My three scores today were 106 (first game), 68 (second game), and 146!!! Due to the 68, my average of the three games for today is 106, compared to my average of 109 from last week, so my averages are pretty consistent.
I feel great about today overall, despite the one bad score of 68.
Due to last night, which was drama-filled due to some former friends, I woke up very stressed and tense and I didn't even want to get out of bed, but I knew that I should go to bowling so I went anyway. I was so tense, barely in the mood to talk, and stressed out when I got there, so the fact that I was able to bowl a 106 right off the bat showed me that even in stressful times, I was still able to focus and concentrate.
HOWEVER after my first game, I received a call from someone, and the phone call bothered me so much that I was on the verge of tears. I bowled a 68 my second game, which is not one of my better scores. I practically cracked under pressure, and the bowling coordinator Violet came over to talk to me, she asked me what was wrong and told me I wasn't doing well my second game, and she gave me a helpful hint. I told her someone was bothering me and really getting to me today. She said, "If someone is bothering you and causing you stress and you can't get it out of your mind and this is causing you to do badly, pretend that every pin is their face. Think to yourself, I want to hit every single face and not just one, I have to get a strike." And sure enough, in the midst of my anger and frustration, I was able to bowl with the most accuracy and precision that I ever have. The first five frames, I got a spare each time. I got two strikes later in the game, and I was able to focus on the exact pins I wanted to hit, and I ended with a score of 146. The score of 146 made me realize that I AM capable of getting that score or even better in the future.
If I could get a 146 today, I can get one again in the future, or even strive to do better. I also did better the third game than either of the more experienced kids that were bowling in the same lane, which gave me the incentive to keep pushing myself to concentrate more, continue working on my aim, my posture, and to not settle for less than my best. And obviously, 146 has been my best and I firmly believe I can do this well in the future.
I don't have bowling again until January 9th. I have PLENTY of time to go and practice some more, which I intend to do :) :) I'm proud of my improvements, given that the first week my wrist hurt due to the weight of the balls, and I could barely even direct the ball in a straight line.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Bowling scores back in the 100s consistently.
I'm proud to say that today in bowling my three scores were 103, 110, and 116 in order from my first game to last. I have been working on my aim and Friday night I once again went bowling with my friends so that I could get more practice. I think the practice has helped me quite a bit, especially because it gives me the time to try using different bowling balls and to just have fun without the scores counting. One thing I've learned is to use the same bowling ball consistently and to find one that fits your hand perfectly, and I found one ball that I am comfortable with. In the past I alternated between different balls, some of which were harder to hold than others or didn't fit my hand as well.
I'm becoming less nervous around the other people in my group too. This is good mostly because I think the few weeks in which I had done badly, I feel as if for one reason or another I was more self-conscious either because of the people in the lanes next to me or the people in the general vicinity, who may have been very experienced, attractive (in which case I would have been distracted, nervous, or tense), or critical. Now that I have developed an "I don't care what anyone else thinks at all and if they want to criticize, let them!" type of attitude, I don't care if bowling slowly and precisely makes me look inexperienced, it gets me good scores and I have very precise control over the ball and much better aim when I take my time. I'm not ready to begin bowling faster with a lot more force yet, although a few times today I was able to release the ball with a little more force, trying to make sure that in doing this, my aim is still good.
As hard as it is to believe, for the first time this week I noticed that all of the pins are not in a row, but some are closer to me and some are farther away, therefore it really is necessary to hit the middle pin in order to knock down the ones behind it. Each time, I try to aim for the middle pin and hope that there is a domino effect and the rest of the pins fall, giving me a strike.
All in all right now I feel very comfortable with myself and my skills, and I am going to continue to practice during the week (most likely Friday nights). I've been learning more and more about bowling and the basic things, and becoming more observant, so that I can deduce subtle ways that I can improve. I know that going up there and flinging the ball and trying to bowl as fast as I can has not worked for me so regardless of my nervousness if certain people are around (attractive people particularly), I am going to have to get over this nervousness and pretend that the people around me that cause it are not there, so that it doesn't get in the way of my bowling. My average for all of the games thus far (from the start of the program) is 87 and I am determined to get my average to at least 100 by spring, and nothing is going to stop me!
I'm becoming less nervous around the other people in my group too. This is good mostly because I think the few weeks in which I had done badly, I feel as if for one reason or another I was more self-conscious either because of the people in the lanes next to me or the people in the general vicinity, who may have been very experienced, attractive (in which case I would have been distracted, nervous, or tense), or critical. Now that I have developed an "I don't care what anyone else thinks at all and if they want to criticize, let them!" type of attitude, I don't care if bowling slowly and precisely makes me look inexperienced, it gets me good scores and I have very precise control over the ball and much better aim when I take my time. I'm not ready to begin bowling faster with a lot more force yet, although a few times today I was able to release the ball with a little more force, trying to make sure that in doing this, my aim is still good.
As hard as it is to believe, for the first time this week I noticed that all of the pins are not in a row, but some are closer to me and some are farther away, therefore it really is necessary to hit the middle pin in order to knock down the ones behind it. Each time, I try to aim for the middle pin and hope that there is a domino effect and the rest of the pins fall, giving me a strike.
