| Mental Game | ||
|---|---|---|
Mental Q&A [1-20] [21-40] [41-60 [61-80] [101-120]
 Bobby November 17, 2005 Thomasville North Carolina Hey WR, Ok my question is about my mental issue i have. I have had about 15-20 games this year that should have been 300's, but i hit the front 6 or 7 and hang a 10,7 or 4. after i miss that frame it seems like i always lose my mental state that i was in and my game completly changes and i miss another frame. is there any advice you can give me that might help me control this so that i can keep my composure after the missed frame. hopeing to see you on tv this year and good luck on getting to 42, maybe ill even make it on tour and get to bowl against you sometime. hope you have a wondeful season this year. thanks for any help you can give me. Hi Bobby, Getting 6 strikes in a row statistically is not even close to half of a perfect game. If you are a good bowler, you should throw 50 to 60% strikes. 60% is .6 in mathematical terms. Getting 6 in a row is (.6^6) = .046656 or about 1 in 21 games. Getting 12 in a row is (.6^12) = .002176782336 or about 1 in 459 games. Getting 6 or 7 strikes in a row doesn't mean that you "should" get the next 5 or 6 strikes. Each shot is independent. Beyond that getting tapped is part of the game. If you are hitting the pocket, you are giving yourself the best chance to strike. As unhappy as we can be when we don't strike when we want, we need to be able to 'shake it off' and continue to make good shots. Be happy that you made a good shot! Make your spare and then try to hit the pocket again on the next shot. That is all you can do. I hope you aren't offended by my mathematical comments, I am just trying to illustrate that statistically it is much more difficult to get 12 in a row than six in a row! Good luck and be happy when you get six in a row…I am! Ray August 21, 2005 Camp Pendleton CA Hi, My name is Ray Huffman I just have a question for u i joined the marine corp last year and i was hoping that i could try out for the marine corp bowling time and im going to. the thing is before i joined i was avg. between 210 and 229 and i got then i stop bowling for alittle bit and then started back up the thing is i really cant get back into it like i us to im not sure why. i bowl at an alley that is easy to me cause i shot the pattern many of times but for some reason and i dont know y but im kidding not into it anymore but i still love bowling. im just wondering if u think it is just a mental thing or is it because im in a slump and i should just keep bowling to get out of it i hope that u can help me and also i hope next year u can bet earl Anthony's record cause i know and u know that u deserve it. Ray Hi Ray, It is hard to say what has happened to you. It may be that you lost some of your desire or competitive edge that you used to have. It might be good for you to talk to a local top bowler, especially if they knew you back when you were a better bowler to see if they notice something different. You may have developed a bad habit and seeing a pro to help you get rid of it might be what you need. Jason June 13, 2005 Lafayette LA Dear Mr Walter Ray, My name is Jason Huval I am from Lafayette,La. I am a huge fan of yours. My question for you is the following: How have you handled all of your success? Hi Jason, I hope I handle my success pretty well. I know that I am a pretty lucky guy to make a living doing something that I love to do. Dennis June 25, 2005 Campbell CA Dear WR, I compete annually in the National Veterans Golden Age Games, which is a sprts cometition for senior veterans (55+). My events are bowling, horseshoes and 9-ball(in which I won the gold in my age bracket this year). My experience has shown that sometimes a certain opponent can have you "snakebit" and you lose confidence when you come up against him in competition. Do you ever have that problem i either of your sports? Maybe Parke Bohn in bowling or someone similar in horseshoes? Just curious, Dennis Andrews Hi Dennis, It depends on the sport. In bowling the competition is so good that it is very difficult to dominate another player. But if one player gets it in his head that the other has his number then he is in trouble. In horseshoe pitching the top players really dominate. The current world champion Alan Francis has lost very few games in the last several years. I don't know if I have mental issue with pitching against him or not, but he is much better than I am right now and beats me at least 9 out of 10 games. If someone has beaten me in the past and I know it, I may bear down just a bit more against them. However I try not to worry about if I have someone's number or they think they have mine. I try to the best I can all the time, which makes my opponent do the best that they can. Michael April 9, 2005 Woodstock VA Walter Ray, I am 17, and I am having a tough time with staying