Dealing with a Late Season Slump Is Like Coping with an Unexpected Summer Cold

BY TOM KOUROS : Reprinted Courtesy of Bowlers Journal International

MOTIVATED BY SUMMER LESSONS, new equipment and/or strong resolution, thousands start off the bowling season with much exuberance and hope. Sure enough, the first half of the season was promising, as our average climbed to new heights. But by the flagging days of March, we were hit upside the head by a harsh reality check.

That's when some of us discovered how unpredictable this challenging sport can be as we played more and seemingly enjoyed it less because of something called a late season slump.

Rest assured, many of us have experienced this. And once affected by this malady, a bowler can't help wondering if the preseason practice and commitment were worth the effort. The initial excitement and enthusiasm is gone. Instead of eagerly anticipating the bowling night, we now dread it.

Yet bowlers often make a grave mistake during one of these downturns. They overreact. They go from one coach to another, or from one written source to another. This makes things like the swing and release even more confusing, which leads to even more complication and discouragement. And when confusion sets in, they realize little enjoyment when playing the game.

The cure is not always rooted in a review of one's methodology.

That's why the first thing to do when in a slump is to ask yourself if you are still having fun. If the answer is negative, then that is where you want to begin your efforts to "break" the slump.

Simply put, if you are not having fun, then you are not playing the game. Bowling is great exercise, but not manual labor. It's a game, and like other great sports, it's an escape from the harsh realities of life. In other words, if the top professionals can't perfect it, then it's unreasonable for you to have that expectation.

Over the years, many pros have told me they played better once they accepted that precept.

Average bowlers often get too serious about the game, trying to turn it into an exact science. They have little understanding of the mental game. As the season progresses, they tend to keep adding tidbits of methodology until their minds are glutted with technique and alternatives. Early in the season, their mental faculties were clear and unencumbered. They were patient and steadfast, working on a few fundamental keys. As they began adding one thing after another, their mental game became overburdened, eventually resulting in the inability of their minds to function in a highly sequential manner.

Slumps are periods when your physical or mental skills operate at a much lower level than normal. Even the most consistent pros are not as consistent as many people believe. A slump, however, is a continuation of poor performance without any upturns. In other words, a slump is a phenomenon introduced to your game which is preventing you from realizing the upturns. Aside from the major reason described above, slumps occur because of a bad habit, too little practice, too much practice, or a personal problem in your life.

To prevent bad habits from occurring, or to correct a bad habit, avail yourself of a qualified coach. "Eyes on the bench" are critical to a consistent high level of performance. And listen to one coach, not several. Remember the adage, "Too many chefs spoil the meal." Another good idea is to have yourself videotaped when bowling up to your expectations. Then you have something to gauge when a slump occurs.

Obviously, the cure for too little or too much bowling is to adjust your practice time. As for any personal problems you might have, they can best be addressed through counseling, with a friend or professionally.

Above all else, never forget why you play this great game... the challenge, the social aspect, the exercise, or just to have fun. That's a pretty exciting parlay.

The Nuances of Leverage and How to Make It Work for You

BY TOM KOUROS : Reprinted Courtesy of Bowlers Journal International

ACCORDING TO AN OLD SAW, "In bowling, every league member is potentially your instructor, like it or not." To this day, fellow leaguemates still give advice, whether solicited or not. The sound bytes I most often hear are, "Get the ball out on the lane," and, "Don't rush the approach. Coordinate your feet with your swing for good timing."

For a beginner, getting the ball out on the lane was good advice. It helped prevent a tendency to hit the ball early, while contributing to ideal positioning of the shoulders at the foul line.

As for timing, I bowled several years under the assumption that this was primarily one's attempt to develop an ideal relationship between the swing and feet throughout the approach. That assumption is still a popular view in bowling, but as I learned in a physiological-anatomy class, that assumption is wrong. Technically, timing refers to an athlete's neuromuscular control as determined by the efficiency with which the muscles engage and disengage sequentially in a given activity.

For instance, if a 5-step bowler places the ball into the swing while taking the first step, the rest of the approach will be disoriented unless instinctive compensations are made. This is a mistake in method, not bad timing. Only when proper technique is demonstrated can timing accurately be assessed; and only then can the problem be unmistakingly attributed to bad timing.

What bowlers generally misconstrue as timing is the way the ball and feet are synchronized throughout the approach. Says Webster, synchronization is "to happen at the same time; to represent or arrange so as to indicate coincidence or coexistense." The basic synchronization process for a bowler employing conventional 4-step technique would find the ball following the foot when being placed into the swing; and as the weight of that first step transfers from heel to toe, the ball begins to move down into the backswing. However, many professional and top amateur bowlers have learned to modify this convention by altering the synchronization between the ball and the feet. This is done in two ways — to increase or decrease leverage in the swing.

Leverage is the transference of power. The root of the word, lever, describes a rigid structure which enables a small force at one point to be multiplied into a much larger force at another point by strategic operation of the device. In bowling, leverage describes the transfer of power from a bowler's body to the ball at the point of release. And like a lever, a bowler's muscles can be used to create maximum power, or to diminish a delivery's power. Specifically, bowling leverage measures applied hand pressure in the downswing through an interrelated footwork and swing pattern and the accelerating force(s) applied in the release.

Most top bowlers understand that delaying the ball placement can increase leverage. This often proves beneficial on heavily oiled lanes. On the other hand, placing the ball into the swing earlier usually reduces leverage substantially, which could prove beneficial when the lanes are hooking strongly. Note that altering your ball placement is not as popular as it used to be because of the many options modern bowling balls provide.

Whenever I worked with the best, I often looked for an error in methodology when I heard the complaint, "My timing is off." However, if the complaint was, "I lost my rhythm," I seriously considered it to be a timing problem. Rhythm is timing, a way of orchestrating each part of the body to move at the proper moment. And because of our unique physiology, one man's rhythm is another man's nemesis.

Finally, note that between seconds there are many micro-seconds, more than enough time to allow each bowler to play the game that best accommodates his body's timing without violating the fundamental form.