how do you handle it??

[griggsy]

ok as we all knw we aussies have phenominal talent out there, such talent that can even out run the adults, I was curious, how do the junior bowlers out there handle pressure situation? what goes through your minds. do you think about the shot at hand or what?

for me personally i like to have music going through my head, helps me to relax.
what do you do??

 

[Mankind_JS]

Even though I'm not a 'junior' anymore i will give my input of this situation.

Pressure is created by ones self, you and you alone decide and control how much pressure you feel, whether it be standing up in the final frame for a 300 or 700, or needing a strike to win the tournament.

With that being said, pressure is very normal, I even experience it in league occasionally.

So how do you combat this pressure..... It's a personal thing what i do to combat pressure and nerves, may not work for you... but here goes. Usually when the pressure is on the human body lets the brain think rather than visualise, you try and make the shot happen "dont pull it" or "make shot you rotate"

However...

For me visualisation is the key, i see the execution of the shot, the more detail the better, and i see how i get the ball from the foul line to the pins, also I see the pin carry. I replay this over in my mind twice before picking up my ball.

Once i pick up my ball, its my pre shot rountine, so I'm on autopilot, I know how to throw a ball, so i just get up, concerntrate on my target as always, and throw the best ball i can.


It doesnt always work.... but usually it does.


James Sitters

 

[Levithian]

Seeing as it seems people can post if they arent really juniors anymore (i hope thats ok). Iam the totally opposite to you Mankind, for me too much time spent visualising and planning of the shot to follow is harmfull rather than helpfull. I already know how the next shot is going to react, i know how iam going to release the ball. The more time i spend analysing it, the more i overthink the shot and complicate things. A few people have commented at just how long i spend on the approach, i pickup my ball, walk towards my starting point while putting my hand in the ball, once im at my target i continue walking into my delivery. Really if you look at it, it's more like i take 6 steps rather than 4, but it works for me. I can count on my hand the number of times when i have really felt i bowled well, these few times nothing has really gone through my head, i didnt really pay much attention to what was going on around me, i didnt really have anything todo with my team mates. I surpose it was just a phase of deep concentration, nothing really got to me, my shot felt the cleanest and most fluid i had rolled down in awhile. Funny thing, ive spent ages trying to get that feeling back, hasnt really happened :lol:

If you want my advice, the only way to get over nerves is to continually be in a situation where they occur. You can plan all you want for the situation, but without actually reaching it i find it is pretty much useless. You need to experience the nerves in order to know how they effect you so it becomes natural. A good example is when you are starting off (new to bowling) and a 400 series might be a high that you aim for, when you are within striking distance the nerves set in. As you progress down the track, the 400 is replaced by a 450, then a 500, then a 550 etc (the same is true when you start stringing strikes together). It becomes natural, the nerves dont happen and it really isnt a big thing (you have been there before). So if you are given the choice to join a league (or bowl a competition) with some stiff competition where you feel you are alittle out of your league (no pun intended), do so, it's a steep learning curve, but by god does it work

 

[Stuart Little]

I shake, and get realy nervous, but the worst thing is my hand gets sweaty, so i find it had to bowl without a rosin bag.

 

[KriDdLe]

well when i get nervous i get butterflys in my stomach before i do my pre routine and then when ive dun my routine ther butterflys die down a bit but they dun go completely ..... then i get in my stance... here is where my legs staart to shake its hard cuz im young i havent relaly learnt how to control it so i jsut try adn think about hittin my target ..an 6 outta 10 times i get it.. but i get so nervous i over do the shot and do everything opposite to what i tell my self to do....

 

[Shelbe]

well i get really nervous as well and i shake which is kinda hard when u gotta bowl..
but i just try and tell myself to relax and make sure im doing everything right i tell myself to look at my target dont pull the shot etc

it usually helps but i also sing one of my favourite songs in my head as well

sounds silly but hey it works!