calm when in big tournament situations. Do you have any suggestions on how I can calm myself down? THANKS Hi Michael, It is natural to get excited when competing in tournaments. But getting too excited can be detrimental. You might want to learn some breathing exercises. A few deep slow breaths and when you are starting your delivery, exhale. Try to be confident about what you are doing. And if you do fail, try to look at it as a learning experience. Not a do or die situation. Leigh March 22, 2005 Sydney Hello, I have another question for you. I wouldn't consider myself a great bowler but I used to average around 160-170 when I was 14-15 and now I'm 20 and only averaging 155, I play for fun and socially, because bowling is fun but I still enjoy the competition. I can't seem to get my middle game happening, it's always open frames and or spare / strike / spare combinations which don't really give the strikes any credit in my opinion (mental opinion) how ever I usually start and finish really well under pressure. Just curious what to do, I think maybe because I don't take the middle part of the game seriously, because I'm not losing at that stage I tend to let it slip. Any advice would be apreciated. thanks leigh Hi Leigh, It sounds like you already have a good of idea of your problem. The trick is trying to figure out how to fix it. I have won games from 50 pins down in the middle of the game and also lost them from 50 pins ahead. You really need to be able to bowl a "whole" game if you are going to be successful. Try to stay focused for the whole game. Really concentrate on making that one good shot every time you are on the approach. It is up to you to pay attention during the middle of the game. You can do it! Good luck. No Name March 22, 2005 Edenville MI On Saturday March 19th you bowled against Wes Malott in the round of eight. If you would have beat him, you would have had to bowl Liz Johnson the next day on the telecast. Was that entering into your mind at all or does Malott just have your number? Hi No Name, Wes has beaten me twice now in matches. He is a very good bowler as are the other exempt players. Since Liz was still bowling her match I was more concerned about beating Wes. If Wes is able to beat me 5 or 6 times in a row, then maybe then he has my number, but I still think I have plenty of game. Josh March 13, 2005 Belleville IL Dear Walter Ray, I have been bowling for about 7 years. I have an average of 180 and it keeps going up. That is not what i wnted to ask though. I wanted to ask how I could improve my mental game. I always seem to bowl bad in Gateway Bowling Tournaments. I am the #1 bowler on my Travel league team and the #1 bowler in my division, but i cant seem to bowl any good in these Gateway Tournaments. Please help me out. Thanks, Josh Hi Josh, It may be that you are expecting to much of yourself. Try and let it happen. I know that is easy to say, but if you can do the best you can and let your good results happen they should. The other thing that may the bigger culprit is that you may not be playing the lanes properly. Tournament bowling can be quite a bit different from league. It may be that you need to gain more experience. Mary February 19, 2005 Columbus OH Hello Walter Ray: I've been bowling for 8 years and have been aspiring to become a professional bowler. I'm 34 years old and finally reached the 109 to low 200 average. I wonder if it's too late to join the tour. I'm very diappointed that the Lady's tour went on hiatus and I hope that it will return. I bowl in 7 league. Two I'm a regular and the remaining 5 sub pretty frequently. The issue that seems to get in my way is just plain old distractions-other people. I consider myself a very intense bowler and I own 5 balls of different surfaces and drillings. Every league that I participate in there is always seems to be that person(s) that are very intimidated by me, because I'm very competive and most likely outaverage them greatly. And of course more advanced. I at times I overhear my name being mentioned at a distance and when I look up I get very strange looks as if to say what are you doing in this league? Or some try to get into my head in saying to me don't bowl a 300 in this league. I know that's what they're doing to try to stop me in progressing into becoming the bowler that I know that I'm very capable of. How did you deal with this when you were an up and coming bowler. Please help me rise above this. Any help you give me would be so much appreciated. When I get through this mental hump I hope to bowl with you when I make the tour in three more years. Hi Mary, It is a shame that the ladies don't have a tour to bowl. Hopefully they will shortly. When I was improving I joined a league late in the year and started averaging over 200. Even though the league was handicapped, the league officers decided to change the sweeper