I think if I wasn't doing so bad, bowling would be a little more enjoyable, but I probably would have still took the summer off from competitive bowling. Sometimes life just wants to try to beat you down but its how you handle it and get through it that counts. I rarely let anything get to me mentally but when things add up it starts to take its toll.

Guns, don't worry. I gave up the game when my children were born. It was the right decision then, and I wouldn't question it today. there were so many other competing things for my time through those years, Kids school, PTA, School board, Little League, Cub Scouts, Soccer, basketball. And, all the while, working with my kids doing homework, carving the soap box derby car, swinging the bat in the yard, I rarely took then bowling. It was always in the back of my mind, but just rarely happened.

I took off quite a few years. But those years were some of the most enjoyable years of my life watching kid's growth, skill development, thought processes. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Others still got their league night or 2 into their schedule. I didn't.

Well, now I'm back, and there is nothing stopping me from returning to my old level of play.

Through your life you will make decisions. And, when you do, you will do them for the best for you and for your family. Enjoy your life. Work hard and play hard. And, never fret on the decision you made. Looking back or looking forward, your perspective is different. At the time of the decision, it was the right thing to do.[

Enjoy bowling, and your life.

When you have things going on in your life that is causing stress it transfers to your bowling. You think you are keeping them seperate but its impossible. You think its not effecting you, but it is. Things like a new job, loss of a job, divorce, legal trouble, relocating, family death etc.....all these things gang up on you and can take the enjoyment from things you normally enjoy. I think its normal.

You have to put bowling on the priority list where it belongs. Take care of business at home and don't worry about bowling. Once your life evens out (if this is the case) you will have a fresh look on things and hopefully a different attitude.

I have a girlfriend that went through this thinking she was fine and it didn't effect her. She was bowling 4 leagues in three houses, lost her job, looking for a job, relocating because she was in the process of buying a home when this happened and then her mom (who has some medical issues) needed to sell her home and be moved into a nursing home in another state. Now how can that kind of stuff not impact your bowling game and how you perceive it? She thought she was doing fine and that it wasn't effecting her bowling. Quitting all but one league helped. She found a job; that helped. But the moving, new home purchase and moving mom could not be avoided. It was just something she had to work through with as much help as she could get. After everything was settled and things had calmed down did she finally realize how much these stresses were effecting her life.

Erin

I will agree with you there Erin, with many things going on in a persons life that adds stress, that stress weighs on one mentally and we all know how mental this game is. All the things going on outside of bowling just compounds the frustration I've had on the lanes, and the lack of wanting to go to the lanes. I'm sure once the biggest part, the job aspect gets worked out things will be different, since that's where the biggest issue is coming from.

Take your time Inferno...take care of busiess first. Bowling will still be there when you are in a better situation to enjoy it.

I did the same thing. Got so over whelmed and then told myself that I had no clue as to why I was bowling so bad.

Erin

Well. I can related to this topic and the point is that I never gave up.

I took a break from league bowling after 4 weeks into the beginning of regular season and doing so when bowling my first year with 3 different leagues. Monday being the sport shot, Wednesday being league shot and Sunday being the fun league.

The money and travel was not the main reason but one of them. I went to bowling school before the season started. Everything was fine.

Until. My first car died on my driveway just weeks afer I returned from bowling school and I had no vehicle for a month to practice.

You know how much that messed up my thinking bowling and how to roll the ball when you had no place to go to bowl? It was a major burn out on me. I was getting pissed, frustrated, upset and everything with myself.

So.. regardless of scores or how I bowled. I was not confidence in myself or in my bowling. So quited all 3 leagues and committed myself to bowling when I wanted to which were on weekend like glow in the dark or something.

Almost 10 months later. I have found my joy for bowling. I went back to bowling school and rediscover myself. The practice and fun that I did during the 8 before I went back to school. I was frustrated and trying to understand myself.

I was a bit frustrated after going to school because I didn't get what I was doing wrong.

Tuesday, I went with a simulated tournament plan in my head since I am bowling in tournament Saturday. I never bowled with pride and confidence in my game before. The scores didn't mean anything to me and I felt like I just unleashed my potential in this game.

But, the point is. Never give up on yourself if you enjoy the sport. Make room for the game when you can even if you are burnt out. The longer you stay away from the game, the harder it is going to get back to where you were before you got burnt out.

But, but, but.

The most important point is. Try to have fun. Even if you are slumping. I went thru them before but I learn how to work thru them now. Just work on your mental game before you hit the lanes.

But there are many things that are more important than bowling and bowling will have to be put on the back burner, or even stored in the back of the pantry for years. There are a few bowlers on this site that stepped away at one point or another because they had kids, others for college and any number of other reasons.

I struggled through the last half of the season, partly due to my mechanics and mostly because I wasn't mentally there due to things in my life off the lanes, and that added to the frustration I was having on the lanes. It became a chore to just go to the center for league, especially being committed to two leagues of my own and then agreeing to be a full time sub for a third. I've actually went to bowl maybe 4 times since the season ended a week before Memorial Day, and I pretty much forced myself to do so. I'm too competitive to just bowl for fun.

If there are things going on outside of bowling that weighs on the mind, then the mental game isn't going to be any good. If someone is stressed out its hard to have fun, especially when struggling. And at that point a person isn't enjoying the sport. At some point a person just has to know when to just cut their losses and step away, this goes for bowling as well as other things in life.

info, Dont step away.Just take it easy on yourself.If life isn't going the way you want then everything seems to be against you.Even the game you love.When your mind is occupied with things other than bowling ( even when u think u put them aside for night ) it will affect your bowling.You are just not yourself rolling the ball.Mechanics are there but not being let out fully by the brain.See it as an emergency brake on the train.Somebody or something pushed it and the train goes to a halt.Perfectly normal what is happening to you.
We all know the feeling of seemingly perfect bowling one night.Returning to the alley the next day to kill some more pins but it's just not there.Who would not get a bit frustrated ..."heck it was there last night"
It happened a few times when i was hot and a day later i was shooting 40 pins a game less.
To cut this short.....enjoy the game even when you are in a slumb.It's still there and it will return.REALLY!!!

grz from the netherlands

I never said I was going to stop bowling, but that there are plenty of reasons why people would and a few of them are going through my head currently. I stepped away from the game before, and the only reason I would do so now is money. If I can't afford to bowl, or even drive to the center to bowl, then I won't be bowling. Also its useless to try to bowl if someone doesn't have the drive and hunger to want to bowl regardless of how well one is bowling/scoring. Also as I stated before, bowling can't be enjoyed when you have to worry about other things that are of a higher priority, and then bowling bad adds to the stress. If I had serious thoughts of quitting I would not have spent a good bit of money have my ball fit re-evaluated and re-done to improve.

As for my mechanics, they aren't there, and without some serious one on one coaching will be hard to get there. They might have never been there to begin with. Right now coaching isn't a financially viable option, even going to the lanes to try to practice isn't a very financially viable option, even though that was the plan for this summer. No leagues, no competition, just getting my game in order.

Cal I will be at Bowl America Gaithersburg tomorrow morning (Sunday the 29th) if you would like my help I will be there around 9:30 or 10am depending on traffic.