I have a pretty solid game with a 180 average or so. But I always get to the tenth frame and blow it with a open frame which doesn't help me get to my goal of a 200 average. Any help in getting me through the tenth frame without a open frame will be most appreciated. Thanks

Hi hopeless one;
If your thinking about missing in the tenth you more then likely will...I saw a show a couple of days ago which talked about the two sides of the brain...As I recall the left side, is the side that analizes things and the right side is physical, (I may have these backwards)When you are on the approach in the tenth frame you may simply be thinking to much, witch shuts down your physcial side. What seems to help is to take a deep breath and let it out just before you start your approach, what this does is jump starts your physical side and that's the part of the brain we want working as we execute our shot. Might be worth a try, it works for me on pressure shots. Good luck

Dear Hopeless,

I would suggest that you subscribe to the Kegler's Connection and read the article on pre-shot routines. This is often an overlooked area, but, very important. Good luck and good bowling....Lyn

Bowling is a progressive sport, meaning that
people reach a hurdle which must be overcome in order to advance. In your case, it is not being able to stike in the tenth frame. First you must not think about not being able to strike in the tenth. You must think about it in a positive manner. You must throw the ball in the tenth in the same way that you have thrown it in order to strike.
In other words do not try to aim the ball.
Remain calm and get the balll into the pocket and you will begin to strike in the tenth. Ayyiyude is very important and once you have broken through a barrier you will no longer have that one as an a resistance point. The same thing happens with many people starting at 500, 600, or even 700 series. Good luck.

Hopeless,

I've just got to add my two cents since this is one of my favorite topics.

Motion2strike hit the first point you need to understand relative to the mind-body relationship "dead-on". What you're dealing with is that struggle between the conscious and subconscious mind to control your performance in bowling. The subconscious mind controls your "muscle memory". That is the physiological function that allows you to perform an approach without being required to concentrate on each and every muscle movement...similar to a proficient typist (that would not be me)that does not need to look at the keyboard while typing. How do the fingers find thos small targets on the keyboad so rapidly without the typist looking at his or her fingers? That is my best example of muscle memory.

Now that we have that understanding, how do we recall the muscle memory for bowling? This is where Pinqueen2000 nailed the key. By performing a repeated series of motions just prior to bowling (a pre-shot routine), you provide a "cue" to your sunconscious mind that it is about to recall the part of the brain controlling the neural pathways to perform the athletic motion of bowling. Establish a good pre-shot routine (include a deep breath).

So what's happening in the 10th frame? Muscle memory (the subconcious mind) is easily over-riden by the conscious mind...in essence, it takes just a mere thought to interfere with muscle memory requiring the conscious mind to control whatever part of your body you are concentrating on.

I could go on-and-on, but I think you've got enought ot think about. The best phrase I can advise you to recall in the 10th frame comes from the Team USA Head Coach, Fred Borden: "QUIET THE MIND, TRUST THE BODY". Then get through your pre-shot routine, take deep breath, focus on your target and go.

Sorry about being so verbose...I said it was my favorite bowling topic.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Since I post this message I have been able to start picking up spares and strikes in the tenth which helped me get up my average to a 200. I am now really looking forward to bowling in the league coming up a my center.