All in all right now I feel very comfortable with myself and my skills, and I am going to continue to practice during the week (most likely Friday nights). I've been learning more and more about bowling and the basic things, and becoming more observant, so that I can deduce subtle ways that I can improve. I know that going up there and flinging the ball and trying to bowl as fast as I can has not worked for me so regardless of my nervousness if certain people are around (attractive people particularly), I am going to have to get over this nervousness and pretend that the people around me that cause it are not there, so that it doesn't get in the way of my bowling. My average for all of the games thus far (from the start of the program) is 87 and I am determined to get my average to at least 100 by spring, and nothing is going to stop me!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Update on Key Club contributions
I have continued to attend every Key Club meeting, and I have to say that I enjoy being a part of Key Club. Of all my CAS activities, I feel that it is the hardest one to maintain commitment to, but I have made sure that I have continued to do so, which is helping me to achieve learning outcome number 5 - to maintain commitment to the activity and do my part.
Often times, on Monday I want to go out to lunch, and sitting in a classroom for my lunch period is not what I want to be doing, but I have been putting aside what I'd RATHER do and instead, attend every meeting. Each week I look for opportunities to contribute to the group and to do my part, and last week I did this by selling tickets during Friday's lunch period to the semi-formal dance. Volunteers were sought out to take their turn selling the tickets and I wanted to make sure I contributed one way or another, and I did. I made copies of the flyer advertizing the dance and hung them up around the school in different places, hoping that people would see the flyer and buy a ticket. I also sat at the table, with a couple of other people, to collect money for the dance which would then be given to Hyanna so she could keep track of it. It's still been difficult for me to find time to participate in activities over the weekend due to my busy schedule with work and other CAS activities, but I plan on making the time in the future and as of now I am looking for opportunities to participate during the school week in any way that I can, because I want to make a difference.
The way that this activity is helping me is that it is teaching me that sometimes, how we want to spend our time is not how we should be spending it, that is instead of going out for lunch with my friends on Mondays or last Friday for instance, I give some of my time to benefit the group as a whole and do my part, so that the work and effort will be more evenly divided and so that I will have done my part. I am learning to put first what is most important and give up my time where need be, and it's teaching me to be less selfish and to be committed to activities and tasks that I commit myself to. A year ago I probably would have gone to every other meeting so that I wouldn't have had to give up my lunches and I probably would have sat in the back and let everyone else take responsibility for tasks that need to be done, but now I want to step up and say I will do this or that, and that I will take responsibility for my share of the work and that I will volunteer when volunteers are needed. I'm learning to be less selfish with my time and put others and good causes first, because I KNOW that Key Club is a good cause and that everything we do is benefitting other people, and that's what I want to do. I want to make a difference in other people's lives and by maintaining commitment to the activity, I am hoping that somewhere down the line I will have (and will continue to) make a difference.
Often times, on Monday I want to go out to lunch, and sitting in a classroom for my lunch period is not what I want to be doing, but I have been putting aside what I'd RATHER do and instead, attend every meeting. Each week I look for opportunities to contribute to the group and to do my part, and last week I did this by selling tickets during Friday's lunch period to the semi-formal dance. Volunteers were sought out to take their turn selling the tickets and I wanted to make sure I contributed one way or another, and I did. I made copies of the flyer advertizing the dance and hung them up around the school in different places, hoping that people would see the flyer and buy a ticket. I also sat at the table, with a couple of other people, to collect money for the dance which would then be given to Hyanna so she could keep track of it. It's still been difficult for me to find time to participate in activities over the weekend due to my busy schedule with work and other CAS activities, but I plan on making the time in the future and as of now I am looking for opportunities to participate during the school week in any way that I can, because I want to make a difference.
The way that this activity is helping me is that it is teaching me that sometimes, how we want to spend our time is not how we should be spending it, that is instead of going out for lunch with my friends on Mondays or last Friday for instance, I give some of my time to benefit the group as a whole and do my part, so that the work and effort will be more evenly divided and so that I will have done my part. I am learning to put first what is most important and give up my time where need be, and it's teaching me to be less selfish and to be committed to activities and tasks that I commit myself to. A year ago I probably would have gone to every other meeting so that I wouldn't have had to give up my lunches and I probably would have sat in the back and let everyone else take responsibility for tasks that need to be done, but now I want to step up and say I will do this or that, and that I will take responsibility for my share of the work and that I will volunteer when volunteers are needed. I'm learning to be less selfish with my time and put others and good causes first, because I KNOW that Key Club is a good cause and that everything we do is benefitting other people, and that's what I want to do. I want to make a difference in other people's lives and by maintaining commitment to the activity, I am hoping that somewhere down the line I will have (and will continue to) make a difference.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Bowling scores improving again. December 5, 2009.
