Well if you tuned in to the show last Sunday, then you know things didn't go according to plan. For those of you that didn't check out my blog on pba.com, here's a few excerpts giving inside information on what it's like to make the TV show.
Although the entire week went really well, the TV show was another story.
Bowling on TV is the most unique experience and it is truly a privilege, something you dream about since you were a kid.
It is by far the quickest game you will ever bowl and everything seems like it’s on fast-forward.
We only get four practice shots before our match. We have four shots to figure out how the lanes have changed from practicing on the pair before the show, to an hour later after three matches have been bowled. So making decisions becomes a very educated guessing game.
The TV lights make the lanes dry up pretty fast and trust me, they make you feel like you’re in Las Vegas in the middle of July! I don’t usually get hot while I bowl and am generally always freezing (being from Southern California and used to warm weather). However, after practicing on the TV pair before the show had started, I got a bag of ice to hold while I was waiting for my match to start because my hand had puffed up so much from the heat (mind you it was snowing outside the building).
However, the lights on the TV show are also one of my favorite elements. I remember bowling on my first TV show and seeing my ball go down the lane for the first time with the effects of the ultra bright lights. It’s crazy because the ball looks like it is actually glowing. The colors are completely different and the rotation even looks magnified, almost like it sparkling down the lane.
Back to the TV show. Yes, I shot 147 on TV and yes, I am disappointed. However as much as that really stinks, life goes on. There will be more TV shows and more opportunities (such as the Women’s Series Showdown presented by USBC that I have now qualified for).
Everyone has bad games on TV and makes mistakes, whether that be missing a spare or making a bad decision (or both in my case); it’s all part of the learning curve that you go through throughout your entire bowling career. We’ve all been there.
There are bad days and there are good days. The bad days remind us to learn from our mistakes and make us stronger as individuals and competitors. Then the good days remind us why we love bowling and the competition.
So no matter what point you are in with your personal bowling career, remember that everyone has ups and downs and getting upset about it won’t solve anything. Think about what you can do to turn it around and stay positive. Those are my words of wisdom for the week.
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