case, thinking is not a good thing. The trust and freeness aren’t there, and the hitter’s lack of confi dence leads to his mind over- riding what his body naturally knows what to do. And in sports as precise as baseball — and bowling — a split second of hesi- tancy or indecision is all it takes to foul off a pitch you might normally crush, or aff ect your timing and release on the lanes. When I’m battling a slump I don’t feel clear about what needs to happen. Con- versely, when I’m bowling well I don’t have to tell myself what to do. I don’t need to give myself any instruction. I simply ex- ecute. Micromanaging the shot isn’t the way to be successful. The more you have to think, the more you slow the process down. The slump in which particular shots or
situations trouble you is purely mental. It can be that you simply can’t strike in the 10th frame, even though you throw nu- merous strikes early in the game. Or that you can’t make a certain spare. I used to tell myself, “Don’t ever miss a
10-pin to lose.” Then it happened to me once in a team match and it stayed with me for 15 years. It got to the point where I would spend most of my practice session before a telecast shooting 10 pins. Clearly,
it was not a physical issue. But all of a sud- den I’m thinking about my push direction, and things to which I never gave a second thought during the other 62 games of the tournament. The anxiety builds from there. If I need
a spare to win and I’m already thinking about that 10 pin, do you think I’m going to throw a good strike ball? My mind starts wandering. I think, “If I make a good shot and don’t strike, I’m probably going to leave a 10 pin.” I guarantee by that point my physical game has been aff ected by my thought process. How do you break out of a slump? First, you have to identify where the
problem is physically. Is it your stance, pushaway, or maybe even footwork? Best practice is to have a second set of eyes watching your delivery. Self-diagnosis can often lead to compounded physical faults. Once the physical problem has been
identifi ed, you need to determine a solu- tion.
And once the problem is corrected, you
need to work to make that physical part of your game a habit again. That takes lots of practice and repetition. You need to regain that trust.
“MICROMANAGING THE SHOT ISN’T THE WAY TO BE SUCCESSFUL. THE MORE YOU HAVE TO THINK, THE MORE YOU SLOW THE PROCESS DOWN.”
Identity Crisis: The key to emerging from a slump is to identify the physical problem. Team USA coach Kim Terrell-Kearney points out some of the common culprits.
When you have regained that trust, things can return to normal. And now you will be free to focus on the game’s real problem-solving...lane play. Making the right ball selection, playing the right area of the lanes. Just simply staying in the pocket. The game becomes problem-solv- ing on the lane. It becomes a single equa- tion again. Reducing the game to a few single decision and allowing your physical game to fl ow naturally is the key. When you are able to stay focused on this, you will know you are out of that slump.
Regaining Trust: Once you’ve regained trust in your physical game, things will return to normal.
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