Loaded 16/08/10

Edited 29/08/10

The majority of World-class athletes understand the importance of mental training for competition. Many great atheletes such as Tiger Woods (golf), Chris Barnes (bowling), and Chris Paul (basketball) credit the mental side of the game with determining the outcome of competition.

What they mean when they credit mental preparation with competitive success is that once athletes have developed their physical skills to a high level, and when they are competing with others at that level, the winner is more likely to be the person who is best prepared psychologically.

To become a successful bowler you must first learn the basics of the physical game such as the stance, ball placement, timing, armswing, releases, and finish position. You must also know the strategies of lane play and how to match up to different surfaces and oil patterns by using different launch angles, ball speeds, releases, and bowling equipment.

To be able to strike at will on one lane during a practice session is one thing; to do it in a televised championship format in front of an emotiional charged crowd is another. Learning these skills are of little use unless you can use them precisely when you need them in competitive situations.

The problems which most perplex World-Class bowlers are not those dealing with the proper way to deliver a bowling ball. There are books and professionals (both players and coaches) giving this information in mass quanities.

Accomplisments thought impossible such as bowling a 900 series is now done on a regular basis.  Although the major obstacle to these developments is disbelief, throughout the world, pioneering bowlers, coaches and sport psychologists are advancing on the psychological frontier of bowling while the disbelievers continue to spend 100 per cent of their time training physically when, by their own admission, mental factors are significant in determining the outcome of competition.