Technique


missed 10 pin is right on. His focus was in the wrong place. First, we need to


make the distinction between focus and concentration. Focus is having a point of attention, like taking your camera and zero- ing in. Concentration is maintaining that state for the time it takes to complete the shot. So, is bowling more


focus or concentra- tion? Concentration is important, but it is only helpful if you’re focusing on the right thing. If you focus on the crowd noise, your concentration may be perfect, but it’s on the wrong thing. In Mika’s case, I would speculate that he wasn’t present for his shot. His mind


was elsewhere for a split second. You only miss if you’re thinking about something else.


Focus There are areas of fo- cus. To make a tennis analogy, “court aware- ness” is a key area. What’s the surface? What are the crowd conditions? What’s the atmosphere? Once you’ve made


yourself aware of ev- erything that’s going on around you, you need to make sure you stay present through- out the match. It’s so easy too get lost in past frames or in fu- ture frames. That only takes you away from the stillness of the mo- ment that you are in. There is a part in all of us that wants to be


Once you’ve made yourself aware of everything that’s going on around you, you need to make sure you stay present.


LIFESTYLE AND BOWLING TECHNIQUES TO MAKE YOU A BETTER BOWLER


be, “I’m not going to begin until I sense a readiness and know I’m prepared.” Fear, or a focus on


the consequences, is a more common prob- lem. Worrying about the consequences is the wrong place to fo- cus. The truth is, your subconscious doesn’t care about the titles or money. Your point of focus needs to shift to the little kid en- thusiasm that simply embraces the opportu- nity to do something greatly. The cure for dis-


OUT OF FOCUS: Click on the Play button above to see how Mika Koivuniemi’s momentary lapse in focus cost him the PBA U.S. Open title.


praised and wants to avoid being punished or embarrassed. We carry the audience’s job inside of us, and when we don’t do well we don’t have to wait for the fans or family to say anything. We beat them to it by de-


livering our own nega- tive message … “You blew it.” We deliver our own cheers and boos and it keeps us from the appropriate focus that’s required to compete well. How does some-


one lose their focus? 11 USBOWLER APRIL 2011


By definition, loss of focus stems from one of three things: a lazy mental attitude, fear or distraction. A lazy mental ap-


proach, or “coasting,” is easily trainable. Part of your mental game warm-up has to


traction is the real- ization that you can’t make that distraction go away. You simply have to bring your focus back to the place you really want it to be. It’s like walking through a blizzard; you know you’re going to be fine as long as you concentrate on the sidewalk. When snow- flakes hit you in the


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