I went bowling today. I am bad at it. There are thousands of wonderful tips on how to become good at bowling. Some of them work, but none of them for long.
"Just keep your eyes on the pins," was one. It worked for a while. But then I started to notice that I wasn't taking the right number of steps-- was it five steps? Four? I asked someone who actually bowled and they demonstrated for me. I took the prescribed number of steps, but I didn't feel like I was close enough to the line. Damn. I went back and tried again-- one, two, three, four. Damn. Gave up on that and went back to kind of strolling casually up to the line and then giving it a push. Straight into the gutter.
"You see, you didn't keep your eyes on the pins."
I tried keeping my eyes on the pins again. Got one of them.
My friend the experienced bowler noticed that I'd given up on his four step approach idea and reproached me.
"You're stepping with the same foot when you swing," he said, "step with the opposite foot."
Alright, alright-- I went back to the four steps, and stepped on the left while rolling the ball. Into the gutter again-- but the opposite gutter. Then I realized that I wasn't keeping my eyes on the pins anymore. So I kept my eyes on the pins and made sure to take four steps and end up on the left foot, and lo and behold, I hit the back of my leg with the bowling ball, stepped too far, slipped on the wax, and fell flat on my back. Scored five, though.
Then my dad chimed in, "You're not getting enough pendulum motion-- don't let go of the ball so soon."
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Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
The key to bowling is to not think at ALL when you're doing it. You need to enter a fugue like state of automated action. Kind of like driving.
Dave
2 - Tan The Man
Very true, but that's the same for every sport. Build that muscle memory dude!
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
I picture Christian Cosmic Bowling as the ball return descending from the heavens. I can see a lot of head injuries resulting from it, but it's OK because it's God's will.
4 - Sam Jack
Funny thing, I didn't realize it was 'Christian Cosmic Bowling' until about a hour in, when I happened to pick up the word 'Jesus.' I was annoyed.
5 - Temple Stark
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Cheers. Temple
6 - Temple Stark
"I tried keeping my eyes on the pins again. Got one of them."
Classic line. Awesome.
The first time I ever ever bowled, I got something like 175.
I really haven't played much, but rarely gutter the ball. It's fun but it kills my thumbs.