Do Not Stress Over Your Competition

Stan Popovich

Many athletes sometimes get anxious when they play against a tough opponent. They get nervous on who they are competing with and they get so worked up that they lose focus on playing their sport. In the end, they make mistakes and end up beating themselves up if they do not win. As a result, here is a list of techniques that an athlete can use to help manage the stress of playing against the competition.

The first step is to learn as much as you can on your opponent. Although this may seem obvious, some athletes may think they already know what they need to know. Remember there is always something to learn about your competition. Read the reports about your opponent and watch him or her performance. Try to figure out an angle on how you can beat your competition. The more you know about your competition the better your chances are you will win. This will also help to reduce your worries in the future.

Do not assume anything about your competition whether they are stronger or weaker than you. Every athlete has his good and bad times and just because you may be facing a stronger opponent does not mean that you will lose. Remember that you and your opponent both have an equal chance of winning. You are both starting from scratch. This should help you to give you confidence going into your next event.

Focus on how you can best strive for perfection in your own event instead of worrying about your opponent. For instance, you are going against the number one athlete in the tournament and you are nervous. Instead of focusing on how good your competition is, focus on your performance. Concentrate on how you can perform your event and how you can best improve on your problem areas.

Realize that you can't win all of the time and that also includes your competition. You may be the best athlete in the world, however you will still sometimes lose. No one can win all of the time. When facing a tough competitor, use this fact to your advantage. Even the best athletes will make some mistakes.

It is not uncommon to get nervous when you go against a better opponent. All you can do is to focus on your skill sets and do the best you can. This will help you in the long run.

BIOGRAPHY

Stan Popovich is the author of "A Layman's Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods" - an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com

MANAGING YOUR ANXIETIES IN YOUR BOWLING

Stanley Popovich

At times, our worries and anxieties can overwhelm us. In addition, our worries can distort our perception of what is reality and what is not. As a result, this may interfere with your bowling. Here is a brief list of techniques that a bowler can use to help gain a better perspective on things during their anxious moments.

Sometimes we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get their mind off of the problem. A person could read the newspaper, listen to some music or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things. This is a great technique to use right before your next game.

Remember that our fearful thoughts are exaggerated and can make the problem worse. A good way to manage your worry is to challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make you fearful or anxious, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense.

Remember that all the worrying in the world will not change anything. Most of what we worry about never comes true. Instead of worrying about something that probably won’t happen, concentrate on what you are able to do.

Another technique that is very helpful is to have a small notebook of positive statements that you can carry around with you. Whenever you come across an affirmation that makes you feel good, write it down in a small notebook that you can carry around with you. Whenever you feel stressed before your event, open up your small notebook and read those statements. This will help to manage your negative thinking.

In every anxiety-related situation you experience, begin to learn what works, what doesn’t work, and what you need to improve on in managing your fears and anxieties. For instance, you have a lot of anxiety before your event and you decide to take a walk to help you feel better. The next time you feel anxious you can remind yourself that you got through it the last time by taking a walk. This will give you the confidence to manage your anxiety the next time around.

Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your fears and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem. By talking to a professional, a person will be helping themselves in the long run because they will become better able to deal with their problems in the future. Remember that it never hurts to ask for help.

It is not easy to deal with all of our fears and worries. When your fears and anxieties have the best of you, try to calm down and then get the facts of the situation. The key is to take it slow. All you can do is to do your best each day, hope for the best, and when something does happen, take it in stride. Take it one step at a time and things will work out.

BIOGRAPHY:

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com/

The unusual bowling in college story

Did you watch the Tennessee Volunteers upset #3 Pittsburgh in college basket ball on Saturday, December 11? It pains me as an alum of the Memphis Tigers to see Tennessee do well in basketball. One player on Tennessee's roster was not eligible for this game. He is forward Jeronne Maymon. Maymon transferred to Tennessee from Marquette. Maymon is ready to join the team after sitting out his NCAA mandated year due to transfer. However, he was not cleared to play because he was still waiting on one class to post his grade. That class was bowling.

Maymon took and says he passed five classes in the fall semester; the final grade he's waiting to get posted and make his eligibility official is a bowling class that ended in October.

Please, no jock jokes on types of classes. I took bowling as a PE class at Memphis State in 1983. Yes, it was an easy A. I knew how to keep score. I knew the history of the American Bowling Congress. I was already a 185-190 average bowler, so averaging a 130 in class for an A was a piece of cake. Besides trying to boost my GPA with an already loaded engineering curriculum, I now had practice time. The Tennessee state tournament was going to be held in Memphis that year. One of the houses hosting the tournament was also the house hosting the bowling PE class. I had a whole semester of practice at the tournament host site for no charge. Well, there was a charge. It was buried in my tuition.

