Where are you aiming?

I was watching TV earlier. Pro bowling was on and it made me remember something from a few years back when I was in my late teens.

I had just joined a bowling league that my girlfriend asked me to play in with her and her family.

I was a pretty decent natural player and am blessed with decent hand-eye coordination.

The first few matches, I averaged like 140 or something with little experience and no training.. but being a very competitive person by nature, I was getting annoyed at my lack of progress.

One day I was getting particularly frustrated because there were a lot of players averaging 165-170 effortlessly. To watch these old guys with crazy throwing styles beating my socks off tilted me to no end.

So I asked the pro at the counter what was the biggest secret to getting better at bowling? He simply said, "hit the head pin"

It seemed so obvious that it was like a slap in the face.

So I started using those arrows on the floor and focused on ONLY hitting the headpin. No fancy spin. No fancy footwork. No fancy anything.. I just aimed for an arrow in line with the headpin and made sure my release was straight up towards the sky.

From that point on my team never lost again and I averaged 190 per game with a best score of 276.

Since that time, I maybe bowl once a year. Every time I go play I seem to do poorly that first game. But then I remember that buck-toothed bowling pros advice, "hit the head pin." And invariably, my next game is exponentially better.

So how does this translate to poker?

Well I think sometimes we forget the basics and starting falling victim to "fancy play syndrome." We move up in stakes and stop thinking in terms of bbs and more in terms of actual money. There are numerous other reasons we stray from the basics and its to our own detriment.

So if you happen to be "playing poorly", are on downswing, or simply feel you could have a better win rate; Go back and reread everything you can on the basics. Read all the guides on FTR, drop down to 2NL and play like a nit, watch some grinderschool.com videos... whatever gets you back to basics.

And for God sakes. Hit the damned head pin!

Good point. Everytime I hit a down swing, I correct one bad habit that I thought I had already gotten rid of and I'll start winning again.

lol good post :)

i remember when i moved up to 25nl, i would think that every button raise was an att to steal. to compensate i would 3bet light and when they 4bet shoved it put me on tilt like no other, thinking that i got super outplayed

silly silly me

Beautiful anecdote and advice, Outlaw.

I think any player will need to evaluate his play every once in a while. Sometimes getting back to the basics is exactly the right idea.

Thanks for sharing! :D