Coach’s Corner Tip
Don’t Just Stand There!
There are three phases to bowling. First, you must be able to physically make consistent shots. Second, you must be mentally strong and consistent in your approach to the game. This month I’d like to talk about the third element – tactical lane play.
How many players have you watched continue to throw shot after shot, leaving single back row pins on numerous occasions, and not bowl to their scoring potential? Meanwhile, someone just a couple of lanes away seems to carry everything in sight? Is this just one bowler’s misfortune and another bowler’s luck?
Well, the answer is yes and no.
While it is possible that the “lucky” bowler is just that – lucky – it is more likely that they understand how the lanes and their ball are “matching up” to give them the best possible reaction, at least by instinct and repetition. The problem is that they might not know why or how they are so well matched up to the lane condition, and that’s the sad part. Even though this bowler may not really understand what’s going on, they instinctively know their game, how much of the friction or the oil to play, and the adjustments for them on that day make sense to them and are easy to execute.
Meanwhile, the other bowler just can not seem to do anything right. Any adjustment is a bad one, and the pins just don’t cooperate. This bowler makes an adjustment, and the ball hooks more! Or, the bowler makes an adjustment, and just leaves a different pin in the back row. This type of ball reaction is enough to
make you pull your hair out.
What is really happening here is that each bowler’s rev rate, axis rotation and tilt, speed, direction and choice of ball and play zone on the lane combine to create a ball reaction. If you change a couple of these variables, you can get a completely different result. Let’s take our two bowlers, for example. The “lucky” bowler has a lower rev rate and spins the ball a little more. The “unlucky” bowler has a higher rev rate, stays behind the ball better, and generally has stronger roll. So, you say, the better bowler is losing to a lesser player who doesn’t execute as well!
Not so fast – remember that I said that bowling is comprised of three phases. It is not enough to be good physically and mentally. This is not the whole picture. If a golfer can drive the ball 350 yards, has a good short game and putts well, but is terrible at course management, that golfer will never be playing for the big money on Sunday afternoons. Similarly in our sport, the player who does not make good lane management decisions is destined not to have as much success, even with a gifted physical game and a decent mental game.
In our example above, the higher rev player can either emulate the lower rev players game by changing release and tilt (take your hand out of the ball and twirl it a little), or use the lower rev players break point, but just get there from a different angle. Also, ball selection must match up to the lane condition in front of you. Some lane conditions just call for something weaker or something that creates a different shape on the lanes. Any bowler who sees someone else having success on the lanes should look to see the how that players ball is rolling FROM THE BREAK POINT TO THE PINS. How does the ball come off the break point? How does the ball enter the pin deck – at a sharp angle or a shallow angle? The struggling bowler needs to take this information, process it, and devise a game plan that will help them get the same reaction AT THE BACK OF THE LANE. The front of the lane doesn’t matter as much, as long as you can get to the right break point, and then get the ball to roll to the pocket correctly.
The next time you are the struggling bowler, look to those people having success, and make some tactical adjustments to your lane play. These decisions should not be guesses as much as they combine your knowledge of your physical game, your ability to make certain adjustments, and your ability to combine these elements with your equipment to achieve a successful outcome.