disappointment, self doubt, shame, hate, bitterness, melancholia, anxiety and arousal.

Because there are so many emotions, what someone feels depends entirely on the thinking, experience and memory of the individual.

Can you study emotions? Probably not, because it’s hard to keep the investigator’s emotions out of the study and the environment you are studying affects your responses. Also, verbal description of the emotion are often misleading. So why the discussion, because we can make you aware of your emotions and possibly help you control them. The mystic of emotions straddles between the brain and body. The brains limbic system where thought seems to be converted to body reactions, and bodily stress to feelings. It is the control center for all signals traveling back and forth on nerve and brain pathways. It is the “mini-brain,” automatically controlling our internal environment. It is the source of superior reasoning, and is comprised of many part of the brain. It is associated with cerebral cortex which permits advanced reasoning and planning, and it helps shape the basic motivations and emotions of our lives. It seems to act as a switchboard where emotional power is imparted to ideas, and reason, temper drives and emotions. The limbic system seems to help keep our behavior within certain limits; neither too cold rational nor too hotly emotional.

Emotions begin as the brain develops and they grow more complex as we grow. Our expectations increase and we react if these expectations are challenged. We feel anger, disappoint and self doubt when you’re rejected for a new job. Experiences make us worry and less prone to trust our feelings.

Expression of emotion - your behavior is a significant clue to your own mental health. Here is where we must do the most work when we are reconstructing our game and ourselves. Culture to culture, our society dictates and we absorb the practices as we develop or associated with persons showing negatives on the lanes.

Emotions play a great part in our everyday lives. We have positive and negative emotions. Negative emotions and thoughts provide impetus to failure - positive emotions and thoughts, success.

Our main concern is success; therefore, our only interest is to produce positive emotions and thoughts in ourselves and we the bowlers. A happy bowler is a successful bowler, however, we cannot be happy all the time. But, the image of happiness we project often reflects itself back to ourselves, therefore it’s hard to be unhappy.

Life, is filled with pitfalls, ups and downs. The more emotionally stable individuals among us are without a doubt happier and successful. Why? Because they have learned to control their emotions. To related this to bowling you must realize that any negative thought is self-defeating and is a conscious emotion. Any conscious emotion other than one of well being and satisfaction must be firmly erased from your bowling intellect.

To be imminently successful, you should be able to leave your emotions off the lanes taking with you only the knowledge that you are going to bowl well. When you see others explode into fits of anger and frustration, you’ll do well to look away.

Bowling with a dead pan expression and never showing your emotions of displeasure when struck with adversity can be used as a tool to maintain your self-discipline; fool an opponent, keeping your positive attitude, and than something with enthusiasm when successful, will help you and your teammates.

Emotions can stop you from doing anything you want to. Learning to control emotions can stop nervousness when you don’t want to be and stop your from dragging problems around with you. They help you feel comfortable around other people and communicate more easily. Learning to control emotions can make you happier and get more out of your life because you use your abilities to achieve your goals.

EMOTIONS AND THINKING. Emotions are the wild card of human intelligence. They are the major difference from the most intelligent machines. Emotions result from thoughts as well as sensory perceptions, and can also create thought from sounds and imagination.

NERVES; PLAY THEIR ROLE: They are the extensions of the brain. Do not try to understand their function. You must know that they are there and are an intrical part of your development.

The Nervous System is comprised of the Central Nervous System (CNS) (the brain and spinal cord) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) (all the nerves branching out from the CNS and reach the farthest extremities of your body (toes, fingers, nose, etc)). The PNS is feel; messages and information from the sensor motor neurons, which cause things to happen and get things done in both the CNS and PNS. The sensory neurons send danger signals to the CNS and the motor neurons carry messages from the CNS to the body parts that must react, such as a car coming head on (sensory neurons activate; danger to CNS); jump out of the way (motor neurons - CNS to legs - leap, get out of the way).

