Bowling with Leverage
by David A. Leverage
David A. Leverage is a Former exempt PBA Player, Silver level certified coach,
an ASU Bowling Alumni member, A 6 time PBA titleist, has (40) 300 games
and owns 2 Phoenix area Pro Shops.
CONGRATULATIONS TO JOYCE AND SHAWNA TREAT FOR WINNING THEIR DOUBLES DIVISION AT NATIONALS IN RENO ! ! !
As You may have already seen earlier in this month’s edition of the Desert Bowler, Joyce and Shawna Treat went to El Paso this past July 4th weekend and brought home some hardware and a national title for themselves! Joyce and Shawna won 1st place in doubles and Joyce also won all events in her division as well. Shawna has always been a very good bowler, but Joyce has been working very hard on her game taking lessons, practicing and has willed herself into a National titleist from the efforts of her hard work. Congratulations to the both of you. We’re all extremely proud of your tremendous accomplishment!
HARD WORK PAYS OFF!
Trust me when I say, hard work does most certainly pay off. And the proof is in the puddin’ as they say. Both as a Professional Bowler and as a coach myself I can tell you the more I practiced, the luckier I got. So often I see bowlers with talent who are simply not willing to put in the time on the lanes practicing. They simply bowl their 3 games a week and expect better scores and results. Well, there are no free lunches. If you aspire to be better, or to be great, you have to be willing to put in the time on and off the lanes whether it be in your exercise, your diet, or simply opening up your mind and allowing changes to be made to your game.
PLAN TO WORK…AND WORK THE PLAN!
Success doesn’t just happen…..its earned through hard work and dedication. Whether it be in your bowling game, your job, or any other facet of your life. So set some goals and figure out what you want to be as a bowler, put a plan in place to get there, and most importantly work that plan until you get there! The results will only come if you put in the time to achieve them.
One of the things I have learned from coaching hundreds of bowlers is that when a physical change is made it takes about 20 straight minutes working on it and changing something before it takes effect. Too often the “self taught” bowler will try to change a physical aspect of their game and they will only try it 3 or 4 shots before giving up on that change. The reason it feels so awkward in the beginning is because as a bowler you have all of this muscle memory built into your brain and your muscles that your body is so used to doing it the wrong way, that it feels very uncomfortable when you try it the correct way. So for the first 5-10 minutes of changing something, more often than not it is going to feel absolutely terrible. Than as you continue to throw more and more shots the “proper” way, your body, your brain, and more importantly your muscles will begin to accept the new way as the comfortable way. You have to work through the bad part to get to the good part. Too often though people give up after only a few shots and revert back to their old style.
WHAT PROGRAM ARE YOU ON?
Well if the answer is “I don’t know” then either you are not on a program, or you are simply on “your own program”… Remember change doesn’t just happen. You are the only one who can make change for the better happen. So get on the program!
See you next month!!!
Thank you to all of the people who have been emailing in real questions and ideas for upcoming articles. We always appreciate any and all input as we are always aspiring to help and educate bowlers so they can knock down more pins. As always you may email me at: daveleverage@yahoo.com.
"TEXT the Coach" As a new feature if you are having a problem and need a quick answer to that problem, send me a text message during your next practice session, league session, or tournament and I will do my best to reply in a timely manner. Text to 6025505788.