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.