Ask Bob 1-8-06

by Bob Korth 

Q.   I have been working on my game and have my average up to 190 but I can't seem to      get a mark in the 10th frame when my team is in a tight game. I am a bit of a perfectionist and this problem is making me nuts. Any suggestions would help?

A.   I believe you have answered your own question. You say you are a perfectionist that is your biggest problem in a tight situation. When the pressure is on you need to be loose, relaxed have a nice free swing. With a perfectionist frame of mind you will most of the time pull or point the ball. Your mind is telling you throw it perfect. Adjust your thinking to I will just make the best shot I can. Instead of trying to hit an exact mark try adding 2 couple of boards to each side of your mark. Look at that target as a tunnel and throw the ball through the tunnel. Five boards are way easier to hit than one. You can even do that with most spares. This just builds in a little margin for error and takes your mind off being perfect.

Q.   My game has been great all season long till now. I don't know what has happened but all of a sudden I can't buy a strike and I can't spare either. I feel like my timing is all right. What do you supposed has happened? 

A.   Sounds like a mid season slump combined with the holiday blues all mixed in with a lack of confidence. This time of year we have many things going on most of which are more important than bowling. It is also about halfway through a long season. It is easy to lose focus and even though you think your interest is there it may not be. Before you go bowling again try a change in your mental game. Slumps are caused most of the time by a loss of confidence not so much by a new bad habit. Use mental visualization more than usual see yourself making the perfect approach, throwing the perfect ball and getting the carry you deserve. Remember, you haven't forgotten how to bowl. Relax and just let your natural game come back to you. It will and a few good shots will turn your game around just as quick as it went away.

Q.   Last week I went to the lanes to bowl my weekly league. I got my bag out of the trunk and what a shock, my ball was cracked like an over ripe melon. The crack ran almost all the way around the ball. I took it to the pro shop and they won't replace the ball. They say in was from improper care. I always keep the ball in the trunk of my car this never happened before. What happened to cause this now?

A.   Up to now you have been lucky, your pro shop was right. The worst place you can store your bowling ball is the trunk of your car. It is winter now and in some areas it gets very cold in the winter. If you live in California or Florida its not so cold but is sometimes hot. Either extreme is not good for a bowling ball. Even worse is the fluctuation of temperature. The expansion and contraction of the material can cause a ball to crack in time. Keep them in your house or rent a locker and keep the ball at the lanes.

Q.   I watched a resent PBA finals on television and some of the scores these pro's shot were not any better than I see in the scratch leagues in my home house. It seems as though any scratch bowler could be a pro. Am I missing something?

A.   We just had the pro tour stop at the lanes I bowl in Lava Lanes in Medford, or. I got the opportunity to bowl with them in a special pro am event that is held at Lava. We get the same condition to bowl on as they shoot on all week. Let me tell you the shot that was put up on the lanes at this tournament was extremely difficult 43 feet of oil. The outside boards were flooded. This gave you about 2 boards of area and speed was critical. All of the amateurs the struggled, we were lucky to hit the pocket twice in a row and spares weren't easy. But the pro's bowling with us made this look like our regular league shot. Trust me the pro's on the exempt tour are world class they do things with a bowling ball the rest of us can only dream about. We have bowlers in our scratch league that average 220+ the pro's were averaging 220+ on what I would call a nearly impossible shot. This is what you can't see on TV the actual playing condition. The best league bowler would be fortunate to average 190 they truly are the best of the best.

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