Mind Games of the Good Kind

Some students do better work right before a dealine.
Michael Jordan used to play better when he was sick.
Me? I seem to do better when my mind is on something else.

OK, I've lost you. How can I be good at something when I'm obviously not thinking about it? I don't know either, but that's the way it seems.

I am a terrible bowler. I carry an average around 130 (yes, that bad). Most days it is a struggle for me to reach 100-- but I am getting a bit better. But than in April, something happened. While bowling in a tornament-- where I was forced to bowl with a 140 minimum average-- something went wrong. I went out and bowled a 247. Who knew? My team was amazed, I was in shock, and many thought I was a sandbagger. I guess I just hit the zone-- the next day it was gone. A teammate suggested I just do what I did at this tournament. That screwed me up. Why? Well, when I threw that great game my mind wasn't on bowling-- it was on a woman. For some reason I couldn't get her off my mind. But when my teammate suggested I keep thinking of her, it didn't work-- why not? They got me thinking to hard.

Now, I know what my problem is in bowling-- consistency. I've only been at this for 2 years (and had maybe bowled like a dozen times before that in my life), so I haven't found a groove when it comes to my approach. And it gets to the point where I'll throw a great ball, then try to do the exact same thing, and end up chasing the lane the rest of the night. It gets to the point where I'm up at the rack pacing like Nuke LaLoosh in 'Bull Durham' saying "Don't think... just throw... don't think... just throw."

And I've realized it's not the only time I've done well while not thinking about what I'm doing.

In high school, I used to take my anger to the ice with me. You know, I'd breakup with my girlfriend, be pissed off at the world, not say a thing to anyone at the rink, go out and post a shutout. The whole game, I'm just thinking about how pissed off I was at this girl. You'd think, I'd be such an emotional mess, that I just wouldn't care about the game. Well, that one got so bad, that come playoff time, my teammates would bring girls into the dressing room for to break up with me. I should have reminded them, that no matter how well I play, if they don't play well, we won't win.

I also remember one game we won 9-0... I faced eight shots. We didn't allow a shot in the first period-- and at the end of the period I remember telling the guys on the bench I was so bored, that I had already hummed every song I knew three times. How bored was I? I faced only one shot in the second period as well-- and that was a 120-foot attempt at icing, that happened to curl on net. But somehow through that, I stayed sharp.

I remember the second best game I've ever bowled. I think it was like a 190. And that was a day I had a Skye Sweetnam song stuck in my head. It was a more terrifying experience than you think.

Even physical pain seems to bring out the best in me. I went through a stretch in high school soccer as a sophomore, when I was forced to play through back spams-- I don't suggest anyone do that. I played as well as any other time during that year.

Even head injuries-- yes, I've had my share. In high school, I used to play through Post Concussion Syndrome-- and it's not like it was a secret that I was suffering, you could see it in my eyes. But those were the games I was at my best. Or even just games when I'd get dinged. Playing in juniors, we marched into the defending league champs barn, shorthanded (we had 10 skaters, and my backup goalie quit the team right before the game), two nights after losing to them 10-3 at home. Thirty seconds into the game, I'm on my back after someone tried to wrap a stick around my head (we knew they would try to come after me, if I'm out, we don't have a goalie). We scored on the powerplay, and went on to a 6-1 romp (I'm sure Adam has the newspaper article somewhere). For some reason I'm wondering how much my head is going to hurt the next morning, and I just zone in on the game.

It baffles me-- of course, I have ADD, so my mind isn't exactly normal.

Moral of the story is-- don't try too hard, I guess.

But I'm curious, does anybody else have stories about similar situations? Or does anyone have some advice for bowling?