The PNS through motor neurons activate the Somatic (Skeletal) and Autonomic systems. The Somatic System, as part of the PNS has the job to make muscles move on orders from the brain. It includes actions we consciously decide to do, such as putting your foot on the approach, picking up your ball; taking your stance, etc. It controls your voluntary muscle movements. The Autonomic system regulates involuntary muscle actions, such as heart beat, which happens without our thinking about it. It manages out internal operations. With little or no awareness or direction on our part the more important work of the PNS is being done. It control our internal behavior and lets our external behavior operate normally. It automatically adjusts our heart rate and breathing when we are active an slows us down when we sit down. The Autonomic system is divided into tow subsystems: a sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic system speeds up. It take over in emergencies and stress. It get us ready for Fight or Flight. Under stress our pupils dilate to allow more light into our eyes, the heart beats faster, breathing deepens, digestion slows, blood pressure rises, blood move to the limbs and brain, and blood sugar rises. This system mobilizes us for maximum use of energy. Under stress it is the dominate system. The para-sympathetic system slows down after running or you get control of yourself. This system stores and conserve energy. Its role is to keep our internal organs and glands working at a normal rate. Got scared, this system urges rest and recuperation. It slows the heart rate and breathing, narrows the pupils of the eyes, direct blood to internal organs and lowers blood pressure. Under relaxation this is the dominate system.

Your nervous system allows us to register external and internal conditions and responds to them. It is the body’s operations and communications network controlled by the brain. It runs our lives. It carries out our conscious commands to our body. It manages the many complex automatic function of the body, such as heart rate, breathing, circulation, digestion, regulates internal temperature and combats infection and disease. In some activities, it joins forces with the endocrine system, whose hormones and other chemical messages play a part in regulating the unconscious operation of the body.

You can override the autonomic nervous system. Yoga experts can change heart rate, slow metabolism, lower body temperature, and lower blood pressure.

NERVES AND PICKING UP YOUR BALL: Nerves carry information in only one direction at a time, which means that both - pathways are almost always in use at any one time in the nervous system. The sensory nerves pick up information from sensors in the skin, eyes, feet, tongue, nostrils, joints, muscles and carry it to the Central Nervous System (CNS). For each sensory nerve pathway there is usually a motor nerve pathway along which direction from the brain and spinal cord move to arouse a muscle action.

When the thinking part of the brain, the cortex decides to pick up the ball, messages go out on the motor nerves that serve your hands. They tell the hands how to move toward the ball. These directions are aided by information that has come to the brain by way of the optic nerve. As you pick up the ball, sensor nerves in your fingers and hands report your action and motor nerves send orders to your fingers about the amount of pressure to apply to the ball.

Just standing still, something that most of us take for granted involves a constant flow of reports form sensory nerves in the joints, muscles, skin and organs of balance in the inner ear. They must than be acted upon with messages to the muscles involved. This activity sends millions of messages via billions of nerve cells.

Your nervous system allows you to handle crisis after crisis. It control your liver, fine-tunes insulin secretions of your pancreas and gets just the right amount of blood with oxygen to all parts of the body. It controls sleep.

NERVES; CONSTANTLY CHANGING: Messages are constantly traveling from one nerve cell, or neuron to another. The nerve cells are the working units of the body used by the nervous system to send, receive and store signals that add up to information. The nerve cells are sometimes compared to a switchboard, but more sophisticated because they employ a unique blend of electricity and chemistry.

There are two classes of cells in the brain and throughout the nervous system: the nerve cells, or neurons and non-neurons. The neurons are the brains excitable cells, the ones that send signals, while the non-neurals are non-excitable and support the neurons’ work. The neurons main job is communication - sending and receiving information. There are more than 100 billion neurons in the brain working together.

SUPERIORITY OF THE BRAIN: We see with our brains. Our eyes take in light, which is an extension of the brain and is the most exposed part of our central nervous system. Light is filtered and focused before being translated into electrical impulses and sent by the optic nerve to the brain. These impulses go to the brain’s vision center, the visual cortex located at the rear of the brain.

