Coach’s Corner Tip
Slow Bowling, Lane Courtesy & Your Game
When does the pace of your bowling affect your play? If you’re really slow, but bowling well, is it a problem? What about 1-lane versus 2-lane versus PBA lane courtesy – does it make a difference to how well you bowl? I’d like to talk about when this does or does not matter.
First, let’s talk about lane courtesy. When you first begin to bowl, you learned to wait for the bowler to the left of you and to the right of you. However, this also means that you wait until it is your “turn” to get up on the approach. Sometimes, I see bowlers just pick up the ball and go if there is no one on the lane to their left or right, even if someone is waiting to bowl on their immediate left or right. So, does this hurt or help the bowlers who are waiting to bowl? What about the person who jumps up there right away?
Well, this hurts both bowlers. The bowlers who are waiting expect to bowl in a certain rhythm, and when it is disrupted by another bowler, this is a distraction. Any distractions in bowling will detract from your ability to focus on your next shot. Some people are affected by this, and some are not. Part of being mentally tough
has to do with blocking out these types of distractions, even if you should not have to do so.
The bowler who jumps up on the approach quickly, however, has not developed any pre-shot routine that will help him/her become a better bowler. If this bowler learns to wait, stay in the flow of the lane courtesy of the league or tournament, repeat at least three actions every time they bowl (use a rosin bag, look down at
foot placement, wipe the ball off, etc.) they will have better focus on each shot.
Two lane courtesy seems to help many bowlers focus, as there is not a bowler as close to them when they make a shot, and peripheral vision distractions are reduced. However, I have seen bowlers in two-lane courtesy situations directing traffic, waving 2, 3, or 4 bowlers up before they take a shot. The longer you are
standing there with the ball in your hand, the more time you have to think about things that will distract you.
But wait, didn’t I just say that grabbing the ball and jumping up there is bad, also? Well, yes, it is – so you don’t want to do that, nor do you want to get the ball in your hand and feel it necessary to wait for “clearance” before you make a shot. If you need this much clearance (and I have seen bowlers wait for 3-4 lanes), then your focus is at issue.
For many, PBA lane courtesy is the best, because you develop a great rhythm, as bowlers on alternate pairs are bowling at any one time. In PBA lane courtesy, if you are on lane 4, you wait for a bowler on lanes 1&2 to take a shot, as well as a bowler on lanes 5&6 to take a shot. You take your shot. If you have pins standing, you wait again for a bowler on the other two pairs, then the other bowler on your pair, then the bowlers on the two adjacent pairs again, before you pick up your spare. This is a slower pace, but you always know when it is your turn to bowl, and it is no longer a distraction. By the way, this lane courtesy is always 2 lanes on one side and 3 on the other, depending upon which lane you are on – it is never 3 lanes on both sides.
On the contrary, the USBC Open tournament is a one-lane courtesy tournament, and this works well also, because you get into a fixed rhythm and know what to expect. As most of the bowlers are higher-average bowlers, this usually works, but sometimes a bowler or two does not fall into a smooth rhythm, which most
people can still deal with.
The problem comes when there is no consistency in lane courtesy, as does happen in some leagues and tournaments. Some people are taking 1 lane, some 2 lanes, some PBA courtesy (which is really bad when only a couple of people are doing this) – then bowlers do not know what to expect, and many people are distracted and not able to give their full attention to bowling their best. Add to this slow bowlers – those who end up making their pair the last to finish and the adjacent pairs the next-to-last to finish, and you have a problem that may reduce the scoring and the enjoyment of several people on 6 lanes! So, here’s my advice to all of you.
If you’re the slow bowler (and you know who you are), you are only decreasing your success by giving yourself too much time to think about the bad things that could happen out there. Although you may think that you are helping yourself bowl better, this is ultimately not the case. You need to learn to take your preshot routine and bowl in a shorter amount of time.
If you are the “run and gun” bowler who grabs the ball and jumps up on the approach, you are hurting yourself by starting your swing before you are focused and ready to make a quality shot. Develop a pre-shot routine that you repeat on every shot, so that you can make your best shot every time.
If you are one of those around either of these two types of bowlers, you need to be mentally tough enough to let it go and focus on your game, no matter what the pace of bowling is around you. Develop a rhythm within whatever is going on around you, and play your great game!