We often believe we are in control of our muscles and what they do. But if a child runs in front of your car; you think.."STOP" and not the word but the image of the car stopping and "Muscle Memory" puts the brake on and even applies the force to prevent the accident.
. No we did not think.. it happen because our body reacted in a preventative moment. What if I told you that this interrelationship between the mind and your actions can be applied in your sport; would you work to create the necessary controls.
There are Muscle actions of our body which are "Memories" which we accept as daily life.. Lungs breathing or heart beating. Both are muscles which seem to operate without any personal involvement. But let yourself become stressed or over think a problem and you will discover how your heart will replies. Sometime, these extension of your control of your body and "Muscle Memories" can be very dangerous if you are not young and in top physical conditioning. Other times it is the next step to your personal development. Especially if you need to develop a movement like "Bowls Delivery".
What makes "Muscle Memory" difficult to understand is that as you study or develop knowledge of the Subconscious Mind's control or instructions to the muscles; you begin realizing that the idea "If I think it, I can do it", can really be a reality. Some muscle action during a performance like Delivery are natural action movements. Like rolling a bowl must be done with force as we do a arm swing or body movement to get the energy into the bowl. So to roll the bowl up the green is easily, but how much energy to use is another story of Muscle development.
However, our mind's mental instruction to the muscles are more difficult, and often misunderstood. When we look up the green and imagine the line that our bowl is going to take as the bias acts on your delivery; our mind is now moving into the "Memory Recall" and "Memory Evaluation" aspect of our delivery. These images, become the data for instructions which the subconscious mind uses as it begins computing on how to do this. We may find that our previous Deliveries and what we saw (Yes saw, if we were thinking of what happen) have become the information for the Subconscious to use in doing that performance again with the corrections we want. A change of Line or a little more weight.
Why? The alien who created this computer we call a mind, (or God) in his wisdom; made a great bio-machine which makes us wonder just how much we can do if we really work to develop and use our mind. In our sport there are two major tools. "In the Zone" absence of thinking and "Communication".
Like in today's computer, if we write a document and do not save it after our long and endless efforts, it can not be retrieved later and is lost. We can watch the bowl roll up the green a thousand times but if we don't mentally record it's roll with thoughts and some sort of analysis; it becomes an event which is probably lost to what can be called everyday "event trivia". Forgotten as we just did it and turned away.
Given is an example of a hitch-hiker, passing the time between rides as he decides at working to remember the license numbers of the last three passing cars. Because when we see something, the retina retained that image for some time after the object has passed, we can search our memory, for what is retained on the eyes' retina. This is a mental exercise of developing memory retrieval of vision.
He believes, that he can start with three numbers and eventually four.. etc. He is seeing a new number with every passing car and he must use the last two numbers with this new passing car license and recall them to make his three. This was me 50 years ago, when I was at University and hitchhiking home. This exercise was the start of developing the ability to retain the visual image of my sport after it had been done. Today, the retrieval is more advance as "Pre-Visualization" become a method of using the memory of previous deliveries to know the distance to the Jack. Imagine seeing your bowl go to the jack is "Memory Retrieval" which when correct gives you the jack distance for Delivery weight.
Like watching your Bowl roll to the "Head", the minute I stops seeing, your retrieval and Memory has ended. Like that hitch-hiker seeking the retain image of the license number, a cycle of ("see it") “record it" and "retrieval of the next” my "Memory search" cycle of three numbers has ended. Likewise, in our Delivery our “mental Work” is a cycle which always repeating itself. From Pre-mat to Feedback.
( Fact.. Today, In Canada, Hitch-Hiking is illegal with a fine and court cost up to $2000 and many internet “Ride Sharing” services are offered instead. But this was my training for Memory Retrieval"
Our Bowl Delivery, done several times during a game is such a cycle. First our "Pre-mat Routine" then "To the Mat Preparation", "Delivery", "Post Delivery Routine", "Bowl Roll Analysis" (above mention), ending in the Bowl's "Final Placement". As we step away from Mat and used our visual observation, we can still see the memory of that bowl roll to " Analysis" the Shot and finally make decisions. as a last part of the cycle, "Decisions on Correction". A total mental cycle which requires a lot of time and wasted or lost as we are busy watching the opponent's bowl. (Yes "Opponent's Bowl Analysis is also a confirmation of our own (previous rolls) performance and may be part of our "Feedback" or "Bowl Analysis". We are to decide if the same line but should be use. In your Pre- Delivery decisions of your next bowl roll the opponent's bowl data should not be used. You must always remember that each bowl rolls differently and the opponent's delivery is different and creates bad data. However, a fall in the green will always be in the same area of the green and your identification of that area can be confirmed by your opponent's bowl.
Why this example? Because, a lot of our Bowls delivery are like that passing car and we get lost in thought by watching the bowl rolling. Our watching our bowl roll without thinking or analysis is as if the hitch-hiker stopped "seeing" the license plate. ( doing his retrieval from the retina of the information) I believe we become tired of thinking or forcing to think and we let the action happens and allow ourself to forget it. "It is over, Turn and leave the mat". Is your delivery like that ? It happens and then it is over as we step from the mat and wait for our next bowl to be delivered. Then you must build your "Delivery Cycle" with a "Mental Sight" that as you walk from the mat you are still seeing the bowl roll and busy collecting data and making decisions as part of your "Post-Delivery Feedback".
If there was a sudden change in your bowl's roll caused by the playing surface, or increase roll due to a surface incline; it happen and is gone. But you can still remember it and analysis it. I have even seen a bowler turn as he was walking from the mat and look back up the green to identify the area of the green.
This example is given to understand not just "Feedback" but the analysis and storage of information and even the retrieval of previous "Feedbacks" and how we relate it to our previous deliveries. If the analysis was done during the delivery of those previous rolls.
