Check out the new products in the Spare Necessitites section of the online store!! There are bowling candles, coasters, air fresheners, and playing cards!

Here are my upcoming travels or reports on recent adventures.....

In March I'm very excited to be taking my first trip to New York around the 19th and 20th. Fortunately, I'll have a great tour guide in Chris Alderucci who is arranging this teaching trip. I'll be teaching at Bowl-Rite Lanes in Jersey City as well as a few other places - haven't quite arranged the details of the whole trip yet, but I will be available for private lessons...

I am looking forward to teaching a Silver class in St Louis IN THE BOWLING MUSEUM!!! I am very excited about this venue. Even if you have your Silver, you might want to audit this one. We'll be teaching on the lanes inside the museum. I might have to bring my equipment to this one so I can say I've thrown a ball on those legendry lanes! The dates are March 8th, 9th, and 10th.

I'll be going to Colorado Springs to teach at Fort Carson Bowling Center on April 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. If you are interested in private lessons there, let me know!

So far this year I am scheduled to teach two Bronze classes for USA Bowling. One is at the facilities of Classic Products in Fort Wayne, Indiana the first weekend of June and other in Vegas August 3-4. June will be a travelin' month as Bowl Expo moves the largest bowling trade show in the world to New Orleans. I'll be speaking there on Coaching Tools and hopefully getting another chance to do the Dean and Susie Show with Dr. Dean Hinitz. If you have not attended one of our seminars, you are in for a lot of laughs and learning. Bowl Expo is always a tremendous opportunity to network. Hope to see you there.

Good News!!! Super School is back! It will be held August 19-22, 2002 in San Antonio, Texas. The price will be around $650US. Watch for more news in Bowling This Month magazine or check out the new and improved website at http:\\www.bowlingthismonth.com

If you would like to schedule a lesson or a clinic, you may do so by contacting me at susie@beyondbowling.com. Private lessons are available at a rate of $50 for 45 minutes in my area and $75 if I travel to you. Depending on where you have your lesson, there is no linage charge. If you wish to use the computer and the motion analysis program during the lesson, the rates are $45 per half-hour and $90 per hour.

I do clinics all over the country on all types of bowling subjects. 

"Spares Are a Necessity" is a clinic on (what else?) spare shooting.

"Whoever Finds it First, Wins " is a clinic on getting lined up faster.

" It's More Fun If You Do It On Purpose" is the clinic on the basic fundamentals of bowling. There is also an advanced clinic on this subject.

"The Art of Lane Play" is an all day seminar on lanes and patterns which usually includes an afternoon of playing on some very tough conditions.

" I Can't Believie They Pay Me For This!" is a clinic I do for people who want to become coaches. It includes the marketing ideas to help you either do it for a living or make a big difference supplementing your income. It is great fun!

I am developing a clinic on mental toughness. We sometimes forget that although we can't think them down, thinking can surely stop us from physically getting the job done!

I also do some traveling as a speaker at banquets or other functions. References available if you'd like.

Please let me know if you would like a clinic in your area.

This is turning into the delightful-reading-good-things-happening section!

From Jim Ensminger....

A while back you told me that my problem was that you thought I was "lazy". Well, I think you were right. Imagine that. I spent quite a bit of time digesting what you said. I didn't think I was lazy. What did she mean by that? Well, here's what I came up with.

I was just going through the motions. In the last month or so this is what I've done. Establish a pre-shot routine and stick with it. Mentally visualize each shot, follow through, and watch the ball. Remember what I did the last time on the shot before, watch more closely the transition of the lanes. I think that your term for lazy was that I was mentally lazy. You were right. It's been a long time since I was focused on what I was doing. Going through the motions was easy. Applying the mental game makes this game a little tougher.

I'm back to trying to hit boards rather than areas. I now get unhappy if I miss, whereas before I don't think I realized I was missing where I was looking. Maybe this sounds crazy to you but I think that you have to want to execute ever shot perfectly in order to do so. The results are that last night I shoot 300-279-245=824, with the first 21 in a row. But you know what sticks in my mind? I threw the 22nd one a little hard and didn't carry the 7 pin. The mental part of the game is so hard....so many things to think about and then apply. It's almost like you have to put yourself in a trance. Anyway thanks for the advice, I also use your word that you gave me - training not practice. When I go to "practice", now I look at it as training, Before I would just go through the motions, now these motions are with intent.