That kind of rationalization can still work today. I see businesses doing corporate outings for team building exercises. Maybe I can organize a team building event at the local bowling center hosting the city tournament this year.

They moved the fences in.

Jason Thomas had an excellent article on pba.com concerning the changes he has noticed in softball as the seasons roll on over time. As it was on a bowling web site, reading the story had me thinking of the current softball season as an allegory to the current state of bowling leagues. I'm pretty sure that was the author's intention.

It was not a great game to play or to watch being played, one team getting mauled and the other circling the bases regularly with no real effort. How fun was it on the other side? No strategy, no base running, only which guy can jack the ball over the fence the farthest seemed to matter. Is that really why we play the game now?

I've been 'retired' from softball for ten years now. We were all growing older and our kids were now starting their activities. Softball became a lower priority. However, I remember the waning days of my softball career. Our team was composed of primarily engineers by trade. We were a bunch of desk jockeys or meeting attendees. The teams we played were sponsored by air conditioning companies or plumbing companies. These guys did manual labor. Their forearms were bigger than my thighs.

I have played for Coach on Monday nights for 31 years now, from wood bats to aluminum bats to carbon bats to exotic composite material bats.

Yep, these huge guys were swinging the newest technology also. The newest softball bats now cost as much as your high-end reactive resin bowling ball. An extra $250 in my pocket is going for a new bowling ball, not a new bat. With livelier softballs, I started to fear for my life when I had to pitch. Bowling gave me some slow pitch softball skills as I could put some serious arc on a pitch. The pitch may be called illegal for how high it went, but I could drop it in for a strike. No one else wanted to pitch as a flat pitch was going to be hit solidly....HARD...turning it into a lethal projectile.

If we went back to wood bats and didn’t do anything to the ball, the game would be much more fun to watch and much more fun to play. Singles and doubles would matter again, off center swats would be ground balls or pop flies instead of gappers or home runs. Good pitching, timely hitting and tight defense would settle ball games, not a tape measure.

Aren't we really discussing tougher lane conditions, spare shooting, timely adjustments, and a solid mental game? If we go the extreme, this could be a discussion on more rigid equipment specifications. Since I have already written on that subject, I won't rehash it here.

The question you have to ask yourself is do you want to be competitive in every bowling center, or just string strikes with no real measure of your true ability? If the latter, the proprietors have a bat, ball, and short fences for your enjoyment.

Lamentations of a League Secretary/Treasurer

As the fall/winter leagues end, my job as a league secretary/treasurer has ended for the season. I was the secretary/treasurer of the Huntsville All Star League. I had done this previously many years ago. The bowling center did this job in the previous years, with no charge to the league. However, difficulties arose over the years as many people trying to keep the records and books for one league led to many errors. They wanted a league member to resume these duties.

During the league meeting, I was nominated for the position. Knowing there was a demand with no other person wanting the job, I accepted provided the fee of $1/person/week was accepted. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Economics 101. Low supply with high demand leads to high prices. Maybe I should have asked for more. Why? Computers and league secretary software do all the work. Why can you command such a salary?

By my calculations, I think holding this particular office cost me 5-8 pins in average. Pin Palace was the lowest scoring house in the Huntsville USBC last season. Only 4 people averaged over 220 in the whole bowling center last season. Walking to the line and having 8 boards of area would allow me to think about where that extra $25 went. A huge contrast compared to the other centers in the association. Concentration was required on my game instead of counting funds and ensuring accurate league fund record keeping.

Let me be clear. I would be league secretary for no expense. The league is paying for my duties as league treasurer. This is the job for which I can be suspended by the USBC for any irregularities. League secretary software is easy to manipulate averages, games, wins, etc. I require all this data anyway to update the Huntsville All Star League website. I had the bowling center provide me with the league files in the previous years to maintain the website. The treasurer side of the software is adequate once you have collected the funds. This is the 'pain in the a**' part of bowling nights. Some bowlers seem to think that they can bowl without paying. What other industry provides a service for a promise to pay at a later date? I ask, beg, command for late league fees. Some teams even forget to deliver the pay envelope to me. I would like to bowl also. I don't want to spend the evening counting funds, and ensuring accurate records of each team's pay envelope.

