Tip 2

Pressure shots

How do you throw a quality shot when the pressure is really on? You have to strike on the next ball to win a tourney or shoot a 300 game  What you do under pressure has to be learned in practice. After all how often do these shots come up? First, you take a look at your individual game.   I am willing to bet that you can find 2 things that are "KEY" to you making a great shot.. Two things, that if executed well, makes the shot as a whole a quality one. We will call these two things your "2 KEYS".

Your first key needs to come at or near  the start of the approach. That key for you may be something like "OK short first step" or "OK strong push away" or "OK let it drop free"...

The second of your keys need to come at or near the end of your approach. That for you may be "OK get out early" or "OK extend" or "OK stay down low"...

Your keys often are your problem areas. The things you get lazy about doing some times and they creep into your game; causing you to make bad shots. After you have found your two keys use them in practice for every ball you throw. When we are really bowling well we don't have to think at all. Just go up and do it. Everything just flows. Even when that is the case you still need to focus on your keys every 2nd or 3rd shot.

Here is the reason:  If you are bowling league and you have the first 11 strikes in a row you can start to wonder as you get set for your last ball how in the world did you throw the first 11?

This is why you must do your "Keys" even if you are striking at will.  Sometimes, we can throw a ton of strikes even when we are not on our best game.  If you don't do your keys then you can wonder if you were doing them all along. Assuming you were using your two keys during the game , this is what you do when the pressure is on. You get set on the approach and the only thing you think about is your first "key".  Let's say that is " OK, good push away".   So at the start of your approach you say to yourself ( out loud is OK ) " OK, good push away" and you do it.  After you have done your first key and you have executed it well,  you switch your mind to think only about your 2nd key. Let's say that is a deep knee bend. You are half way through your approach and now you say "Deep Knee Bend". That is all you think about and you do it. You will do it well and at the right time because that is all you have  been thinking about for the past few seconds. You do your deep knee bend and you got it. A great shot when it counts the most. One reason this works well on high pressure shots is because you keep your mind busy. You don't have time to have negative thoughts or worry about tossing a bad shot. Your mind is simply too busy thinking of your keys and doing them well.

I hope this helps someone win the BIG ONE !