week to base off the highest average (mine) instead of the normal (for back then) 200. I thought it was kind of petty. Fortunately I was bowling in Southern California at the time and there were plenty of good scratch leagues for me to participate in and I never bowled in a handicap league again. It is a shame that 'average' bowlers don't want the better bowlers in their leagues even when there is a handicap involved. They don't realize that the better bowler wants to be involved in good competition. I would try and ignore those bowlers who know that you are better than they are and don't like it. Eric February 9, 2005 Chicago IL Walter Ray, First congrats on the 4-6-7-10 pickup last weekend. Great to see such a difficult shot accomplished. I know if was the first time on TV but rare for a pro to leave those pins. My question has to do with the mental strain of the 41 championships. Is it present all the time... or is is status quo until the lights of the TV appearances bring it up. Thanks and happy rolling! E- Hi Eric, Picking up the 4-6-7-10 was pretty much pure luck. I really don't think that I have had that much stress from trying to get my 41st title over getting any of my other titles. Hopefully it will happen some day, but it may also never happen. David February 2, 2005 Plainville CT Hi Walter Ray, My names dave . i used to work at a bowling center in ri. Iworked there for 5 years i am 21 now. i have an average of 210. i used to bowl on 6 leagues almost one every night .i have my 300 game under my belt.but my question is, when you first started out ,like in your early stages as in leagues and when you wanted to know that you wanted to go pro,what were the few things that were going through your head at that time, also how did you start up going pro ? Hi David, I bowled one year when I was 11-12 and got back into bowling when I was 17. When I was about 19 I started to really improve. I have always loved competition and when I started to average around 200 I started to bowl lots of tournaments. Within a year I was bowling local professional tournaments and joined the PBA. I finished college 2 years later and that is when I went on tour. Bill December 10, 2004 Johnstown PA Walter Ray, This season 3 times now i have had the first 9 strikes and i always mess it up,i don't seem like i am nervous but i either throw it to hard it seems or like the other night came in light felt like not enough fingers,what should i do next time i have the chance at my first 300 game. Thnk you, Bill Buzzard Hi Bill, Under stressful situations it is natural to for your adrenaline to get a hold of you. A lot of bowlers will throw the ball a bit firmer under these circumstances. When you throw the ball harder, it will hook less and tend to go light. I think that the best thing to do is to concentrate on making the exact same shots as you made in your previous 9 or 11 shots. If that doesn't seem to work, then you might want to make an adjustment to correct the extra speed that you might have. Try to relax and make the best shot that you can make. Remember, it isn't the end of the world if you happen to mess up. James December 2, 2004 Davenport IA Walter Ray, what kind of mental approach do you carry into shooting single pin spares. I would consider myself a descent spare shooter and on many league nights or scratch tournments will go clean but then i hit a stretch where i will miss two single pin spares a night or tournment. is this just part of bowling or is there a mindset i get into that allows me to make these mistakes for a stretch. then after a week or so it goes away and i go back to great spare shooting. what do you think is the issue. thank you james keller Hi James, I pick up most of single pin spares, but once in a while when I don't pay enough attention, I miss them. You need to be confident that you can pick up those spares and make a good shot. It is hard to say why good players miss single pin spares, but we are all human. Try not to worry about it and pay attention. Jeff November 30, 2004 Burnsville MN Hello WRW, My mother enjoys watching you bowl, she says that you and i have similiar styles. However, i have a problem with the Mental aspect of bowling. Last night, in league bowling i had the first 8 strikes and two opens to finish the game. My question would be, what advice would you give someone who just got back into bowling (2002), after being out of bowling for 5 yrs. My average the last two years (2002-03, 2003-04) are 209 and 211 respectively. The problem mainly deals with my attitude and having fun. People that i know who had seen me bowl before i had quit, they all tell me it seems like there is a switch that goes off. To where depending on the competition it looks like i am going through the motions and then wham i string out strikes. They can't seem to figure it out and neither can I. Like i have no interest