Performance Analysis to Improve Your Game – Part 1

Most bowlers want to improve. For the vast majority, that revolves around the physical or technical game. For others it is mental and/or tactical improvement is the goal. Even simple goals can lead to confusion, questions, doubt, and frustration. Improvement is a simple concept, but not so simple to actually do.

Let’s start by looking at the concept of improvement:

im·prove
verb

1. make or become better.
   “We’ve used technology to improve relations with customers.”
2. develop or increase in mental capacity by education or experience.
   “I subscribed to two magazines to improve my mind.”

The second part of the definition is the most pertinent to a bowler and not because it mentions subscribing to magazines. Education comes from multiple sources as a bowler: coaches, pro shops, other bowlers, and the internet can all be valuable resources. The trick is transferring the information you gain into useable knowledge.

Experience is the process by which that information becomes knowledge and it is something you cannot fake. Unfortunately, making the most of your experience is very difficult on your own without first properly analyzing your performance to identify the gaps in your game. If you do identify ...