Here is a personal pet peeve about team fees. I only care about the team t0tal payment, not each individual's weekly payment. I talk to the team captain about whether the team is ahead or behind in payment. I would think it is his responsibility to interpret this information for use to divide among the team members. I get a question from one bowler concerning their payment history and I have to interpret their pay envelope when it is hardly entered neat and legible. I try to anticipate this at the beginning of the year by interpreting each team's record keeping system. This is done so I can prove whether a bowler is $20 or $50 behind in league payments.

The other part of being a league secretary that makes me very nervous is the end of year payouts. Yes, I am taking the entire leagues' prize fund as one check and cashing it. I walk out of the bank with over $20,000. I am on edge until the prize fund is paid out.

It is stressful. The All Star League is competitive and I would very much want to be in the midst of the competition. Like the other members, I want to bowl. I don't want to count money, find the miscalculation, and pay the bowling center. I want to bowl well. If the league members get into a nice rhythm of accurate record keeping, and timely delivery of the pay envelope, I could reduce my fee for the less stress and work. However, I charge for my time and frustration. I'm thinking about raising my rates next year.

Any one else have a league secretary/treasurer story?

Do Not Let Fear Affect Your Game of Bowling

by Stan Popovich

Sometimes, fear and anxiety can get the best of us in bowling. The key is to know how to manage that fear and anxiety. As a result, here is a brief list of techniques that a bowler can use to help manage their fears and every day anxieties.

Occasionally, you may become stressed when you have to bowl in an important event. When this happens, visualize yourself doing the task in your mind. For instance, you have to bowl in the championship game in front of a large group of people in the next few days. Before the big day comes, imagine yourself bowling. Self-Visualization is a great way to reduce the fear and stress of a coming situation.

Sometimes we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get their mind off of the problem. A person could read the newspaper, listen to some music or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things.

Another technique that is very helpful is to have a small notebook of positive statements that you can carry around with you. Whenever you come across an affirmation that makes you feel good, write it down in a small notebook that you can carry around with you. Whenever you feel stressed, open up your small notebook and read those statements. This will help to manage your negative thinking.

In every anxiety-related situation you experience, begin to learn what works, what doesn’t work, and what you need to improve on in managing your fears and anxieties. For instance, you have a lot of anxiety and you decide to take a small walk before your bowling event to help you feel better. The next time you feel anxious you can remind yourself that you got through it the last time by taking a walk. This will give you the confidence to manage your anxiety the next time around.

Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your fears and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem. By talking to a professional, a person will be helping themselves in the long run because they will become better able to deal with their problems in the future. Remember that it never hurts to ask for help.

Remember that patience, persistence, and education will go a long way in preventing fear from becoming a factor in the sport of bowling.

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com/

Are you hall of fame material?

Scanning the associations' halls of fame, I notice that some include most anyone, while some have few bowlers. This is not necessarily due to the number of bowlers in that area of the state either.

I was on an association hall of fame committee for three years. During our committee meetings, I was shocked that we did not have discussions and debates on nominated bowlers' resumes. Merits of accomplishments were not discussed. Personalities of the nominees seemed to carry the most weight. Secret ballots were held almost ten minutes into the committee meeting. I openly discussed my criteria so as to start the debate. I did not feel that a friend filling out the application form automatically qualified someone for the association hall of fame.

Scoring is relative. High averages and lots of honor scores do not necessitate an automatic bid to the hall of fame. In what era did the bowler compete? That determines the worth of his average. Here is my criteria:
1970's: 200
1980's : 210
1990's: 220
2000's: 230

There has already been a 240 average bowled in the state of Alabama. The 2010's may up the average requirement to that level. Handicap tournaments realize this increase also. If you are my age, you may remember tournament handicaps being based on the difference in your average and 200. Now, many handicap tournaments are using base averages of 220, 230, or more.

This should apply to honor scores also. A 300 game in 1985 is probably worth 10 such scores today. We can probably calculate this worth by total number of honor scores divided by total number of games bowled in an association. I'm betting the ratio in 1980 is much lower than the ratio will be for 2010. The state hall of fame application has a point system to determine minimum criteria for nomination. It lists points qualified for 700 series. Unless you are over 45 years old and have been bowling for 30 years, this element should be eliminated. In my system, bowlers qualifying in this millennium would already have averages over a 700 series every night.

However, in spite of all I have mentioned earlier, you still need more than a high average and some honor scores from your Friday night mixed league. Have you duplicated this success in other bowling centers? Have you won any scratch tournaments? Tournaments won outside of your home area should carry more merit also. State, regional, and national success will bring no debate on your credentials from your peers.