Thanks for calling me lazy.

JIM

This came to me recently from a student. It is one of the most delightful epistles I've ever received. I can't imagine why they want to remain anonymous. Hope you enjoy.

Hello Coach,

I wanted to pass along to you that this evening I will be headed over the Mississippi River and through (or acutally across) the Gulf on my way to Ft. Lauderdale (again) and Nationals. I also would like to pass along to you that some of my fellow league bowlers have begun to notice a 'slight' improvement in my bowling skills over the past week. I have made every effort to credit you with any possible improvement due to your exemplary coaching abilities. Of course, I also mentioned that you have a long way to go with this inveterate student, who is, however, willing to try whatever the coach asks. I'm not really a sycophant you know. I have even placed my cheat sheet: uh, I mean my 'Practice Plan' sheet in my bowling bag so that it's readily available for perusal while bowling. I know there are some people who can remember all the things listed on that sheet but the deeper I get into the pangs of perimenopause, the more constant my search for the correct dosage of ginkoba and /or soy in order to return my memory to its previous reliable level. That might explain some of my practicing problems.

I would like to be able to tell you that I have mastered ALL the tasks you listed, but Ha Ha, I know you would laugh at that, I'll just say that I continue studiously working on all of them. Some of the tasks are becoming easier while others make me look like a novice instead of a 30+ year bowler. I'll persist with the practicing, Coach. I'm sure some of my problems are equipment issues, which should be resolved next month. I finally made contact with Mr. Askins and he will work my equipment problems June 11 or 12. That means I will be optimistically awaiting the chance to exhibit my newly developed skill (and solicitously awaiting my less than desirable display of washouts of the more difficult tasks you have so sagely assigned) so I will be ready for my next lesson around June 13 if that fits into your schedule. I will have the entire day available so please select the time and place that best fits your agenda.

As mentioned above I keep your 'practice plan' with me when bowling and I spend different parts of my 30 - 45 minute practice time working on certain tasks. Fortunately my youthful softball experiences still haunt my subconscious, so getting into that 'universal athletic pose' hasn't been too difficult to accomplish. I think my knees are flexed and hips are back, but please observe that I wrote 'think'. I also used to 'think' I walked straight until your video disproved that conviction.

I might have a handle on 'elbow on hip' and I would like to point out that I have established that (for me at least) the right elbow on the right hip seems to be the best strategy. I thought I had mastered the 'hand @ 4:30' but things aren't always as close as they appear (in or out of the mirror). I am still fumbling around a bit with the details. I could possibly be off 30 minutes either way or maybe I just can't differentiate between AM and PM. I'm sure you are more that capable of clarifying this issue for me my oh so estimable Coach! I definitely see '2R' on a somewhat regular basis and I seem to be at a point where taking my '2nd step to the left' is almost an unconscious act. At least the drifting problem 'seems' to be under control. That's a couple of problems (almost) conquered leaving several I will continue to work on, Coach.

I know you will be saddened to hear that I believe (or at least hope) I have managed to 'keep my head up.' I say saddened because I know you were so entertained by my modeling exhibition of that classy "indoor-lighting" visor. Darn, I guess I'll have to let that fashion statement go to someone else, unless you deem it necessary again, Coach, and I would never argue with your astute coaching process. I am also working, though not as successfully, on the 'shoulders back.' I think that is a softball habit that might encumber my progress. As a catcher, I tended to ball up in order to become a smaller target. Sometimes the batter wanted to smack me with the bat as I bantered with them in a sincere effort to assist in their temporary loss of concentration on the pitched ball. I'm sure it wasn't me personally they objected to, but possibly my witticisms they didn't care for. But I will try and get my 'shoulders back' as requested by my esteemed Coach. And again there is that '2R'.

As for the practice on 'longer slide-hips down and right leg on the floor (30%). Easy for you to say, uh, what I meant Coach is that I believe I can master those with more practice. I have been trying to lengthen my slide and am struggling miserably. Is it my foot...my shoe...my body alignment at the line...or just too much stuff in my perimenopausal brain?? I've tightened my shoelace...I've tried the new and improved #10 slide pad for my Dexter's but that was a bit much (which is actually an understatement), I almost slid out the door near lane #1...I have even resorted to sampling 'Easy Slide' and other such products that your are so adamantly against the use of. I'm sure being the august coach that your are, you can help me see the error of my ways on the sliding issue and prescribe the required correctional practice. Believe it or not, the 'hips down' is beginning to work. In fact that just began coming around this past week and I'm so relieved. I was beginning to think I had lost all my pythonic athletic abilities, except of course for my own variation of the 'universal athletic pose'.

