Not Always Fun and Games: When Injury Strikes

Last evening was league night and after coming off of an awesome previous week of tossing a 600+ series, I was unable to continue the rampage due in part to a pinched nerve in my elbow.  What makes matters worse, is that the event occurred on the second frame of the first game, so my entire night was pretty much shot.

My current bowling ball of choice is the Storm Reign where I have it sitting at fifteen pounds, so you can imagine the pressure that can be applied to an irritated elbow during a typical toss.  I blame my own frustration on the injury because no matter what adjustments I made on the boards, I simply was not hooking properly into the pocket during practice.  The first frame brought an embarrassing split and was left open and the second frame pushed me enough to use a bit too much crank action in my delivery.

I’m more of a Tweener, but for some reason, I went with a full crank to get some response out of the ball, and that all did was invite the nerve pinch.  Lesson learned, don’t rely on changing your entire world simply to move the ball a few boards.  Not only is injury a possibility, but the mind games that are introduced into the equation are unbearable.

Dealing With Bowling Frustration

Let’s face it, no matter how well you do on the lanes one week, does not mean you’ve found the sweet spot for eternity.  Lane conditions are constantly changing and even if the adjustment is one board or ten, adjustment management is going to have to be a staple in your arsenal of bowling tricks.

One of the most common challenges that bowlers face is not even on the lanes, nor is it an issue with the bowling ball or other equipment.  Your largest critic is going to be yourself and when you are not hitting the pocket or zeroing in on the spares, the mind games begin to breed uncontrollably.

It’s easy to fall victim to these mind games especially if your game is much lower than your average as the frustration sinks in, reminding yourself that you are better than this…knowing that your average may slip due to a loss to the mind game.

As you can see, I lost the mind game early and it resulted in not only a bruised ego, but a sore arm for the rest of the night.  When you lose your grip on the basics, you open the door to limitless (negative) possibilities, especially injury.

Don’t be a Hero

The pinched nerve didn’t really start to affect me until about the end of the first game.  After the break, I came back and everything felt great and I figured I just needed to move it around a bit to release the pinch.  The first two frames were strikes, but again, I went back to an overpowering crank delivery and the elbow decided to remind me that it wasn’t nearly as ready to go as I had thought.

For the rest of the game, I threw the ball as I do for spare situations with little to no follow-through…definitely not something I would recommend.  I finished out the game and ended up sitting out for the third game and let the arm relax.  If I had let the ego win, I’d probably be in much more pain than I am now, and who knows how else the day would have gone.  Luckily, I can still blog.

All in all, a pinched nerve is nothing to laugh at since it can cause long term damage if not released, but I did risk going to that level by going on with my bowling after the fact.  Injuries can cause further frustration, but it can also institute the Superhero Syndrome where we tell ourselves, “It’s nothing, besides…my average needs to go up.”

What Say You?

Whether you’ve experienced a slight ‘twang’ or a full out muscle pull or what have you, how do you deal with injuries that alter your game enough to invite the mind games?  Do you let the frustrations of open frames or unresponsive ball action push you into the red zone of over-adjusting your game?  Leave a comment below and let me know!