in bowling, but i am enjoying it better this time than i was before. People say things like "he used be a great bowler", or "One time he could of went PRO" or "geez, one time he used actually roll the ball". I mean it gets fustrating when i hear things like that, i wish i could bowl i did before i had quit. My averages then were (224, 228, 230, 221) but i am nowhere near that bowler, i practice just about every other day. So any advice or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks Jeff Hi Jeff, It depends on what you want out of bowling. Do you want to go on tour? If you are happier now with bowling than you used to, who cares what other people say. My advice is to enjoy what you are doing. Being a professional bowler doesn't automatically mean that you will be happier about it. But if you want to improve, it may take a bit more work. The other thing is that the lane conditions may be tougher than they used to be where you bowl. How do you compare to the other top players? David November 12, 2004 Chula Vista CA Hey WRW, I have a 151 average (its dropped from 170 over the corse of 8 weeks), the reason its low is because I can't make big shots. I can get a string of 3 strikes going then even though I don't think about my shot I totally miss the forth. Also the 7th, 9th and 10th frames give me the most difficult, by that I mean I'm lucky if I hit the pocket in those frames. People say to clear my mind, and I do but somehow in those frames or in a string sitution I choke even though I'm not thinking of getting a mark. Do you have any advice on how I can over-come my sub-concious choking? Hi David, You sound like you have the right attitude when you are bowling. It helps me to really concentrate on one thing…like your target or a strong follow through. That way you are sort of distracted from the pressure of the situation if your brain is really concentrating on some technical aspect of your release. Hang in there and good luck. Mike November 10, 2004 Reno NV Walter Ray, this is the part of my game that I feel is not up to par for my standards. During my pre-shot routine, I determine the line that I want to play, set my feet and eyes to that line, and then set my grip. When I am up on the approach, I put myself in what I call "pure doing mode". It works well when I practice and for my league play, but when I get to a tournament, I talk myself out of it. I can get myself through qualifying, but when I get to match play or the finals, it all falls apart. Do you know what goes wrong? Can you offer some advice that would help me keep that momentum all the way through the tournament from start to finish? Thanks a bunch and I wish you the very best of luck on the tour this season! Mike Lane 20 years old 205 average Hi Mike, It sounds like you are putting too much pressure on yourself. It doesn't make any sense to 'talk yourself out of it'. Try to do the best that you can do. If it works, great, and if not, then oh well. The more you do it, the more you should get comfortable with those situations. Hang in there and good luck. Dan September 5, 2004 Walnut Creek CA Hi Walter Ray! My name is Dan Patty Jr., I'm 15 years old, and I'm from Walnut Creek, California. First off, I'd just like to congratualte you on your tour success and let you know that you're my favorite bowler. I've been bowling for about 5 years now and I'm averaging about 215. I'm doing quite well, it's just every once and a while I seem to lose focus, or kind of "zone out". Do you have any suggestions? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question, and good luck with the upcoming season! Hi Dan, You are bowling very well. Sometimes we need to realize that it is impossible to have great games every time. But when we do have those marginal games, not to get too disappointed so that it affects our game. It sounds like that may be what you are doing. Sometimes it shows more how a player handles it when they are bowling poorly. Keep it going. John June 24, 2004 Serry NH I bowled in a pro am with you back in April, in Raymond, NH. It was a treat to not only watch you bowl, but to get to actually bowl a game with you. I am not sure what category my question falls under, its sort of complicated. I've been bowling in leagues now for about 10 years. For the first 8 years, it was limited to a winter league, with my average improving slowly every year. I never really took bowling too seriously, so my average was only in the 140's. Then, a couple years ago I decided to get a little more serious about it. I bought some better equipment, took a few lessons, and expanded to 3 leagues. I also began to actually "bowl", as opposed to just throwing the ball down a lane. At the end of this winter season, my average was in the 190's in both of the leagues I did. My problem comes this summer, I do 1 league, and I have a 143 average. All of a sudden, I