Now about that 'right leg on the floor (30%). Was your intent the right LEG? I thought your intent might be the right FOOT...gosh I hope you meant the right foot because if you meant the right leg then I'm not even close to getting my hips down like I 'thought'. But you know, I think maybe I should just keep my mouth shut about that issue. I am already envisioning more incomparable coaching tools (much scarier than your visor) you might be tempted to pull out of your black bag (or white truck). But no, Coach, that is not a negative statement, just a reminder for me to renew my vow to continue practicing on 'hips down'. I just have to keep reminding myself how fulfilling that 200+ average will be. And about that '2R', you know Coach, just when I think I have that under control I find myself looking directly at my MARK just as I release the ball instead of looking '2R'. But I will continue to labor on it.

OK. The last tasks were about my 'follow through', 'extending out and up' and 'loose floppy arm', I 'think' (there is that word again) I've finally calculated that if I get my hips down (and now I'm concerned if they are really down enough) and keep my head up and shoulders back, well gosh, look at that, I almost always follow through with my arm, and it's easier to keep my head up...and my shoulders back. You know Coach, I think I'm beginning to see a lane approach blueprint appear here. Can it be true? Imagine that, but I'm sure you saw it all along. I'm still working the 'loose arm' and will hopefully some day deduce why that action is so erratic that I cannot yet find neither rhyme nor reason for why or when I will do it. I'll persist with the practicing, Coach. I am complying with your directions on 'Sport Bowling'; instead I'll concentrate on 4 or 5 35 to 45 minute practice sessions a week throughout the summer.

Hopefully I will be able to email you next week that I rolled at least a fair game or nice series at Nationals. But if I don't bowl well I will humbly accept the fact that in spite of all your exemplary coaching skills I'm still not quite the malleable student I need to be and so I'll strive to be more receptive to your teachings in the future. Have I told you that some of my peers think I'm an "apple-polisher"? They are wrong you know, I'm not sure why they would even think that of me. They all know I prefer strawberries and bananas to apples. What could they be thinking?

Susie, I hope you have enjoyed reading this note. It was just a fun way for me to practice my "creative writing" skills or maybe it's my "speechwriting" skills. (I just completed both courses at the local community college). I enjoy writing like this, but I'm not usually so facetious in real life. My son says I have a very DRY personality usually. Whatever, please don't take my witticisms to heart, this is just my own humorous way (or at least my idea of humor) of keeping you informed of where I am with the 'Practice Plan" you laid our for me. I will be looking for another lesson though on June 13.

Here's a missive about lessons learned.......

My apologies, Most Worthy Teacher, I left the path, but have returned, humbled. (Bear with me for 60 seconds or so here . . .)

Boeing in the Seattle area held a 'Tournament of Champions' for winners of the 12 or so leagues they sponsor. Synthetics, 40-42 feet of oil. I stood 20 and shot 6 board at the arrows, starting with four in a row and had 184 in the 8th and a spare when the first ball in the 10th jumped on the headpin, luckily leaving only a 10 pin. I told myself it was 10th frame jitters and forced myself to make every motion correct, so of course I missed the spare to end up with 223.

Second game, ball jumped to the headpin again and for the rest of the second game, I tried making sure that I was 1) following through, 2) not rotating my hand, 3) not bending over at the foul line, or 4) forcing my armswing. End result: 177.

Third game, first ball on the headpin again, luckily no split and I picked it up. Next ball, said 'this is ridiculous, I just shot a 275 on a flat oil Sport shot last week (really!) so my game is good, JUST MOVE!!! Moved 4 boards left, moved target two boards left, ended third game with 7 strikes out of 8 first ball attempts, and my delivery worked like I'd never had a problem for a 238. . . Duh!

I will not doubt myself again. I'm better than that.

Regards,

Conrad B. Smith

Renton, Washington

Thanks.

Check out the new products in Spare Necessities section of the on-line store! There are bowling candles, coasters, air fresheners, and playing cards!

