And to put things in perspective, your low series is only about 20 pins a game lower than your average. That's not absolutely awfull.

If you keep doing that for a month or more, then that's a slump. A night or two isn't much to worry about

I remember a time about a year ago when I hit a slump and began to think that I would never throw a 200 again. I was consistently in the 180s and 190s and never seemed to get above 200. My average was in the 180s and I thought that maybe I had passed my prime and would not be able to average 200 again.

Here I am a year later and I can tell you that I still average over 200 in all of my leagues. Moral of the story: Hang in there, it will end and things will get better.

One other thought:
When I met my ex-wife, she was averaging 126. I worked with her in within 3 years she was averaging in the high 170s, low 180s. But as you know it is hard to raise your average the higher it gets and she got pretty frustrated with the fact that her average wouldn't continue to climb like it had for the previous 3 years. She still averages in the high 170s (when she bowls), and still has a hard time with the fact that she hasn't improved.

Sidenote: My ex bowled one league a week and never practiced, now she doesn't bowl much and she has resigned herself to bowling for the social aspect if she bowls at all (that was always her intention anyway, if you ask me).

Scott, read these posts. We've all been there. We all have plateaued. We all have been in slumps. You're not alone.

But, one thing for sure, we ALL love bowling. Even you.

PS: I went back and read some of your previous posts. You have talked about the anchor that had confidence problems. You have talked about teammates who don't care. You have talked about tirades, abuse and language. If these teammates are not related to you, maybe you should consider changing teams?
It is really fun when you all get along.

Thanks Everyone.

Like I said this is my first slump since coming back but like Lefty said it isn't that bad when you put it in perspective. Thanks to all of you I will not be uptight tonight. I will just roll with the flow and know even if it doesn' work out tonight better times will be ahead.

Dennis actually the team has been good recently. Since we switched anchors my one teammate who had been a problem has pretty much calmed down and almost all of his negativity is gone. He has had a few issues but we have dealt with them and moved on.

The team has been helpful in carrying me during this slump also. For some odd reason when I am struggling they do really well and when I do really well they are somewhat off. In some ways I may be still adjusting to the anchor position also. There have been many times when the game is already well in hand or my teammates are doing well and I tend to ease up, not intentionally but it just seems to happen. I never really felt that way when I led off because my feeling was I always had to do my best just in case.

I am sure now I will get past this but I have to be patient and not worry about it because from what everyone has said that will just make it worse. I have no expectations for tonight, just to go, bowl and see how it all comes out.

That's the right attitude!

It sounds like you are on a good team, now. When you are having a bad game and your teammates can hold you up and vice-versa, that is a good team (from a points standpoint). It also sounds like you have found a lineup that works for you guys. Congratulations!

Here's to hoping that the slump goes away quickly.

Mike

Thanks Mike.

Scott, the best advice I can give you is to go and take lessons from a good coach, if you need help finding one, pm me.

Slumps happen to everyone at every level. It is usually something fundamental that you are either not doing or over doing.

Another factor in low scoring is lack of knowledge in what adjustments to make at which time, and letting this lack of knowledge frustrate you which makes you not able to concentrate.

For instance, let's say for the sake of this example your physical game is fine and you are making good shots, but the splits keep coming and adjusting your angle isn't helping, but you never think to go to a duller ball and throw it harder because you have been taught that dull balls hook more.

There are many factors that go into bowling well, in order to bowl well you have to have the right:

1. Ball in your hand for the lane condition.

2. Speed too much the ball skids too far not enough the ball hooks early.

3. Angle, the ball has to be let go at the proper angle to the target to enable it to recover in the pocket.

4. Release, how you release the ball can make the wrong ball work or the right ball not work.

Knowing which of these to use at which time is what you need to learn to do if you want to score well.

As someone who was like this about a week ago, I know how you are feeling. I agree about just letting it go and let your body take over. I'd been overthinking a lot of stuff that was throwing me off a bit, along with a lack of focus. Last week, I just gave myself tunnel vision on my target. I was looser, smoother, and more at balance at the line that I'd been in a long time because I wasn't thinking about anything else in my approach. Also, the 668 I shot was nice, but I was more happy that I didn't miss the pocket for 2 and a half games. I eventually missed because I missed the transition of the lane and when through the head pin.

Good teammates are a great help. My doubles team won our league over the summer and when one bowled bad, the other bowled good. One week, I shot a 151 and my teammate put up a 300 and we won that game. I thanked him a bit. The last week he struggled and I averaged 230 for the 4 games to lock it up. It's amazing how things work out sometimes.

Mark

ALthough last night was somewhat the same I feel much better. Again I struggled badly in the first game but then I finally got back to my natural rhythm and found out my biggest problem was not following through all the way on my shots.

I shot a 135 then a 187 and 193 to finish with a 515, right at my average. Better yet I came through with a double and 9 in the first game to shut out the other team and spared on a 10 pin and got a strike to close out the 2nd game. We won all 4 and are now 46-38 and bowl the team that is currently in first next week.

It almost felt like when I came through in the clutch in the first game even though I was back in the same rut and having a really bad game I realized I still had that fire in me and that it would all work out. From that point on I was relaxed and my natural instincts took over and I stopped pressing so much and more importantly follwing through all the way.

Sounds like problem solved... Congratulations. Just stay relaxed and have fun!