The EASY Spare

“That’s an easy spare,” one of my bowling teammates said to me. “You can pick that up, no problem.”

Those were meant to be words of encouragement…I think.  The pin I was trying to knock down for my spare was the “one” pin.  In bowling the ten pins are numbered.  The “one” pin is in the very middle of the lane.  It is also referred to as the “head” pin.  This is the pin that needs to be hit in order to throw a strike.  So, it’s a pin that is aimed for every time a bowler takes his first throw.  Theoretically it is, in fact, the easiest spare to attempt.

But there was that phrase.  My bowling teammate’s phrase is a troubling one, “That’s EASY.”  Think about hearing the phrase:  “That’s an EASY spare.”

It adds a certain pressure to the effort.  After all, if it’s EASY…well, then gee, there’s really no way I should miss it, right? 

“Come on, it’s EASY!”

Pressure.

Pretty soon other interpretations of the phrase begin to flash quickly through my mind. 

“You’d have to be pathetic to miss this one.”

Pressure.

“NOBODY misses the ‘one’ pin, are you kidding?  NOBODY on earth stinks that much!”

Pressure.

“You’d have to be a sad example of a human being to miss this one!”

Pressure.

“A person who misses the ‘one’ pin really isn’t fit to continue with life.”

(Well, okay, that last phrase didn’t really flash through my mind…or, if I just now wrote it, maybe it did…oh, I don’t know…nevermind.)

I told myself, “Forget his comment.  Don’t psyche yourself out.  You’ve picked up hundreds of these.”

When the “pressure” is on, an otherwise capable person can perform terribly.

I told myself, “Don’t over-think this thing.  Just go up there confidently and make your normal throw and pick up the spare.  This is nothing!”

Suddenly, through the same type of mental discipline that all of the great sports heroes exhibit, I felt a surge of confidence and I made my approach KNOWING that it was already done.  Making my throw was only a formality.  The spare had already been achieved.  I could FEEL it.  Do you know what I mean?  I could SEE it, already accomplished!  Again, all of the great sports performers understand this important mental aspect of the game.

As I made my approach and released the ball, I felt smooth and confident.  My release felt terrifi….uh oh, my release.  Oh no…my release.

This story is an example of why I could never be a top ranked competitor in any sport. All of the great sports performers can rise to the occasion and perform under pressure.  In fact, certain great sports competitors actually play BETTER when the pressure is on. 

My ball missed the “one” pin by at least a foot.  The ball didn’t even come close to the “one” pin.  In fact, I was throwing on lane 13 and my ball actually ended up on lane 14, where, ironically, it came fairly close to the “one” pin of some other guy.

I noticed that my teammate didn’t offer an opinion on the level of difficulty for any of my other shots for the rest of the evening.  That was a pretty good idea.