I, for one, take more time for a few reasons:
- to regulate my emotions, because I used to be an anxious wreck and a hothead
- to breathe effectively, because I believe that breathing effectively is a key part of performing well
- to make room for the people beside me, because I’m generally a courteous person
- to make room for the people beside me, especially later in shifts when I’m out of it and they’re still in it
How about you folks?
What Might Help Me?
I have had one bowler take time out to thank me for making room for them while they were trying to focus down the stretch. I appreciate them for recognizing my intentional courtesy. This makes me feel less bad about strategically taking more time, particularly in a situation where it’s not going to be a bottleneck. If this helps me feel better overall, I might not feel as tentative overall and I might go more slowly.
I feel more like part of the family now, which makes me overall more comfortable, less tentative, and less worried. I’m betting this helps me go faster.
I have been practising the last two weeks with the intention to go faster and I think I went faster during league play this past week, and significantly so. (We were only a pair with 9 bowlers and we only finished three games about 15 minutes behind a pair with 8 bowlers, so that’s an interesting sign.) Having this discussion without being blamed has helped, in addition to not merely being told not to worry about it. I like how we’ve been frank but reasonable so far. That helps me not feel like I’m just a bad person who needs to get his shit together and is making it worse for everyone.
I also noticed recently that I don’t need my entire exhale to be ready to go. Sometimes I feel ready to go while I’m exhaling. That seems to work fine. Sometimes just asking yourself what’s in your routine and why it helps you could draw your attention to the parts you no longer need as your game changes.
There might also be some real misconceptions about what various parts of the preshot routine are for. Talking about that with someone knowledgeable who will ask you questions and listen would almost certainly help you decide more critically what you need in that preshot routine and what you can let go of.