First, during a game, we can remember the last few deliveries and our visits to the mat at this position where the mat is placed. We finish our team control of the mat and leave to go up the green. But two ends ago we also did a delivery from this end of the green and maybe this same mat position (or similar), Like the license plates of passing cars for the hitch-hiker; if we have not collected and memory stored the data (Analysis and Feedback) we can not use it later. As you walk up the green maybe do a review of the major facts of those three bowls (or 4 if pairs game) to know that storage has been done.
If we just see the bowl roll without remembering those previous deliveries at the same mat position or jack distance; we do not have data to create an expectation of our next delivery. When it is our turn to deliver the next bowl, then our analysis is finished and decisions made for the Pre-mat Routine. If being positive in this data collection we are not interested on errors but more on corrective action to be made.
After three or four rolls over that section of the green, we know something is causing your bowl to not follow it's proper Bias as expected.. Too often we just think "Oh I did a bad Delivery". To know the error, and to correct the error means decisions for your next visit to the mat at that end of the green. The common error of Lawn Bowlers is to simply blame it on having done a "bad delivery".
In a previous articles I have write about what athletics call "Being in the Zone". Even Tiger Wood in it explaining with on a Youtube video and said "Between my start of swing and seeing the ball in flight, I have not memory of what happen" He was in his Zone. This cycle of Feedback is a "Zone cycle" which may be made up of several parts to complete the physical delivery which required practice and practice until every time you deliver the bowl the same way; and you were reading and analysing that bowl's roll.
Under a normal "Newie Delivery", you know you have done a good physical delivery when you bowl has stopped near the Jack. You can even feel and hear the excitement of the Subconscious mind; because it was not as you expected. But "Muscle Memory" is more than the Muscles having been developed and the subconscious instructions to doing a good delivery.
Yes the Subconscious even records that feeling of excitement but immediately the subconscious is beginnign to tell the muscles to do that again. It is making that memory as "Ideal Bowl Memory" and will be remembering it and the "Muscle Memories" so that you can do the same again.
Can you tell someone how to do something, like telling your secretary how to do her letter, but if you have not previously done it correctly and also closely watched and analysis how it was done; you can not explain it in words. Can you mind instruct the muscle of what to do if you have not watched the bowl roll and analysis it every roll ( all rolls, the strange or normal rolls).
The mind can repeat what happen if it has the information of what happen and that information is your "Feedback" data it put into storage; and your analysis how ever detail it was. This teaching of the subconscious is with images because when you are in the "Zone" and the mind is in total control all the time you have is that image.
Last Summer while playing with members from another club I experience an opinion of Muscle Memory which really surprised me. I was playing with a Bowler who was being instructed on perfecting her delivery performance by a club coach and this bowler said to me, "Stay on the mat and watch your bowl so you can develop your muscle memory". Interesting because what she was making reference to was "FeedBack" which is not automatic recorded to used in the Pre-Mat Routine or "Delivery Preparation". It does get recorded a bit if after 3 hours you have done the same thing. But we all make small changes thinking we did something wrong and only FeedBack Analysis leads to Muscle Memory.
Take for example. You see a region of your "Bias" Line of the Bowl which remains straight because of the green having a small ridge. You go to the mat and you side step (walking the mat) to the left side of the mat with the idea you delivery line will stay left, just inside of that ridge if you repeat your line and weight. (Not going over the top it will not go straight as trying to come back up over the ridge but instead come down a bit faster). This was a modification of your delivery for a result.. How do you communicate it to the subconscious ? You visualize the bowl roll not going over the top and coming down faster. Yes just think it or see it as happening before you do your delivery. Muscle memory will come later when the subconscious has learned how to make the correct adjustment for that thought.
What adjustment? well you have step left on the mat but your thought of your coming delivery is a "Result thought". Up to now when you do a delivery (without corrective action) your thought has been where you are wanting the bowl to arrive.. If you change your line, change your weight, change a part of your delivery but still have your "Result Thought" the bowl should go there because your Muscle Memory and Subconscious instruction to the muscles will attempt to give you that result. (if the change is not that big a change).
So now you are still thinking where you want the bowl to arrive, (Result Thought) but because you have change your position you want the subconscious mind to also change instrucrtions to give you that same "Result". If you just changed your position on the mat by a foot and made no instruction to the subconscious mind then the same delivery would result in this 2nd bowl being a foot left of the previous bowl.
So now when you are preparing to go into the Zone of your delivery your thought was a visual thought of the bowl not running over the top of the ridge and finishing in the head where you wanted it. And now your "Delivery" is done with an absence of all thought. (in the Zone) Your two visualized thoughts indicated your wanted Bowl roll and now you are letting the subconscious mind perform the "Modified" Delivery.
However, as with the physical practice of Delivery to get your regular "Good" Delivery with "Muscle Memory"; you must do this mental practice several time also or the communication of your wishes to your Muscle Memory will not become a habit. Each time we will see that the subconscious mind will do a response to your visual image and eventually your "Muscle Memory" will have been educated by your visual thought of avoiding that ridge and you will be surprised how your bowl seem to run straight.
Of course, you bowl might be right of where you wanted it because "FeedBack" analysis will tell you that the bowl run back down the ridge gave it more distance or a change of bias.. But after a few times your subconscious mind know this. Yes you can trick your subconscious mind into the result you want. If you know your bowl is going to be right because of the run down the ridge than choose your wanted "Result" to the left of the jack. I don't suggest you over-think your subconscious control of your Muscle memory because like a friend whom you lie to.. your subconscious mind will not have confidence in your visual image. But for that one time when it is important I often do it and forgot about it (don't see it as FeedBack)