 

[*chook :>*]

hey well when it comes to pressure, i find it easier to bowl if im having fun and theres music going. normally if im by myself, with no friends near by, like next to me or on the next lanes, i bowl really average. but if im just joking round and having a few laughs :lol: , im more motivated and relaxed. over all i think i can take pressure pretty well

 

[USABowlerPennsylvania]

Hey

Heylo everyone,
I dont find it too hard to deal with pressure since ive been in sooooooo many pressure situations. If you jsut find the time to focus on your game and gain "tunnel-vision", then it makes it quite easy to stay focused on your game and nobody elses. Tunnel vision also helps to block everyone and every noise out of your concentration, a think called "selective hearing". You should all try it sometime, its not a new concept. Good luck everyone!

 

[Sinisterx8]

In pressure situations im the exact oppisite to lev on this one..Where as he said he doesnt really talk to team mates i find having a chat during frames realeases tension and keeps my head clear.Another thing is i never look at the scoreboard during a game, i find that puts unessisary pressure on and you usually know how your bowling without looking any way..As for delivery i go through the same drill everyshot its i little superstion i have.. My arm rocks back 4 times during that time im clearing my head and blocking out everything else except my target
Funny game bowling different things work well for different people. I spose if it was simple we wouldnt come back week after week hey

 

[Ben A]

I basically take one frame at a time. I treat any frame like the same and pretend it is the beginning of the game. I always look at the score, its a habit and its something that cant be helped. :shock: I feel by looking at the score it reminds me of what i need to bowl; it is a simple reminder and most of the times it works. In any major pressure situation ( like last Sunday) :cry: , i would usually sweat alot and my knees will start to shake, I try not to notice it, but sometimes it gets to me. To get out of this shaking business, i stand at the approach as per usual, but take an extra second or two :idea: on the approach before i take my shot, it allows my heartbeat to go down and the shaking to stop.

 

[USABowlerPennsylvania]

Well Ben

It can be helped, Ben. WE BLINDFOLD YOU!!! lol, j/k

 

[Levithian]

Hmmm, i wonder how we would go with being blindfolded. We are surposed to have everything down to muscle memory so i cant see why we couldnt do it . There's that little problem with hitting your target, but if you have seen some of the disabled blind bowlers, everything is organised, so technically it isnt impossible. They usually need alittle help to get to a fixed starting point, then they adjust by themselves and deliver the ball. How cool would that be in a pressure situation, just close your eyes, block everything out and roll it down the lane

 

[Easy Tiger]

I agree with usa, tunnelvision is the best just don't think about anything ouside your next shot. I find when music goes through my head it distracts me and i cannot concentrate. I also tend to go very quiet at tournaments because it is just something i do, i don't think about it. It's just a natural thing. Yeah when the pressure is really on, I might shake a bit. That is happening less and less now though because I have realised that being nervous gets me nowhere and that seems to have stopped it. But then again I have only bowled seriously for 2 years at the most so I guess I will get better as I play seriously for longer.

 

[Flicky]

bowling in a tournie is nothing compared to getting up on stage and singing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but still i guess i get a lil nervous but its not so bad for me
i mite shake on occation but im normally pretty ok

 

[jessica]

hey guys

pressure....

well... i always used to feel that everyone - especially my dad - was putting pressure on me to become like Cara Honeychurch, mainly because i'm a lefty.

i always used to get really stressed whenever i bowled, always feeling that i'd let everyone down.

i used to think about my game so much that i forgot to think about the basics.

i was stressing one day, at PRACTICE because i figured if i couldn't get it right there, i never would, when Andrew said to me, " Jessica, do you know what your problem is? You think too much."

he told me to just sing a song or something, and stop thinking so much.

