Performance Analysis to Improve Your Game – Part 2

Last time, I introduced three questions that should be a part of every competitive experience in order to get the most out of it:

1) What did I do well today?

2) What do I want to improve on from today?

3) Was my ability sufficient to meet the challenges of today’s environment?

An objective and thorough assessment of a day’s performance is a key element to repeating good performances and learning from poor ones. In this article I’ll add another question to help you dig down to the root cause of any areas that need improvement. When used properly, it can also help improve your understanding of the game of bowling in general, and not just your own game. That question is:

4) Why?

Digging deeper

When assessing your current skill level and any specific performance, answering the question why will point to specific details that need work. It will help identify the true issues a bowler faces that may or may not be related to technical skill.

For example, a bowler who struggled on a given pattern because they were overthrowing the ball will often decide they need to practice slowing down or being smoother if that is as deep as they dig into their performance. If that same bowler is able to throw a softer speed in practice, but unable to do it in competition, answering the question why will point to issues related to confidence or ...