The brain’s functions are so complex, that it’s living tissue will always possess unique abilities that even the most complex computer simulation will not be able to duplicate. A computer cannot deal with the variations in the world, no computer could operate with all the connections to the cortex. At one per second you’d be counting for 32 million years.

For a computer to do what the brain does it will have to be able to process and compare information along hundreds or even thousands of pathways at once - like the brain’s neural network. The neural network and a computer’s intricate circuitry are similar, because each one sends information back and forth; groups and regroups information, stores it and uses it to solve problems; and both can be wrong, if the information is wrong.

However, it in no way is as extra-ordinary as the human brain. The computers chief advantage is it’s phenomenal speed. It can process large amounts of complex calculations in a matter of seconds. But the bottom line is - it’s a machine built by humans that reacts to commands and supplied date.

No computer can match the brain’s simultaneous abilities to observe, imagine, initiate, anticipate and be inspired, nor can the computer constantly adapt to new situations, experiences or emotions.

Computers are inferior to the brains of the simplest creature, when it comes to seeing, moving and responding. No computer can rival a fly. We have the unique ability to combine our thoughts with sensations, feelings and emotions. Our minds supply meaning and context to new situations as they arise.

THE BRAIN BEHIND THE BRAIN: The Hypothalamus in the brain is the command center which controls some of the bodies must complicated processes - breathing, digestion, circulation, growth, reproduction and repair on more or less and involuntary basis. The nervous system and endocrine systems control these functions. The nervous system sends, short messages, as brief as a thousandth of a second, by electrical impulse to produce rapid response. They travel at the rate of 650 feet per second. The endocrine system sends most messages relatively slowly by means of hormones to produce a lasting effect. Hormonal messages travel through out the bloodstream and may take several hours. Some cells have receptors for one or more hormones. This system is a collection of ductless glands throughout the body that secretes directly into the bloodstream. Hormone means set in motion. These glands are the pituitary, thyroid, thymus, adrenals, pancreas, ovaries or testes, plus others. There job is to control the internal environment not only of each cell and organ, but the entire body.

You cannot fell hormones released into the body, but sometimes you can be very aware that a hormone has been released, I.e., when you blush. Adrenaline, the fastest hormonal message, acts immediate to prepare you for Fight or Flight. Your heart beat is stronger, your breathing deepens, perspiration increases to cool your body, your pupils dilate to sharpen your vision and your face turns pale as your blood vessels contract.

Mental Training: Improving Concentration

1. Prepare your mind to concentrate by getting rid of stress, distractions, and becoming acquainted with your target.

2. Prepare yourself to develop a pre-event routine to help reduce uncertainty and decrease the potential of distractions.

3. Prepare to develop the use of triggers-words or actions that remind the athlete to concentrate.

4. Prepare to develop your new mental skill with practice and in practice as if your were competing.

5. Prepare to be mentally alert and manage your stress during practice and competition to help your produce not only razor sharp concentration, attention and skills.

What's Really Involved

First of all, bowling is a recreational activity for a majority of the participants. However, for that other percentage it is a sporting activity. The ironic part of this is that both activities drive each other.

For many years, bowling has had a difficult time justifying it’s existence as a legitimate sport or just a recreational activity. The bottom line for this discussion really seems to be which part of the game/sport each individual bowler participates in. For competitive or tournament bowlers it is definitely a sport, for the recreational bowler it is a recreation to be enjoyed by themselves, by family and friends as a night out without the heat of competitive play.

One stat about bowling most people don’t realize, is that, bowling has as much and probably more, to offer its participants in terms of skills to be perfected, knowledge to be applied, and competition to continually test one’s prowess (compared to other sports).

1. Why do some people say bowling isn't a "real" sport?

An argument for the ages, with the biggest reason most people don’t consider bowling a sport, to include the media, is because they really don’t understand what it takes to become a pro bowler or tournament player at a highly proficient level. Most take the efforts of bowlers extremely lightly because bowler don’t produce a lot of sweat, we don’t do the 100 yard dash in 9 seconds flat, we don’t dead lift 500 pounds or squat with 450 pounds. Bowlers aren’t marathon runners or play 60 minutes of football or run up and down the soccer field or basketball court.

