Revelations at Lucky Strike
Last night I went to Lucky Strike in downtown Chicago for this seminar I am taking in grad school.
Background:
I don’t go bowling because I am bad at bowling and, like most people, I don’t like to do things I am bad at. Unfortunately, other people like bowling and schedule bowling events because they are great for social mixers with a large group of people. Alas, I bowl on occasion when it benefits me for networking or my career.
It’s not that I haven’t tried to get better at bowling.
In fact, when I was younger I tried to improve my score by getting coaching from countless friends on how to throw the ball. When that didn’t work, I opted for a quarter long bowling course in high school. The bowling course helped - for my efforts, my score improved from the low 30’s to the high 50’s. (Thank goodness the course wasn’t graded.)
Getting back to the story.
I went bowling last night knowing I was going to make a fool of myself, and when it was my turn to bowl, I threw a predictable round of gutter balls to start. Luckily I was comfortable enough with this group to not be embarassed, especially when the guy who had never bowled in his life (”Why does this ball have holes?”) proceeded to throw a spare on his first turn.
At some point between my first and second turn I had a revelation. (Either that, or the Miller Lite I was drinking had finally entered my bloodstream.) All this time I had been throwing the ball the way I was taught to throw it - underhand - and it constantly hooked to the left gutter every time. What I was doing was clearly not working; thus, knowing I could do no worse than usual, I decided to experiment with my roll. On my second turn, I rolled the ball with my palm facing in towards my leg, and to my surprise, the ball went straight down the center of the lane and knocked down eight pins. Even more surprising - I aimed my second throw at the remaining two pins and got a spare.
I continued to roll the ball “my way” with great results (relatively). I stopped throwing gutter balls, almost always hit at least a few pins, and finished with some spares and one strike. The results of my experiment were clear with an end score of 89, a personal best.
Okay, you can stop laughing now.
89 is still a lame score by bowling standards, but I’m fine with it. The point is that by creating my own throwing technique tailored specifically to me, I was able to reach a new personal best. Throwing the way everyone else threw never won me games because my body didn’t perform as well using someone else’s moves.
What can we learn from this?
We can apply this to just about any situation where we are trying to get from point A to point B. Whatever your goals in life, it is wise to study and consult with others who reached those goals in their own lives. In the end, however, you must create your own roadmap to success based on your skills, beliefs, and comfort zone. By doing this, you will achieve your personal best and be that much closer to your ultimate goals.
No promises on the bowling championship though.