Is it mental or is it physical.
Is the mental side triggering the physical game errors or is it the physical game triggering the vicious circle that our mind tends to get trapped in?
This is probably a question that many bowlers, or maybe not just bowlers but athletes of many other sports deal with, or maybe I’m exaggerating… maybe it’s just me.
I don’t have a clear answer for you but I will walk you through my journey, and I will introduce you to my bullies. Let’s say Hi! Before they are all gone.
My game is good.
When I practice… it’s actually very good, but it also can be garbage during competition. Something is obviously triggering my bad shots and figuring it all out hasn’t been easy and blaming it all on mental side of things can be very unhealthy because at the end, we come to the conclusion that:
Hey, there must be something wrong with me!
And this can be so self distructiong. Especially for us- bowlers, we are athletes that tend to trust coaching less and tend to believe that we should always be able to figure things out on our own. Perfect path to self- destraction.
Since few years ago I have struggled with my body angles what is directly correlated with targeting, but what you can see as a final product of this error is-my follow through. It pops out and cause me to miss left — A LOT.
That’s a fact.
I’ve known it for long time and I came seeking for help to many people. I was given directions and things to practice on, so I did…but it didn’t help. It wasn’t it.
I think it’s hard to point out what is really wrong when practice shots are so much better than those during the tournament, when the problem occurs. Even if the game may seem good, there is so much foul line corrections bowlers can do while practicing, that it’s impossible to repeat well while the adrenaline is released. When your heart rate is up — everything feels different. The magic is in knowing how different and how to control it. Because at the end, being nervous is not a bad thing. It has never been.
Anyway, so here I am, rushing to get to the first Professional Bowling Association (PWBA) tour stop in 2021, after I just received my US visa few days before. Hoping my error is not there because it doesn’t show during practices — ever. But then few games in, I get to the foul line and instead of getting my ball to 5, it gets to 9 down lane. And again, and again. I can feel my elbow popping out and whatever I focus on, is not working, it’s getting worse.
And then… then I get stuck in a vicious circle trying to fix it as I bowl — because I must in order to get the ball to where I want it to go.
Sometimes, something works, most of the times it doesn’t. I’m frustrated. What is worst, I’m afraid to go throw a shot. The panic mode is on.
Then there is Costas, my old coach who I reconnected with at the end of 2020.
I’m not going to get into details of how he has broken down my game to really explain and point out what I was doing wrong, but I will tell you about one of the practice sessions we had in Cyprus, right before coming to US for the second time that summer, that time for the Summer swing in Texas.
He took me on the lanes and said:
‘Imagine you are bowling in a tournament, I want you to close your eyes. Imagine what you were feeling at your worst during competition. Imagine there are people behind watching and you feel the worst you have ever felt on the lanes. Bring that memory back. You are there now. Go throw a shot ‘
So I did.
When I came back he told me to write down on a piece of paper what I felt or what was going through my mind, then said that I cannot get up till I find a way to stop feeling this way and find something that helps me ease it.
So I sat for some time, wrote it down crossed it all out. Went on the lanes, imagined I am at that one particular situation from the past where my legs didn’t feel like mine. Where I was stressed, nervous, overwhelmed.
I focused so deeply on that memory that I actually felt the same exact way as back then in 2019.
I threw a shot, came back, wrote something probably like ‘frustrated, unable to get the ball where I want it, restricted, full of fear’
Crossed it out, went again.
I did it over and over again…and then BOOM….
I realized, I was getting myself back again in the same mental trap I have been getting into for all those years. The same thought process.
The same ‘ways to fix what’s wrong’
We did something I never managed to do before, I simulated a tournament environment and tournament mental process during practice.
I managed to get myself into this black hole just to realize what thoughts were there with me.
That’s exactly when I stood right in front of my bullies and the first time, I tried to face them differently.
This was the start, the very first true practice on my mental game. I don’t have everything figured out, I don’t think anyone ever has but I’m on my way to getting better.
There is so much I can tell you about mental and physical part of our game but that could turn into a book, that maybe one day… I will write.
For now, I just want to comfort you and help you realize that no matter on what level you are on, everyone is facing some sort of demons in their head. And sometimes the only thing you can do, is to keep facing them but each and every time, a little differently. Remembering that when you run (compress your feelings, pretend like they are not there or give yourself excuses) — they always catch up.
The physical game can trigger your mental game but when mental game is strong enough you can overcome it. It’s about working on those two aspects of the game. Bowling is beautiful, you can never perfect it.
Much love to anyone who is struggling in any way. There is many of us, and I wish that you face your fears and overcome them because I know, you are strong enough.
- daria ❤️