There are a few things I have learned from these past two weeks of bowling, both of which I am reflecting on in this journal entry since I did not post one last week. Several weeks ago, my scores were always good and in the 100s, because I had learned the technique of releasing the ball with my arm kept straight, and I had been taking my time and not trying to bowl really fast like the other people there were able to do. Of course they are more experienced so their abilities as of now surpass mine, but since I had gotten a lot better and figured out what to do, I thought I'd have been able to bowl well even if I started to go faster and release the ball faster and with more force. This was not the case.
I finally identified the problem that had caused my scores to begin decreasing again, which last week were 86, 63, and 75, ALMOST as bad as my scores the very first week, when I had no idea what I was doing. Last week and somewhat the week before, I had gotten so confident in my abilities that I thought if I began bowling faster like everyone else, I would be fine and that this would yield good results. I can't see myself when I bowl and I today was frustrated with the first game, in which I got a 64, and I didn't honestly know what I'd been doing wrong. I called Violet, the instructor, over to watch me and tell me what she noticed me doing, and she told me that I had gone right back to my old method of flinging the ball down the lane as fast as I could, losing track of my arm motions. I was surprised because I didn't realize I was doing this again but it made sense, that tactic was unsuccessful when I began bowling so it explained the decrease in my scores.
So I tried to bowl slowly, like I learned to do before, monitoring my motions once again, and I got better scores of 106 and 96 in the next two games, respectively. The problem that caused the decrease in my scores should have been obvious to me but it was not, until it was once again pointed out to me. I learned from this that I am still not at the level of everyone else but that I have found my comfortable place, which is bowling slowly and (although looking much less experienced than those who can whip the ball down the lane and knock down at least 8 pins off the bat), actually succeeding. I hope that I eventually will be able to bowl with more force and speed but as of now, trying to do so is not going to make me successful so I am going to have to wait on that one. I'm realizing that the meaning of learning objective 1, which is to gain awareness of my areas of strength and areas for growth, also means that I should become fully comfortable with my abilities before I try to change my methods. If I can still improve while bowling slowly and carefully (which I can, I still need to work on my aim and concentration), I should do my best to gain THESE skills before I try to bowl faster and with more force.
I just have to try and concentrate on immediate improvement and not think, 'oh well I have already improved enough, time to completely change my methods and tactics and hope it works!" I should probably go bowling during the week twice, which I have been going mystic bowling on friday nights with my friends so that I have practice for the next day, but another day of practice would be good, that way I can try and bowl faster but I can try and do so while keeping my motions in check, that way I have some practice for the next day. I think though that I need to remember that I am less experienced than the others that bowl with me but that only means I have to take it slowly and work my way up to their level, which I am trying to do, and it doesn't mean I will always be worse, because it's not a matter of worse, it's a matter of that I need practice and the more I get, the better I will get and the more comfortable I will be in my abilities.
I finally identified the problem that had caused my scores to begin decreasing again, which last week were 86, 63, and 75, ALMOST as bad as my scores the very first week, when I had no idea what I was doing. Last week and somewhat the week before, I had gotten so confident in my abilities that I thought if I began bowling faster like everyone else, I would be fine and that this would yield good results. I can't see myself when I bowl and I today was frustrated with the first game, in which I got a 64, and I didn't honestly know what I'd been doing wrong. I called Violet, the instructor, over to watch me and tell me what she noticed me doing, and she told me that I had gone right back to my old method of flinging the ball down the lane as fast as I could, losing track of my arm motions. I was surprised because I didn't realize I was doing this again but it made sense, that tactic was unsuccessful when I began bowling so it explained the decrease in my scores.
So I tried to bowl slowly, like I learned to do before, monitoring my motions once again, and I got better scores of 106 and 96 in the next two games, respectively. The problem that caused the decrease in my scores should have been obvious to me but it was not, until it was once again pointed out to me. I learned from this that I am still not at the level of everyone else but that I have found my comfortable place, which is bowling slowly and (although looking much less experienced than those who can whip the ball down the lane and knock down at least 8 pins off the bat), actually succeeding. I hope that I eventually will be able to bowl with more force and speed but as of now, trying to do so is not going to make me successful so I am going to have to wait on that one. I'm realizing that the meaning of learning objective 1, which is to gain awareness of my areas of strength and areas for growth, also means that I should become fully comfortable with my abilities before I try to change my methods. If I can still improve while bowling slowly and carefully (which I can, I still need to work on my aim and concentration), I should do my best to gain THESE skills before I try to bowl faster and with more force.
I just have to try and concentrate on immediate improvement and not think, 'oh well I have already improved enough, time to completely change my methods and tactics and hope it works!" I should probably go bowling during the week twice, which I have been going mystic bowling on friday nights with my friends so that I have practice for the next day, but another day of practice would be good, that way I can try and bowl faster but I can try and do so while keeping my motions in check, that way I have some practice for the next day. I think though that I need to remember that I am less experienced than the others that bowl with me but that only means I have to take it slowly and work my way up to their level, which I am trying to do, and it doesn't mean I will always be worse, because it's not a matter of worse, it's a matter of that I need practice and the more I get, the better I will get and the more comfortable I will be in my abilities.
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