Forcing out ur opponent
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Recently there had been talk on how to pressure your opponent to force him/her to make bad shots. Any suggestions on how to go about doing it?
I know one way is to throw strike after strike, especially for the first 3 frames. But how many can do that? I for one cannot, unless veri lucky.
Any actions? Type of mentality, etc etc? Or any special ways that u guys employed?
For me, I try to force myself to look at the scores, to pressurize myself (i'm usually behind) so that I can perform better next time. But come to think of it, when is the "next time"?
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all these is under mental strengths and strategies.
went for some talk about it and a course a few years back. its pretty damn long though.
YOURSELF
pple have different psyche lvls. ranging from 1-10, 1 being down, 10 being probably wildly estatic (like freemun when he breathes in air) pple have a optimum psyche lvl to feel good about the game, the shots and basically, the moments when u feel nothing will ever go wrong. learning to control ur psyche lvl is supposedly important.
nothing u can do about ur opponent, so why bother about his or ur scores? take every shot as a new fresh start if u are doing badly. if u are doing well, just do a visualisation and normal routine work. one u are on the lane, blank ur mind and go. no thoughts about wether this is rite or wrong etc. this is more of a relaxation ritual that works more for pple that need a lower psyche lvl.
OPPONENT
know his habits (abit hard lar) if he likes doing something, 'accidentally' comment on it or do the opposite of it. it might throw him off balance. a very good example of throwing ur opponent off i saw was in the FIQ. the step ladder 7-8 position games, the opponent 'accidentally' spilled ball cleaner fluid. took like 10min to clear the place and resume bowling. the poor guy was riding on 5 strikes. the the other was sparing all the way no strikes. after that he collasped... 3 opens in a row. i heard the bugger commenting to his opponent, " eh careful hor, finals already make sure dun fall coz of the fluid, sorry ar" bastard way but it works.
some pple who need to relax to bowl well can get excited after afew strikes. u can 'help' them along. say things like ' WAH! STRIKE AGAIN AR! powr ar today? come on man...give some more!" thereby pushing his psyche lvl up and his game down.
*pont to note* i attended this course 6 yrs ago in the SSC sports psy class. although i know it, i cant apply it. so.... haha to me its all hot wind. there is much more to this topic but i havent got the patience to write it all down. and i make a poor rep to present this to u guys. u guys wan to learn more try asking for the sports psy courses in the SSC. singapore sports council. -
interesting topic.
i once heard a commentator said that there isn't exactly a defence strategy in bowling coz you cant stop your opponent from getting a better result (unless you are talking about distracting him). The best approach is to concentrate and get strikes so as to apply pressure on your opponent, which is the best form of defence. In a way, your offence is as good as defence.
agree with ian. i thought it is a great idea to treat every throw as a fresh shot. I used to undermine the importance of spares but not anymore. My mission for every game now is always a no open frame.
Not so sure about pressurizing oneself with the scoreboard, at least for me. In most cases, I try not to be bothered by the score and enjoy the game.
Alternatively, I will try to spot the best player in the opponent team (mostly the anchor) and attempt matching his score than to my direct opponent. It works at times. -
I think I bowl my best games when I concentrate on my bowling and not look at the score/screen
When you look at the scores, I feel that part of the concentration is left behind and not easily brought back to on the lanes(where it should be shots after shots)
When I look at my scores(when I'm lagging behind), I am telling myself to improve on my mental aspects of bowling. Never say die till frame 10's over... even then, there's always a next game
The ball is always round & the same size too!!
cheers -
Airgrinder, the best pressure to put on the opponent is to show him your strikes XXXXXXXXXXXX.
Ok, that should be enough for a game
Don't give chance, give strikes
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i tink my best 2 game sin mental will have to be
1) against the top team in my eastside league. my opponent had 5 in a row. i spared all the way. finally he broke and missed a spare. i continued my spares and struck home at the end.. won him by 2 pins.
2) had frames 1 to 9 hitting 9 pins... all leaving pin 10. finished wif a 192 tink. that was in a agegrp competition.
my proudest achievements -
One of the unique points of bowling as a competitive sport is that every competitor has, in effect, only one person to beat - oneself. Few other sports (billiards, golf) offer this. In most sports, one has to beat the opponent directly, such as in tennis. But in bowling, no matter how good or bad your opponent's shot-making is, you still have to play better than he to win. Hence the theory stated by many above that its' better to concentrate on one's own game.
That said, however, there are strategies to *ahem* throw an opponent off balance.
As what Ian has mentioned, everyone has a "Zone" in which they are practically invincible. The key is to make staying there as hard as possible.
One example is: Some people like to play with a higher tempo, whilst others take their time. One can use this observation to affect the time each frame takes. Taking one's time to "break the opponents' routine"; vice-versa.
Personally, I do not object to these tactics. They may not be sporting, but it is part and parcel of gamesmanship. After all, if one wants to succeed, one has to have a strong mental game as well as a physical and technical one. After all, what's the difference of being distracted by say, a noise in the crowd or by one's opponent? No excuse for either, in my opinion.
It's all part of the game.
(Assuming one is good enough to pull all this off without self-destructing)
Another way to foil the opponent's game is to ruin their line while keeping your own to the pocket. Spinners excel at this, for obvious reasons. This is a very shrewd tactic utilised by some of the more knowlegeble coaches while selecting team line-ups especially.
