Practice Report: February 25, 2021

February 27, 2021

I decided to continue practising putting intentional rotation on the ball. I wanted to integrate two other key aspects back into my game:

Using my balance arm effectively without shrugging my shoulder, which I believe to be a source of my ongoing shoulder and neck pain.
Follow through and finish the shot high, not moving until the ball goes through the pins.

I would evaluate my performance thus: meh.

There were some moments where I did well to get my left arm out for balance and I felt more solid at the foul line, but I think I did a poor job of sticking the landing, as it were. This led me to an insight that coach Paterson might not be happy with.

Click here to read a detailed rundown of my practice session

The focus remains rotation, but I'd like to add "sticking the landing" on the shot all the way through.

Warm up 8 minutes.
Rotation and solid finish. Aramiths. 12 minutes. Take time on every shot.
- Started to finish well towards the second half of the session. I need to remind myself about the feeling of finishing high, otherwise I tend not to do it.
Same drill. Neons. 12 minutes.
- Mediocre. Up and down. I wasn't regularly putting everything together on a shot. I still find it too easy to step out of my shot.
Focus on the finish. Aramiths. 6 minutes.
- Sticking the left arm out early seems to help both with balance and timing. I don't notice the effect on rotation, but I did get a little extra backup movement on the ball.
Same drill. Aramiths again. 8 minutes.
- I managed to replicate the good results. Now I would like to build more consistency. After that, I'd like to stick the landing better.
Same drill. Aramiths. 10 minutes.
- Some improvement. Timing is becoming more consistent. When I missed a few times, I got tentative and slow and lost trust. When I let my arm fly, it all came back. I've learned this lesson so many times.
Same drill. Aramiths. Put it all together. 12 minutes.
- Good results. I'm now starting to focus on just an aggressive release and not worrying about the follow through. When I'm truly relaxed, the good follow through just happens.
Cool down. I shot 6 frames: X L-- R-- X X miss

Maybe my follow through doesn't have to be perfect right now. (Gasp!) I noticed that, from time to time, if I relaxed and focused on throwing the ball aggressively, then my follow through improved. On the contrary, when I focused on my follow through, then I did almost everything wrong. Maybe I simply don't feel comfortable trying to connect directly with my follow through. I suppose there are worse things. If I focus on throwing the ball aggressively, perhaps I instinctively improve my follow through.

I got some pretty clear evidence of this at one particular moment of my practice. It went like this:

"Be aggressive," I calmly repeated in my own mind. Strike.
"Be aggressive". Strike.
"Be aggressive". Strike.
"Be aggressive". Strike.
"Nice! I've hit four in a row." Pick the left 2-pin.
"Hahahahhahah! I'm dumb. OK. I forgive you. Be aggressive." Strike.
"Be aggressive". Strike.

I get the sense that there's a clue in there somewhere.

OK...

Why do you trust your shot? What evidence do you have that your trust is well-founded?

Tell me!