Now i TRY not to think about what im doin so much, like sure, you hafta think about your shot and stuff, but i try to concentrate on just letting the ball go with the right feeling in my hand.

i still feel pressure - everyone does - and when i do, i mainly take it out on my dad - a bad habit i should really get rid of - but now i've realised that the only reason he puts pressure on me is because he belives in me.

so how do i deal with pressure?? i sing a little song, or think of something that makes me laugh - whats the sound of one hand clapping -( someone smart told me that - a quote from the simpsons) and i try to remember that as soon as i step up on that approach, i'm in my own little world, im the one thats controlling the ball, and everything i do with it, therefore, anything that i feel is also because of me, so i just relax.... or try too anyway

Luv ya's Jess ~xox~

p.s. a big thankyou to Andrew, Sue, Taz, Michelle, Slats (practice the other day - i didn't lose the feel after all) and a really big one to my Daddy, i wouldn't have gotten this far without you.

and yerh everyone, i am a daddy's girl, and i'm not ashamed to admit it. cuz he's always been there for me... i reckon ur familys would have been too... thank them once in a while... they do heaps for you... even though it took me ages to realise it.

 

[BELMO]

hey boys and girls.............

recently i had trouble striking in the 10th....... i would always bowl a bad shot when it came to the 10th...dont know why just did. It started to become something id pressure myself into doing.... like a phobia of the 10th.

Doc Ed kee told me something that may help others like it did me.....
Everytime i need to hit the 10th, i close my eyes for about 15 seconds and just listen.... to the balls going down, other poeple talking and my own breathing......... After that open wide and feel refreshed, like you did in the first frame.

Using that and the advice fralws has given me about not bowling till I KNOW IM GOING TO STRIKE (that feeling u get) i now turn 230's to 250's and 180's to 200's

Pressure is all in the mind...make your head think its like any other ball and your body will feel as loose as it does in practice.

In theory that is haha

cheers

belmo

 

[Shelbe]

hey belmo and jess
thanks for the advise im pretty sure i could use that to help improve me game because like jess my family did put alot of pressure on me.. well thought they did because im the youngest of three and to me it felt like i had to be just as good or even better then my brothers which i thought would be exreamly hard as they are both excellent bowlers... but right now im not feeling that much pressure from the family which is good cos i have shown alot of improvement in my game...
oh by the way anyone got any advise that will help me to stop pulling my shot??????
cheers
Michelle :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Murderdoll]

Pressure??? i can sorta handle it... thats wot 14 years of bowling does to you. Was recently bowling in a singles tourney, down by 35 pins wif 1 game left, ending up winning by a pin!! I managed to keep my cool so i could progress to the next round, against mike muir and go slaughted!! oh well. But usually i crack under alot of pressure, like rolling a 300. last saturday 3rd game went first 8 and left a 2-8-10 on the ninth frame. then in the 5th game went first 7 and then 10 pin in the 8th frame. But wot belmo said may change all that.

If i concentrate a little and have fun also, i manage to overcome pressure... my tips are when u get onthe approach, wait 5 secs before your first step, u can concentrate on your target in that 5 secs before.



Later

 

[Dark Assailant]

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: i get nervous then my legs start to shake because every one is looking at you but then i realise it is just a game and i settle down and bowl the shot and hopefully it will strike and what happens i've got five junior bathurst titles, two open bathurst masters titles and i am ranked i think third or first because my friend je and me are neck and neck with your records for the year.
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[USABowlerPennsylvania]

Hey Shelbs

Hey Shelbs,
I dont know if this would help you but this is what my ex-coach (may he rest in peace ) told me. If your pullign the ball the ball is 90 percent of the time going behind your back, and you know it, so you over-compensate and pull your arm across in an attempt to not let the bal go in the gutter. So, in turn, what you do is this. Line yourself up, concentrate, but like Jes said, not too hard, and think of walking a straight line with a straight arm. If the mental part does not work, then their is the physical work: What you can do is move two boards left, curl yoru elbow to your hip, where yoru arm fits perfectly, holy your arm-elbow at 90 degrees, and push off a bit over your waist, but not too far. Then, bring your arm back as straight as you can. Straighten your arm out without any crease. Make sure you have someone correct you. This is terribly hard typign this on the internet and not being there to help . Then again, its logn distance help ey? lol. HOPE IT HELPS! Take care everyone.