2. What are some common misconceptions about bowling?

O Within the industry one of the common misconceptions is that “Anybody can bowl“ and this is true if we are talking about someone picking up a ball, standing on the approach and throwing it at the pins 60 feet away. Anybody, regardless of age can do those three simple things. However, somewhere along the way, as an industry, these claims have done an injustice to bowling by providing a false perception of what is required to be a proficient and productive bowler. While this is true to a point, not everyone can do what the pros do. Like golf, bowling is a timing sport where the mechanics are learned through countless repetitions. The weekend golfer and the recreational bowler cannot repeat the required timing movements over and over again under normal conditions never mind tournament play, under the lights and cameras. Bowling, even today, has not been able to identify a bowler as just someone participating in the game of bowling. Nor has bowling been able to identify a classic league, tournament bowler or pro bowler because we are generalized as bowlers. The fact is that there we are all bowlers participating in the game of bowling and than there are BOWLER’S participating in the game and sport of bowling. Two very different breeds of bowlers participating in a great sport.
O Hooking the ball is what makes the game. A majority of bowlers (league) and maybe a little better than league bowlers think because if they can hook the ball they will become great bowlers. Most don’t realize or want to realize that you must learn to control all this hook that you want to use and possess.
O Bowlers don’t prepare themselves for the competition for which they are going to become involved in.
O Bowling has missed out in many respects because we don’t have a lot of our participants decide to “take up” the game/sport.

3. What are some benefits of bowling?

It really depends on what level of bowling you are participating in:
O Bowling is fun done recreationally or seriously.
O Dr. Jeff Briggs, PhD of Briggs Consulting in South Carolina says, “Those that take the game more seriously will become involved in specific training programs to become better bowlers. They realize, that playing at an optimal level requires more than physical skills and know the following:
O a healthier bowler can withstand greater amount of stress.
O a healthy, fit body can more readily supply energy to the brain.
O a physically fit bowler helps delay the onset of fatigue and prolongs his energy levels.
O a conditioned bowler can recover quicker from injury.
O a conditioned bowler can boost energy storage.
O an athlete who trains augments society’s perception of the sport.
O a conditioned bowler increases their longevity in the sport.

O Dr. Charles Martin, PhD of Wichita State University provides the following information. “Bowlers bowl for many reasons. None of them are necessarily more appropriate or better justified than the others. In fact, most bowlers bowl for a combination of reasons. Here are some of the reasons that surveyed bowlers most frequently cited:

O To be challenged.
O To be good at something.
O To be part of a team, club or group.
O To compete - with themselves or against another individual or team.
O To get exercise.
O To get out of the house or just to break the normal routine.
O To make new friends.
O To relax and have fun
O To socialize with friends.
O To spend time with friends and family.
O To receive accolades, win money, prizes or awards.

O In addition, he says, “all of us have, and attempt to satisfy, three general categories of motivational needs: achievement needs, affiliation needs and power needs.”
O Achievement Needs: People need to be challenged, to be successful, to learn and to develop skills. Bowlers high in achievement needs like to win. These are the ones really involved in all aspects of the game/sport.
O Affiliation Needs: People with these needs like to meet other people, be with other people, socialize, develop and strengthen harmonious friendships, and be liked. These are the ones that enjoy bowling - or doing almost anything else - with other people.
O Power Needs: People with these needs drive us to direct or influence others, to lead and to participate in decision-making. These are the ones that may be guilty of telling others or their teammates what to do from time to time, and they may be a little overbearing during these attempts to control or influence others.”

O Contrary to popular belief bowling does burn up calories while participating. Self Magazine published an article a few years ago showing that bowling burned up 270-300 calories an hour.
O Bowling is an excellent method for exercising your brain cells.
O Bowling provides an opportunity to develop some muscle tone and utilization of hand to eye coordination.
O Looking at the female and male side of our game, we look at:
O The females can use bowling as an outlet to break the normal routine of classes and study or the regular housekeeping chores of campus life. While not strenuous, bowling allows a chance to firm and tone muscles helping to stay slim and trim. They use it as a means and place to meet new people, hang with girlfriends and greet friends. It can also be used as an activity for clubs and groups to meet and stay together.