In the end, bowling is just a sport where to win, one has to be better than the rest. Unless the opponent physically hinders your game, the better man or woman should win.
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I once saw an ex-national bowler(name i shall not say out), he does it, u could say, in an unprofressional way. whenever the opponent's on form, he would wait for the guy to stand on the approach, do his armswing and at that guy sliding step, he would suddenly make noise like ah choo, sigh loudly or talk loudly. As a result, if yr concentration is not strong, u def lose balance. and imagine losing balance at yr last step, its gonna hurt yr game
In my view, why do u want to pressure yr opponent or force him, etc For me, i dun even bother to pressure him. Basically let him/her collapse his/her game. This is becos, when u are playing yr game, the pressure u give to yrself is stronger than what u are giving to others. so just bo chap the other bowlers antics. -
I couldn't agree more with Deamon.
Bottomline: Just play your own game. If its good enough, it doesn't need any help.
Deamon
I really like your signature. Many people don't know that. -
wow!
ian, seems like you are very into the sport then to actually attend this type of courses. I for one dun even know if these courses exists
harmy, deamon, ian,
I dun mean playing cheap to distract your opponent, but bowling in such a way that it creates pressure on the opponent.
One the coaches for national youth said it is important to be aggressive in bowling. Dun really understand then and there what he meant by being aggressive. Now I realised its a ...wat word to use (scratch head)...certain "aura" that the aggressive player projects. This aura sometimes forces a "I will win", impression on the opponent.
Another type of mentality I came to realise is the Happy-go-lucky (h-g-l) type. The h-g-l bolwer just deliveries and get a lucky strike (not the cigarette) and smile. Then you would wonder, what the hell! And, on your frame, u leave a miserable pin 10.
The last and final mentality is the NEVER-SAY-DIE attitude. You concentrate on your game. If you're lagging, you stay close, if you winning, show him he have no chance of catching up. Easy to say, hard to follow! haha!!
....hmmm.....what deamon said abt just concentrating on your own game....I did it successfully once or twice. Remember shooting a 6-bagger in one of them.
Just to share an extract I read in a book by an ex-pba player:
"When you throw a bunch of keys into the air, and u catch it, at that instant, your entire mind is just focuing on catching the keys which are dropping. None of the concentration is diverted to other places. There is only one goal: Catching the keys. From the time u stepped onto the approach, to the time u release the ball, if your mind is as that like catching the bunch of keys, totally focus on one thing, you will win." quote pba player, forgot who liao.
By another "the most distracting thing that deters me from making the ball do what I want it to do is the mind." quote a female coach somewhere in US.
harmy,
abt deamon's signature, I am now trying to run 4 times a week...after the bus.heheh No lah, seriously, I really run 4 times a week.
WAH! what a lot of text! Havent exercise my fingers so much for so long liao. time to sleep.... -
Like baruku, i try not to let the scoreboard affect my game. If i'm doing well, complacency sets in. If the scores aren't too pretty, i feel like getting the game over and done with and moving on to the next one. No win situation.
Which is why i try not to look at the scores in competitive play - usually need to be reminded to throw in the 10th frame.
**Newsflash**
To effectively distract tit@n, simply exclaim "Haven't had McDonald's for a long time already" just before he makes the shot. Then proceed to sit back and witness a comedy of errors. -
Ohh..jordan i got what u mean. not many ppl can be like pete weber who stir up so much emtions and still can win games. what i think is basically down to the body langauage. Even if u are on the roll, however each time u strike and u turn back in disgust thinking its not a decent shot, yr body language will show and yr oppoent will not be intimidated cos he knows u are battling against 2 demons:him and yrself.
whereas u extrude an air of confidence even on a lucky strike, mostly likey u shld do better cos yr opponent have to find a way to overcome you.
Lastly bo chap what others do to try to influence yr game. I even encounter some lousy fans of bowling who "throw" the ball on the floor, creating a sound, at the point when the bowler release the ball.Imagine spectators oso trying to distract yr game. thus a lot of external factors are beyond our control. The key word:bo chap(at least in my view) Perhaps others may have their own other ways whicj is effective to them. ^_^ -
Well, there are always two faces to every puzzle. In this case, you can do anything you wish, but it will only affect the opponent if he/she is the type to be affected by your actions in the first place.
For instance, some people cannot play well against expressive opponents, while others prefer to play such types. Just like Deamon's mention of Pete Webber (who, incidentally, is one of my favourite players ! ) - whose combination of verbal expressions/body language is considered unsporting by some. Some people may actually excel when playing "high energy" people like him. Michael Haugen Jr. shot 279 in a final match against Pete to lose to a 289.
So, your game has to match the opponent's.
Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong to express disgust at a brooklyn strike, especially if you know where you made the mistake. Some people may seize upon it as a weakness, yet others may be intimidated because it hints that you can only play better.
I train with two people who have collected money from 300 games. One has a very showy demeanor, the other is so humble, you wouldn't think more of him. But both are devastating even while playing leisurely.
Bottomline: Whatever you do, I think it's at best a measure you take to psycho yourself into thinking you're putting pressure on your opponent. A security blanket, if you will. The more important thing is to play as you are comfortable.
Only in that fashion can you play to your own strengths, and that's the best insurance for a win.