Ten Ways to Improve Your Mental Game
Many of us understand you must improve your mental game, but how? Here are ten techniques that will help you improve your mental game. These tips are courtesy of one of the best bowling mental game experts, Dr. Dean Hinitz, who has published two great books on the mental game. Please visit his website and take a look at the books he has published!
Each of these techniques gives you one technique to improve your mental game. One or more of these techniques will “connect” with you – select these first, and practice them until they become a natural part of your mental game. As a note, these are largely my interpretations of these techniques.
So, here are Dr. Dean Hinitz’s 10 commandments of competition:
1) I can handle it
2) Internal permission
3) Make every spare shot
4) No “anyway” shots
5) Breathe
6) Dive under the waves
7) Know what you intend to do
8) Never lose your temper
9) Bowl in a straight line to your break point
10) Go with your intuition
I Can Handle It
First, when you plunk down your money and enter a tournament, that money is gone. If you can handle the worst possible outcome from any tournament, you are free to bowl your game. You have to be able to accept whatever happens, and it has to be ok. If you live in fear of a bad outcome, that’s exactly what you’re going to get.
Internal Permission
Second, you need to clear out the distractions and give yourself a key that you are ready to make this shot. This should be a part of your pre-shot routine.
Make every Spare Shot
Third, be yourself. While you may decide to play your “B” or even your “C” game, do it with your own signature. If you are the outgoing type, you won’t bowl very well if you try to morph into a quiet, stoic person. This comes into play a lot in spare shooting. Commit to your spare shots as the most important part of your game and just trust your swing on your spare shots. In fact, whynot just trust your swing on every shot?
No “Anyway” Shots
Fourth, if you ever walked back from a shot thinking “I wasn’t ready and I shot it anyway” this is your commandment. You must be mentally and physically ready to deliver each shot. How long this process takes on the approach is dependent upon each individual, but it’s longer than ½ second and less that 15 seconds. Your pre-shot routine should be brief, focused and the same every shot. Rushing shots and standing on the approach “forever” are both situations where you are not giving yourself the best chance for success. However, if you have a significant distraction or something “just doesn’t feel right”, step off the approach, reset, go through your pre-shot routine again and then make the shot.
Breathe
Fifth, in pressure situations we sometimes forget to breathe. When your breathing gets shallow you don’t deliver enough oxygen to your body to function well, nor do you expel carbon dioxide efficiently. The net result is that thoughts are not clear and the body is not efficient. Take a deep breath, and then take in a little more air. Exhale, and do this a couple of times. Your body will start to relax. When I have a key shot, at the end of my pre-shot routine I take a deep breath and start my swing at the end of the exhale.
Dive Under the Waves
So, what does it mean to dive under the waves? When you dive underwater, all the noise is gone and your surroundings become very quiet and serene. Similarly, when you bowl, it is best to clear your mind and keep your focus very clear and very simple. Any extra thoughts beyond that are a distraction and will not help you. What this means is that all of the drama we create causes us to use mental energy thinking about results. This does not keep our thoughts purely on execution.
Know What You Intend To Do
There is a twist to the “never lose your temper” commandment. Here’s how I like to think about it: “Never let a person, moment or situation affect your bowling.” If you let someone or something affect your performance, you are choosing to let this happen. You can just as easily choose not to let the situation affect you.
Never Lose Your Temper
You must understand that what happens after you release the ball is out of your control. This is not the easiest thing to do, requiring practice and discipline. When you lose your temper a shot of adrenaline goes through your body, changing your body chemistry. This change makes it difficult for you to repeat shots, as your body responds differently to the movement signals coming from your brain.
Sometimes a bit of anger is ok, like when you get complacent and miss an easy spare, or simply lose focus for a moment. I typically get a little angry when I miss that first spare in the block, but I try to use it to make sure I’m focused on every shot.
Anger that overcomes your mind becomes a distraction that consumes your mind and gets in the way of good shot making.
Bowl in a straight line to your break point
Bowling in a straight line to your break point is something key that takes many people a long time to learn. This is both a physical and a mental attribute to bowling your best. You must be able to visualize a straight line from your release point to your break point. When you release the ball, you must create extension and provide a direction to the ball down that path WITHOUT REGARD TO THE POCKET. You roll the ball from your hand to the break point, AWAY FROM THE POCKET, and the lane condition allows the ball to return to the pocket. When you are tentative, you will try to roll the ball down you target line AND BACK TO THE POCKET at the same time.
This will lead to shots which are often pulled inside the intended target line.
Always trust your target line and keep that line as straight as possible. Note that this does not mean that you are rolling the ball straight up the boards. For instance, if you release the ball at board 18 and your break point is at board 10, you will roll the ball in a straight line between these two points.
Sometimes we have the courage of our convictions, and sometimes we do not. If you have the courage of your convictions, you will make a decision on what to do next, and then make that shot with belief that your decision is correct. When you lack confidence in your decision, the distraction will make your shots tentative, which will not generally produce the best result. When you make a decision, commit yourself fully to that decision and make the best shot you can. Even if your decision wasn’t right, at least with the commitment to make a good shot, you will be able to see from the good shot that you need to make another adjustment.
Without that conviction, you will be confused between a tentative shot and the result it produces on the lanes. This makes it even more difficult to figure out the correct decision and make the right adjustment.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to improve your mental game. These techniques allow you to focus on the shot in front of you and eliminate distractions. That is the goal of the mental game. Use the 10 commandments to strengthen up your mental game. You won’t be disappointed.