Becoming a right-brain bowler

I used to bowl in elementary school, in a Saturday-morning league with my friends. I was white, it was suburbia — it was what you did. I was never that good — career high was 197 — and I still have my ball. I had it redrilled a few years ago and bought a new bag and, now that my feet have settled in at 9.5, shoes. I got the flashiest/ugliest shoes I could find. They look like Darth Maul.

Today I went bowling for the first time in about three years, and I realized it was high time I corrected some old mistakes. I have always ended my approach on my right foot — great if you want to shatter your ankle with the ball as it passes by, but not great if you want to be consistent or have proper form. So I am trying to retrain my brain to end the approach on my left foot — four steps, swing back on the third, release on the fourth. Ish. Close as I can come.

First game was a 150, using Dan’s Old Broke-Down Right Foot Style. It also started to make my infamous right knee hurt — all the momentum goes to one side of my body, and guess where it ends up? So the second and third games were lower — 112 and 126 — but at least eight out of each 10 frames, I convinced my body to get with the new program. It will take time but I feel like I overcame the mental block.

I’m going to be funny to watch in the meantime.

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