A Picture IS Worth A 1000 Words

Coach - Isn't it time you quit guessing whether or not a student understands what you mean? Tired of trying to get your point across with crude drawings? Aren't you ready to present your knowledge in an easy to understand professional manner? 

Pro Shop Professionals - Want to eliminate that "Deer in the headlights" stare as you begin to talk about flare or pitch?

Bowlers - Establish a tremendous visual library that you will return to again and again. Never again will you be at a loss when your ball driller begins all that "pitch" talk! Be sure that you know what your coach means when she talks about "Up, Down, and Away."

Mix and Match and Begin Your Collection Today!

Let a USA Bowling Coach Decal Help Drive Your Business!

These USA Bowling Decals will let everyone know that you are indeed a certified Bowling Coach!

Advertise your certification as you place these decals at your local bowling centers, on your car, and on your bowling bag.

This fun department of the store contains some unique and interesting items. How have you lived without a bowling pin on your antenna? Check it out! 

Sometimes during a lesson students crack me up. I will be sharing with you some of their remarks. Remember, they are all true…

 "The lanes just haven't gotten used to my ball yet."

"What arrows?"

"That happened because my right leg was going faster than my left."

"That's not a bruise on my thumb. That's copenhagen."

"That shot was surely D.O.R." (dead on release)

What if the hokey-pokey is really what it's all about?

What shot would you throw if it were up to you? It is.

You can think yourself out of doing anything, but if you don't think you can do anything.

Output is always a function of input.

Destruction is an inside job.

You will always execute your current dominant thought.

Only the mediocre are always at their best.

If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't matter and winning isn't everything (Vermeil)

If you don't change direction, you're likely to end up where you're headed.

It's not the hours you put into practice, it's the real practice you put into the hours.

You can't think clearly with your fists clenched.

Making something hard never makes it better. It just makes it hard.

The game ends when you quit.

The quality of your play never counts as much as the quality of your effort. (Wilkinson)

What you resist, persists.

It's not the act, it's the react - what happens doesn't matter. How you feel about it does.

Don't let what you can't do interfere with what you can do.

With little effort you improve exactly that much.

You cannot outexecute a bad fit.

There is not a lot of traffic on the extra mile.

The only difference between fear and excitement is what you call it, an "Oh boy!" or an "Oh no!"

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

Acceptance is not excepting anything.

Susie Minshew is Awarded the Gold

Ft. Worth, TX  April 18, 2000 – After careful consideration, USA Bowling has ranked Susie Minshew as a "Gold Level" Certified Coach.

Susie joins Rod Ross, Ron Hoppe, Fred Borden and several others as USA Bowling recognizes this elite level of skill, talent, experience and education. Since receiving her Bronze Coaching Certification in 1992, Minshew has given thousands of lessons and traveled extensively coaching coaches and bowlers. Listed below are only a few of the coaching honors that precede this award.

1994-Susie was appointed to the National Coaches Council.

1995-Head Coach of the National Bowling Team for the Republic of Panama.

1996-Awarded the distinction of being named one of only eight Master Bronze Instructors nationwide.

1997-Chosen as one of only three Master Silver Instructors in the country.

1998-Named Bowling Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee.

1999-Appointed as an Assistant Coach for TEAM USA.

In addition, Minshew was voted the top coach in the country in a recent on-line poll conducted by USA Bowling and www.bowl.com. With this "Gold Level" award, USA Bowling  recognizes that Susie Minshew has used her training and her experience to develop systems and set standards for coaching that influence students and coaches not only in this country but around the world.

Susie's experience on the lanes is not limited to coaching. She has many competitive accolades and her contribution as an author has influenced many in the bowling industry today. Susie has written numerous articles that appear in many popular bowling publications that solicit and depend upon her input on a regular basis. Along with writing, Strikeability Inc., Minshew's coaching company, has been Susie's direct way to touch the bowling community with her expertise. Her passion for the sport of bowling is ever apparent, as is her commitment to coaching as an industry and as a way of life. 

Gold Status is an honored position for this dedicated professional. If you ask Susie if she enjoys teaching bowling, she's likely to respond that she "teaches life skills through bowling." Susie's approach considers the "whole" person and uses bowling as a tool to help the athlete improve themselves and therefore the world around them.

Congratulations are certainly in order as we honor Susie and her new found Gold status. Susie is a tremendous leader in the bowling industry. Her contribution is worth its weight in gold and is greatly appreciated.