O The males on the other hand will bowl for many of the same reasons, but the key is competition and personal achievement. Men look for a change of pace, to keep in shape and feel better. Many men that continue to bowl do so because they have developed individual skills that makes them proud of themselves. That pride of accomplishment keeps their interest alive.

O Both genders also realize that in league or club bowling it keeps the group active and is inexpensive. It is extremely flexible, so it can be done almost anytime of day or evening. The club atmosphere can provide the opportunity for competition and is a great fund raiser. They also realize that you enjoy the game more when you can improve your overall ability to play the game. Both, also realize that the game gives them more fun per their entertainment dollar than anything else around. Also, they realize accessibility is another great reason for people to bowl - because you can go to any area in the country or the world and not know one person, but by just going to your local bowling center you can make and meet all sorts of new friends.

4. What do you enjoy most about bowling?

Personally, the competition. The numerous challenges the game offers as you become more skilled at what you do. The companionship of my fellow players. The socialability factor of being allowed to play the game with players of all skills.

5. What does it take to be a good player?

An understanding of ones self and the skills of the sport; physical, mentally and emotionally. The development of the skills necessary to be proficient requires effort and many hours and years of practice, practice, and practice. The greater a bowler’s determination to excel, the more difficult the game becomes and the greater the amount of knowledge that will be required to become effective, productive and proficient at learning the different aspects and elements of the game/sport.

One point needs to be made. There is no substitute for practice. NOTHING repeat, NOTHING is going to make a player’s game better unless he/she goes out there and work for it. Most people, media included, don’t realize the many hours of commitment, practice and conditioning (physically and mentally) that a player invests before appearing in actual competition or on a TV show. There are years of dedication and sweat that go into getting that player to the top level of his or her sport. Most of the top professional bowlers practice to keep on top of their game, honing their skills and mastering the intricacies of equipment, conditions, and hand techniques. These top competitive player’s require an orchestration of precise physical movements and they realize it and how important it is to their production.

6. What are some reasons for bowling popularity?
O Because everyone from 8 to 80 can do it, however, excelling at the sport is an achievement of only the very few who through love of the game, work, understanding, application and dedication to master all of its diverse and complex skills.
O Its simplicity.

7. What are some tips for beginning bowlers?

I’ll give you a simple outline just to be a beginning bowler without getting into any of the advanced elements of the game/sport.
1. Be properly dressed
2. Select the proper weight ball
3. Ensure your rental shoes or your shoes fit properly
4. Understand a little bit about the game and the playing environment
5. Know that there is an etiquette to the game, take time to learn it and don’t be offended if someone says something to you about it
Beginning bowlers should remember to keep it simple (basic). Pick up the ball with two hands on the side of the ball, insert your fingers (middle two) up to the second joint and your thumb into the ball. Take your position on the approach with your left foot (if you are a right handed bowler) somewhere between the center dot and the one immediately to it‘s left (reverse for a left hander). Most beginning bowlers should start with a four step delivery around or just behind the second row of dots about 12 foot on the approach.

Let’s start here:
O Proper Stance - Starting Position (athletic position).
1. Hips and shoulders squared with the target - not at an angle.
2. Feet. Left foot forward if you are right handed, right foot back, feet straight and slightly separated.
3. Knees: Slightly bent a little to prevent stiffening up. Helps to relax.
4. Body: Three positions:
A. Body upright, flex knees, feel heels, ball chest high and push away is out and down.
B. Leaning forward from the waist, ball at waist level and push away is straight forward or level.
C. Bending from waist - ball at thigh level - push ball upward and out.
Note: In all positions the ball is just to the right of center on the body with most of the ball weight on the left hand.

O Push away (Ball Placement Position) The push away is the trigger that starts the footwork. This is especially important in the four-step delivery, in order to properly coordinate the movement of the ball and feet. The length of the push away is approximately the length of the first step.

