PBA Xtra 1
USE MUSIC This is one of the more unortho- dox suggestions Barnes shares, but he discusses it as seriously as
he discusses RGs or how to play the gutter. “If it’s a longer block, it’s not going to be so high-energy or so intense. It may be something I just like to listen to, so I get something in the middle ground. You know, a Nickelback kind of thing. So I can have it running in my head for a few hours, and it doesn’t drive me crazy. The last thing you want is ‘the wheels on the bus go round and round’ for three hours. That’s a tough one to shake. “But if it’s a shorter format like a TV
show, it may be something much more intense, something that gets you more focused and in the moment, so that you don’t go from a low adrenaline to such a high spike in adrenaline that it changes everything rhythm-wise. I try and get there beforehand. If I am going to have to throw it slow, then it’s going to be something a little calmer, a little smoother. Something from the ‘80s and ‘90s more so than pres- ent-day stuff. “There’s certain music you associate
with great feelings or great victories. Music that brings up those kinds of memories and puts you in that kind of place — that’s perfect. Figuring out what that is for you is part of the deal.”
Mr. Versatility: Barnes tries to take emo- tion out of the equation and instead seeks solutions to problems on the lane. “That’s why you work on versatility,” he says.
2 3 HAVE A
COMPLETE GAME One of the foremost cautions Barnes offers league
bowlers is to guard against becoming one dimensional or leaning on a comfort zone. “It’s a combination of lane-play
strategy, physical game and equipment — getting your physical game strong enough so that you can have some tools such as axis rotation and speeds,” Barnes advises. “Then you add some equipment to go with it, and a lane strategy that falls in line with those other two goals, so that you can conquer [the conditions], whether it’s a long pattern or a short pattern.” The key, Barnes says, is always to be mindful of how your lane-play strategy can “help make the patterns easier rather than harder.”
EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE The average league bowler back home may tend to apply
conventional wisdom that turns out to be a bit less than wise. Here, Barnes provides an example of a scenario in which what you think you know actually may be holding you back. “We’ve been taught forever that you
start with your benchmark ball and you start somewhere between second and third arrow. Well, the problem is, when you bowl on shorter patterns, all the shape is right of about 7. So when you
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CHRIS BARNES
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