The Huntsville Bowling Hall of Fame has a lot of members. Not shown, but obvious to many witnesses of Huntsville bowling history, there is a top tier of five bowlers in this hall: Jimmy Certain, Tony Churchey, Richard Smock, and Ron Ware. The fifth bowler to be included on this level is open to debate. Their success has spanned decades, including high averages, honor scores, and tournament victories. Two of these bowlers, Certain and Smock, have PBA titles.

Hall of Fame credentials should stand the test of time. High scores and tournament success over many years will get you in the local hall of fame.

Another subject for another time is the nomination and voting process. Should local board members, who rotate out every 3-5 years, vote on new members? Should the current hall members vote on their newest inductees, like the Heisman Trophy award or Alabama State Hall of Fame?

Bill Simmons and the PBA: Successful Experiment?

Last Sunday's Dick Weber Open featured a third man in the booth. It was ESPN's The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons. Now, I have to admit that I enjoy reading Bill's columns and his interweaving of pop culture into his sports analysis is witty. I feel as if I am part of the inside joke with many of his television or movie references. I'm sure you do too. Most all males currently in their mid-40's can recite many lines from Caddyshack or Ghostbusters. Simmons' in-depth analysis of the movie Hoosiers is like something that I have never read. However, is he good for televised bowling? Does the PBA throw any random person into the announcers' booth as a bridge between the hardcore and casual fanbase? Should the PBA stick to only the 'experts' in the bowling industry?

As part of his ESPN duties, Bill also does podcasts, or taped Internet shows. The day before the telecast, he and Rob Stone discussed bowling and soccer. Entertaining interview, but one point made me wince. He asked Stone about the pronunciation of 'Weber.' He asked Rob if he should do some research or do 'fish out of water.' He, obviously, was the latter. Various comments across the Internet seem to dislike his performance.

Is this a one-time shot with the PBA? Will they also have other guest announcers? The WWE has guest host on RAW every Monday night on the USA network. Should the PBA also have William Shatner in the booth with Stone and Pederson?

This was good and bad. I think if Bill had done more preparation for the show, it would have worked better. Most everyone should know about Dick Weber. He should represent the casual fan that the PBA needs to expand its ratings. Also, to appease the hardcore fans, the announcer cannot appear to mock the sport. Rob Stone mentions this in his beginnings as a PBA announcer on the podcast with Bill Simmons.

The hardcore fans want another expert as the third announcer. Not every expert can be a good fit for the booth like Nelson Burton, Jr. or Randy Pederson. The show is not that entertaining if I hear too much technical commenting about how the bowler missed inside of target because of something the expert saw in the third step of the approach. I don't want too much hilarity, but I also don't want too much USBC gold medal coach jargon.

I like to be entertained when I watch the show. So, I give the Simmons experiment a 'thumb in the middle' sign. Maybe another celebrity who knows bowling could be a good fit. How about Jerome Bettis?
Or, bring back Simmons, and give him another shot when he is better prepared. He loves sports and can be that bridge between the casual fan and the hardcore fan if he just learned the sport. Most all of us like to explain the nuances of bowling to our co-workers. Let Randy school Bill like he does Rob.

Can we fix the city tournament system?

In case you haven't noticed in your area of the state, association championships, or city tournaments, are floundering. Entries have been low for years. Reading various associations' board of director minutes, this is not an isolated incident. It is happening all over the state. What can be done to increase city tournament entries?

League bowling is down
Let us not forget this important fact. Long gone are the times of two night shifts of league bowling. Long gone are the days when open bowling was only available during the day and Saturday nights. So of course, association tournament entries will be down also. Now, it is more important than ever to increase the percentage of your membership into tournament entries. There are different ways to secure this goal; a positive one and a negative one.

Promote, Market, Publish, Inquire, Advertise
The association board of directors and various house representatives basically have to work every league night in every house and invite everyone to participate. This is more than making the P.A. announcement at the counter. Invite each team to enter. If they are having a good time bowling one night a week with their friends, why not do it on another week-end? An Open association does not discriminate on gender anymore, so all are welcome to enter the open tournament. Try this method but let everyone know months in advance when the tournament is being held. "The tournament has always been held on these week-ends." Don't assume everyone knows this. Publishing entry forms for the bowling centers 3 weeks in advance of the closing date and posting tournament information on the association web site less than a month before entries are due is not timely promotion. Too many competing activities and other commitments can fill up a person's calendar long before you even notify the community of the city tournament dates.

Change the Dates
If the city tournament has been losing entries, maybe it is time to change the time of the season when it is being held. Leagues that last more than 32 weeks are dwindling as more and more people think the typical bowling season is too long. Shorter season leagues are getting more popular. While the bowling season is young and interest is at its zenith, hold a city tournament. I've noticed that some associations hold their championships in October and November. The association may not have to worry about a ten-pin rule if your bowlers don't have 21 games in the current season for average establishment.