O Footwork: Most beginners are taught the four-step delivery because this delivery of more rhythmic and coordinated.

O Arm Swing: Where the arm goes the ball goes.
1. Rules: a. Arm swing is like a clock pendulum, b. The ball and arm stay close to the body and keep the elbows close to the body, c. the right shoulder is the pivot base of the pendulum and keep the shoulders squared to the target.
2. Back swing: The back swing should be at least past the body but no higher than the shoulder. If the ball is not swung back far enough strain is placed on the arm and shoulder in forcing the ball. If the ball is swung too high the momentum of the forward swing can throw the youngster off balance.
3. Follow Through: a. Reach for your target (arm at eye level).

O Timing: The ability to coordinate your footwork and arm swing, so that on your last step your left foot and your right arm with the ball, are both coming forward at the same time, or as close to it as possible. You might look for a cadence count of 1, 2, 3, slide or try; Push it….Out, down, Back and Roll. Good balance at the foul line indicates good timing. If you are off balance, or hop at the foul line, check your timing.

O Finishing at the Foul Line: An excellent definition of a good finishing position is: Your whole body is pointed as an arrow to the target. The perfect finish at the foul line is as follows:
1. Left foot pointed toward target.
2. Hips and shoulders squared to target.
3. Left knee bent.
4. Body bent forward from the waist.
5. Right leg is in back of you, not necessarily straight in back. Toe may or may not be on the approach.
6. Right arm reaches toward target.
7. Left toe 2” to 6” behind foul line.
8. Left arm extending as a balancing agent.

O Release of the Ball: Release the thumb grip of the bowling ball at your ankle and do not release the ball off your fingers until after it has passed your left foot at the foul line, then release it as smoothly as possible on the lane anywhere from 6” to 18” past the foul line. Many beginners have the habit of releasing the ball on the foul line or on the approach.

O Developing a Hook. Even as a beginner learn to develop a hook ball as soon as you are comfortable on the approach with your delivery. There are a number of ways to deliver a hook ball. A few of them follow:
1. Natural. Thumb is at 9 o’clock. Thumb and fingers parallel. Start and finish with your hand in the same position -- hand shaking position -- and reach for the target. The thumb hole must be comfortably loose, and finger holes slightly snug.
2. Straight Lift. Thumb at approximately 11 o’clock. Hand slightly under the ball. The hand remains at 11 o’clock all the way through with lifting action off the fingers. The release must be as smooth as possible. (Check to see that the thumb is not to the right of the 12 o’clock position at finish -- this is where the backup ball develops).
3. Turn and lift. Thumb at 11 o’clock position until the ball passes the left foot on the forward swing, then the thumb is turned down smoothly toward 6 o’clock and the ball is lifted. No turning of the ball until the ball passes the left foot.

O Learn how to Spare Bowl: There are three phases of spare shooting; two of them are Angles, and Key Pin.

O What do you look at when bowling:
1. Pin bowling. Make sure you look at the correct pin.
2. Spot bowling. The recommended way. Pick a spot between the second or third arrow between foul line and pins.

O Two secrets of good bowling:
1. Control: Control of feet, body, arm swing, finishing position, follow through and temper.
2. Consistency: The ability to do the same thing over and over. Experience cannot be taught. Confidence cannot be taught, but can be built up.

8. Why is bowling a good activity for college students?

I would imagine Socialability, a good form of relaxation if maintained as a recreation.

9. Interesting facts about bowling.
O Number of bowlers in the USA (annually): 69 million
O Number of bowlers worldwide (annually): 100,000,000 (approx 10 million are competitive)
O Number of games bowled each day around the globe: 7 million
O Number of youth bowlers (17 and under): 22 million
O Number of bowling centers worldwide: 12,000
O Number of countries where there is competitive bowling: 105
O Bowling’s ranks other recreational sports: 1st
O Economic impact of bowling in the USA: $10 billion
O Number of states with varsity or club bowling team in high schools: 39
O Average cost for a family of four to go bowling: $45-50

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