Improving Your Bowling Outlook

Many of us have busy days before we show up for our weekly leagues. In that busy day before showing up to bowl, what did your day look like? Was it a fairly straightforward and carefree day? Or was it a rough one, with stress, traffic, or deadlines related to school or work?

Are you carrying those daily burdens to the lanes? If we allow it, our bowling performance can often be dictated by our outlook before we ever step foot in the bowling center.

What’s going on?

Think back to some of your greatest league or tournament days. Do you remember what you were thinking about that day? Do you remember any details from that day or night? I’m willing to bet that you don’t remember much, if anything.

I remember when I was 15 years old and I shot an 867 series in my Saturday morning youth league. I can tell you very little about that day, other than it was a sunny day outside and I remember what ball I was throwing. I have no recollection of what pair I was on, who I was bowling with, or what pattern I was bowling on. You might say, “Well, Josh, that was many years ago. Of course you don’t remember.” That’s true, but I remember plenty from when I was bowling my state tournament the same year and shot one of my lowest series in years. I can still tell you how many 10 pins I left, and where I was playing the lanes.

What makes us remember so little about our good days and so much about our bad ones? It all stems from our brain and how much activity is going on. You don’t have to be a psychologist to understand what a traffic jam looks like. As someone from Southern California, I am far too familiar with traffic and traffic jams. When you are in a traffic jam, you’re often frustrated and questioning why the freeway is backed ...