Solicit input from the members
While board members are promoting the tournament, handing out entry forms, ask the bowlers about why they have not participated in past tournaments. Ask for their ideas. They may be more honest than anonymous surveys or e-mails.

Negative Changes
I mentioned earlier of positive changes and negative changes for the association tournament. Positive changes are inclusive so all bowlers feel welcome. Negative changes are exclusionary where bowlers feel they are not wanted in the tournament. One idea that always limits the amount of bowlers available for leagues or tournaments is the average cap. The average cap is the top limit for a sum of a team's individual averages. Obviously, the idea is to foster more balance and equal playing strength among the teams in a league or tournament. There are a few reasons why this won't work. First reason is that the average cap is usually poorly chosen and static. With today's high scoring conditions, bowlers in an high scoring house can not bowl together because they made the unfortunate choice of bowling league in an easy house. Teammates for years cannot bowl together in this average capped tournament or league. Some average capped leagues have had to keep raising the maximum team average to keep the current teams in the league intact. So, instead of recruiting new bowlers, these leagues are trying to retain the ones they have by raising the average cap each year. Soon, the average cap is so high it defeats the purpose of having one.

Who is helped and who is hurt?
Are the high average bowlers winning too much? Mathematically, the higher your average, the more times you should win. I have always believed that you increase your skills by competing against better bowlers. There is always someone better. However, if everyone feels they have no chance and the better bowlers are 'taking all the money,' a perception becomes reality. However, city tournaments have never involved a lot of money. Even brackets and side-pots are measly because tournament squads are small. However, these higher average bowlers support the association championships by entering multiple times. The other side of the equation of the higher average bowlers 'taking all the money' is that the higher average bowlers are putting in the most money by entering multiple times. Rules limiting the number of team events one can enter only seem to apply to these bowlers as they will bowl on two or three teams.

So, an average cap prevents the bowlers who most support the tournament from even entering it. An association championship, as well as league bowling, is still a social activity. Strangers don't come together to form teams to enter a tournament so as to meet average cap requirements.

Tournament managers want the maximum number of entries for their event, so why would any tournament exclude people from entering?

End of 209 Notes

If you are a regular viewer of the front page of AlabamaBowling.Com, you may occasionally click on some of the bowling stories that appear in various newspaper, TV, and other web sites. I have various Internet searches give me a list of daily news stories based on certain key words, such as 'bowling.' I could use an automated program to just post these stories automatically, but you would be subjected to multitude of stories from Great Britain, India, and other parts of the Empire regarding the latest controversies in cricket. You would also get tired of stories about local news in Bowling Green, Kentucky and the multitude of stories that pass on just local scores. However, there is also a lack of creativity in the journalistic profession. These examples include:

Video Game Seniors
Do reporters get writer's bloc? If so, do they read newspapers on-line from another part of the country and just copy the same subject? Our nation's senior citizens are getting exercise by playing Wii bowling. Every part of the country has run this story, including some television stations. My editorial control prevented me from basically showing this same story run all over the country. Just 'google' this subject and see how many stories you can take before you realize that we will all live longer if we pay video game bowling. My personal opinion is that Wii bowling is too easy. Play the Brunswick or AMF Wii bowling games where you have different lane conditions and equipment characteristics. Also, like real bowling, if you are not consistent with the release, you get different results. So, Brunswick's version is not as forgiving as the regular Wii bowling.

College Football: End of Season
Why does each college town paper call a successful football season as 'going bowling?' "The Big 10 is going bowling." "Fresno State hopes to go bowling this season." No, you are not going 'bowling,' you are playing one more college football game as a reward for a successful season. Rolling a ball to knock down pins is not involved in winning the Cotton Bowl. This is a stupid cliché. With a variety of sports web sites and 24-hour sports channels, sportswriters just want to be cool and dream of hosting SportsCenter.

Top NFL Players Change Sports
This year the annual NFL all-star game, known as the Pro Bowl, is not in Hawaii. It seems that most players want to be selected, just not play in the game. Chris Barnes is a pro bowler, not an NFL all star. However, I hear NFL announcers call a player selected to the annual NFL all star game as a pro bowler. Another stupid cliché as it must be cool to compare America's favorite professional sport with bowling. As an aside, of all the major American sports leagues, the NFL Pro Bowl is the worst all star game of the lot. Ironic, as the NFL is the league that has the most popular championship game.