Tournament Reflection...

bowlingball.com Staff Writer, Cortez Schenck

Published: 9/21/2022


There is always something to learn with bowling tournaments. The past two weekends, I bowled in the Cactus Classic, a $10,000 event in my home state of Arizona, and a PBA regional in Arizona the following weekend.

I went into the tournaments optimistically, hoping that I would bowl well. From the beginning, I felt like I was throwing the ball well but having a difficult time matching up to the lane. Both weekends I went into the events with a lot of pressure to perform. After a solid last few months of bowling in some large tournaments, I found myself bowling in my hometown and feeling like I had to continue the streak because the tournaments were now local events.

For instance, this weekend, my partner would throw a shot on a new pair of lanes we moved to that was good but would end up with an unexpected ball reaction. He would relay this information to me, and because of that, I could take advantage and make a small move going into my shot and end up with a more desirable result.

With people watching from the back and this unnecessary pressure I was adding to myself, I ended up with a poor performance at both events. I was not making the usual moves I would usually make and would not trust my gut on what I was seeing on the lanes. I was trying to bowl "safe" and & "conservative" even though my ball reaction was not good. I needed to make a big move at both events and do something outside the box. For some reason though, I had this mental block of not going for it. The adjustment needed was to get in front of the ball return early on in the event, and loft it.

I am writing this while kicking myself in the butt and wishing I could go back and make the adjustments needed early on in both events but instead will need to learn from these mistakes. I wanted to share these experiences with
you so that you could also learn from my mistakes. Trusting yourself is key to bowling well. You will know your game better than anyone else which makes it very important to make your adjustments when you feel it is needed. Just because nobody else is playing in that part of the lane doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't.

I can't stress enough to trust yourself when making adjustments to the lanes. The second lesson from my mistakes is to persevere through pressure. Whether it's pressure from being nervous or the feeling that you need to perform to prove yourself, don't let it get the best of you. The only thing you should focus on is throwing high quality shots and having fun. Reminders to focus on high quality shot making and having fun while competing are some of the easiest ways to alleviate the pressure you are possibly feeling.

These things may sound very basic and simple, but it's easy to forget them in the middle of competition.



-Cortez Schenck