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Top of the Pyramid- Mental Toughness, by Charley Wilson

Updated at September 03, 2010 14:43

Many thoughts have been written about the mental aspects of all sports. In my view, there are two distinct parts of what I call the mental game. First, the technical part: analyzing what is happening on the lanes and using your brain to decide what you need to do. Second, and the more traditionally “mental” part, is more handling your emotions regarding yourself and your abilities. Some elements of this include positive self-talk, visualization (of processes and of results), relaxation, and even self-hypnosis.

The analytical process.   It’s not easy to be purely analytical during competition; too many other things intrude. This aspect of mental toughness requires you to divorce yourself from your involvement in what’s happening, and treat yourself simply as a bowler you are watching. What is he/she (you) doing and what is the result? What is wrong (if it is) and what should that bowler do to fix it?

The emotional process.  Here we really get into the mind, not the brain. I don’t pretend to be in the same league as psychologists and other professionals who really study how the mind works. So many things have been written about this aspect of the mental game, I can bring only one thing somewhat new to the table. Some years ago, I wrote an article, published in IBPSIA’s Merchandising Trends, called “The Custer Effect”. The title was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the difference between performance in league warmup period and when the scoring starts. My premise was that the major difference in the relaxed, strike-at-will performance “before the arrows appear”, and the subsequent failure to perform as well when it counts, is caused by caring what happens during the latter period. The following is from that piece:

There you are, striking like crazy during warm-up. The grip is soft, the swing pure.  You’re perfectly balanced at release, and the ball finds the pocket like a homesick gopher.  Even the rare off hit scatters the pins, sending scouts flying at those corner pins. Then, just like at the Little Big Horn, the arrows appear and it all goes south.

Why? Tension.  Or, maybe more accurately, intention. When you were practicing, what happened on the pin deck really didn’t matter.  Now, it does.

 

—So, where before you were simply looking to see what happened so you could find your best strike line, now you’re trying to make something happen.  Your focus has shifted from open and curious, feeling the swing and watching the result, to trying to get the ball into the pocket and strike. You may be nervous, trying to be too careful, squeezing the grip a little, adding a little muscle, or even just caring too much what happens. Maybe you’re wondering if the shot is still there, or if you’re good enough.

—So, how do you return to what was working? You must (and you’ve heard this before in many different words), "relax", "stay in the process", "don’t worry about the result", "just throw a good shot", etc. What that really means is that you have to NOT CARE. —- 

—But how do you do that? I don’t know. Nobody really knows. Anybody that tells you they KNOW how to do that is either messin’ with you or just misleading themselves. Because nobody but you can tell what’s going to work for YOU.

—You can try focusing on one single thought, to block out the many random thoughts that might bombard you. A key thought such as "smooth swing", "finish on balance", or "feel the ball weight" may work. Try a deep "belly breath" just before starting the approach. The calm and confidence you need might come from knowing you can handle whatever happens, so you need to be confident in your spare-shooting ability.

—Experiment with ways to focus on the process, not the pin-deck. Whatever you do, you have to commit to every shot and be absolutely ready to live with the result.

 

It’s not really that you don’t care. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be reading this. But to be really mentally tough, you have to perform the part you can control as if you didn’t care about the result. I will further develop the premise in subsequent articles, and add some of the tidbits I’ve gathered over the years, some from others’ writings, some from other bowlers, a few from my own experience, and many from my students.

 

Strategies. First, develop your physical game. Without a firm belief in your fundamentals, you can’t be free to enjoy the rest of the game. Know your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Know your equipment (maybe consider limiting your ball selection until you really know them well – check out the Smartbowler Ball Guide (http://www.smartbowler.com/Ball_Guide.html). Find a coach you’re comfortable with and tape yourself when you’re happy with your fundamentals so you can check back when things start to slide.

 

Practice on different lane conditions, from different lines, and with different equipment and releases, again, so you have no reason to doubt that you CAN do what you want to do, even if you don’t always do it when you want to. Remember the adjustment key: EARLS (Equipment, Angle, Release, Loft, and Speed).

 

In short, once you’ve progressed this far up the pyramid, the only thing left is to revel in the pure shot, regardless of the result. It’s often been said that “perfect is the enemy of great”. In other words, striving for perfection can cause a failure of greatness. I’ll bet some of the best bowling memories you’ve ever had were from less than 300 games, and I’ve never heard a person complain about the tugged, heavy, tripped 4-pin strike that kept his 300 from being a “perfect” (100% pocket-hit) perfect game.

 

 

Charley Wilson, a USBC Silver Level Coach, has been coaching professionally since 1996. A retired USAF fighter pilot, he currently works as a USBC certified Silver coach and IBPSIA-certified pro shop ball fitter/driller. Charley is married (Sheila) and lives in St. Louis, MO. Contact – CGWJR@charter.net

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