ASK BOB
By Bob Korth 11/01/13
Q. I seem to bowl great in league but whenever I try a tournament things never see to go well.
I have tried to stay positive and not lose my confidence but nothing seems to work. Help!
A. I can tell by what you wrote above that you have lost confidence before you get to the lanes.
I have a friend who calls this “STINKIN THINKIN”. You start with when I go to a tournament
nothing seems to go well. Bad start you already expect that nothing will go well. You try to stay
confident, meaning you are already not confident. You are putting your efforts into your scoring
over making quality shots. Next tournament forget about how you might finish and just make
the best shots you can each time. If you don’t strike make the spare. Take each frame as though
it is a full game. This way you can quit thinking ahead. You can’t bowl the tenth frame before
bowling the first frame. All the frames of a game are the most important. It is easier to get one
strike than it is to get ten strikes in a row. Thinking too far ahead is too much pressure for
anyone. If you take away that pressure your game and confidence will improve.
Q. I am just your average league bowler and my bowling balls are over a year old and have quit
hooking. My better average friends have told me that heating the ball can get the oil build up
out and the ball will hook again. I want to put it in the oven, what temperature is best to get this
done?
A. Please! Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT try to bake your ball in the oven. A few years ago I was in a
pro shop when one of our league bowlers came in and asked if I could fix his ball. He had tried
to bake it in the oven to get out the oil. The ball was all rippled and looked like an over ripe
orange. I had to inform him that the repair for this is a NEW ball. So he had to fork over $200
instead of the $25 to $35 to have his ball rejuvenated and resurfaced in our shop. There is a
ball rejuvenator, that uses heat in most shops and they do work. The heat is very low and the
ball spins around to keep the heat even. Then after most shops will resurface the ball and can
bring it back to almost new condition. So the moral of this story is save yourself some money
let your pro shop experts take care of your ball.
Q. Do you have any suggestions on the best way to practice?
A. The biggest thing you can do to increase your scores is to increase accuracy and make more
spares. With that in mind when you practice the first thing is don’t keep score. Work on your
spare shooting this will help you to get more spares and also helps with accuracy for the first
ball. Now here is my favorite tip for practice, this was a tip I got from a coach and friend of mine
Las Vegas. Save money on your practice by shooting at your spares first. Go for the 10 pin or
the 7 pin. Then go for your strike mark or the pocket next. This way you get 2 shots every frame.
In practice getting a strike means you get one less shot. Save those shots and save money.
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