am lucky if I get 3 strikes in a series, let alone in a row. I am missing very easy spares, both left and right. Is the fact I am only bowling 3 games a week instead of 6 really killing me that much? Is it a mental thing where now I am just forcing things? I've done summer leagues before and haven't dipped this bad. Is it common for some guys to sort of hit a wall for a little while? Sort of a slump? What should I try to snap out of it? Thanks for your help. Hi John, It is very odd that your average would drop from 190 to 143. Even if you go from bowling 9 games a week to only 3 your average shouldn't drop that much. I am assuming that you haven't tried anything too drastic since the finish of your winter league. It could be that the lanes you are bowling at are using a different oiling pattern. If you aren't playing the lanes properly, it can affect your average by 20-30 pins. But that doesn't account for the entire average drop. I am a little confused by a couple of your statements. You mention that you expanded to 3 leagues and that you were averaging in the 190's in both of your leagues. But you are specific in what your average is in the summer. Then you mention bowling 3 games a week as opposed to only 6. Most leagues are at least 3 games, so 3 leagues would be 9 games a week not counting practice. If you were practicing, then you would be bowling more games a week than that. Maybe you should go back to your coach to find out what you are doing wrong and practice a little, but your average shouldn't drop that much that fast. Good luck. Hope you are able to figure it out soon! Randy June 9, 2004 Hobart IN Walter Ray, ill make this short i know you have probably alot to read but here goes, i bowl on leagues monday, tuesday, off wednesday, thursday, sport league on friday, and after that i bowl roulette at the same house on friday after the sport league, and i bowl roulette on saturday and i have to practice in between on sunday and wednesday. i have people come up to me all the time, even when i am bowling bad, people watch me and tell me i am a very good bowler and tell me i have waht it takes to go pro, but since i started bowling so much i have been having a problem with holding a target at first i tryed fixing my approach i took a camera to the alley and made a list of what i was diong wrong and fixed them,. but my average is still down about twenty to thirty pins from what i think it should be i dont think i am balancing all things in my mind properly example, ball speed, angle, approach, target, etc. i love to bowl and i want to make it big, i cant wait to get to the bowling alley t! o bowl but once i get there my mind is not in the game and i just want to leave do you think i am bowling to much and do you think a break would make my concentration on my game a little more intact and kick my average back up to where it should be please help!!! thank you. Hi Randy, It may be that you are bowling too much, but more than likely your disinterest is due to your not bowling as well as you like. But if you really want to go professional, you will need to work and put the time into your bowling to improve. Sometimes the fun isn't always there when you are a professional as it becomes necessary to practice when you may not always feel like it. You might want to concentrate on one or two things when you are bowling such as hitting your target and having a good follow through. Good luck. Johnny May 20, 2004 Brownsville TX Hey man you are the MAN. Its funny so many people look up to you just by the way you bowl. Im 19 and I love the sport WRW but I just dont get it. I read alot I get coached but it all comes down to this they tell me I try to HARD just relax. I try man i practice when i practice i hit the pocket but when it comes down to league or tournments down here in the valley TEXAS. I can't find nothing. My question would be what else can I do besides geting help from differnt coach,practice harder... please dont post this up in the website I just want you to email me. I get this alot too but maybe it hasn't sunk in JUST HAVE FUN lol.... XENO GARCIA good friend of mind always tells me I think about it to much lol i dont know you give me alittle bit of feedback. I admire you and hopefully you can answer me back just for the sack of a 19 year old lost in mental bowling... Hi Johnny, There is an awful lot to bowling. Unfortunately most bowling centers are actually making it tougher for young players to be better bowlers due to the easy lane conditions. When a young bowler such as yourself goes somewhere else where the lanes are bit more challenging, they don't know what to do since it is so foreign to them. I would suggest finding tough lanes to practice on. Being intense is nice, but if you are too intense that can also be bad. Try to have fun. Good luck. Mental Q&A [1-20] [21-40] [41-60 [61-80] [101-120] | ||