05 Oct Getting Mind and Body to Behave Together

The questions seemed harmless enough when asked. Do I bowl? And would I be willing to fill in for someone who couldn’t make the team when they did the charity bowl? I said sure to both.

It seemed harmless enough.  I did bowl; many years ago when I was much younger. How much could have changed? Wasn’t it just like riding a bike? That’s what I thought and in theory I was absolutely correct.

But the difficulty came in the execution. Yes, I had the concepts down pat. I even remembered where to stand on the lane, how to do the three step approach, and the mechanics of holding the ball in preparation for delivery. After that, it all broke down.

You see the problem wasn’t in the mind; the problem was in the body. My body. It just wouldn’t behave the way it used to. When I took the three step approach and tried to bend and dip to deliver the ball, my bender and dipper didn’t engage. The smooth slide up to the foul line turned into a stumble that almost took my feet out from under me. And the throw, well let’s just say that the pin setter didn’t have much work to do – mechanical though it was.

I wish I could tell you that it got better; it didn’t. I tried to stall my throw by chatting up the person in the next lane. But that can only last for so long before you feel the burning stares of your team mates. No recourse but to take my place in readiness. I felt like such a fraud knowing all the moves and making a striking – pardon my pun – pose only to endure another malfunction.

It was really eerie watching my hand not do as I asked it but rather act on its own accord. I would so very carefully line up the ball with the center dot and take aim only to have my wrist turn sharply to the left, like it belonged to someone else. After a stern talking to, the next time it would auto-correct and produce a gully-seeking missile – on the right.

About midway through the first game, I started asking my fellow ‘athletes’ what sport one would play with a propensity to twist one’s wrist that way. We discussed what that would look like in badminton, tennis, golf, hockey and baseball. Nothing pretty was the conclusion. And it wasn’t pretty in bowling either.

And I’ll tell you what else wasn’t pretty.  Seeing how my bender and dipper weren’t working the next day. it seemed as though they resented being called back into action after laying dormant for so long.

Upon wakening, my mind gave my body the customary instructions. The response from my body was, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Not after what you did yesterday.” It seemed to me that I caught a slight sense of gloating, perhaps even some payback going on. Which one was in control? Why can’t my mind and body just behave together?

Then it occurred to me what the problem was. Not enough play. That’s right. It’s in playing that everything comes together. The mind stays sharp to determine a game plan while the body sets to dodge and weave to execute the plan. They work in harmony. Who hasn’t seen a finely honed athlete performing at his or her peak? It’s a thing of beauty.

but, oh, the practice involved. The play. The physical activity that keeps those benders and dippers working like a well-oiled machine. Without use, like anything else, they become less than stellar. Add some daily challenges and I’d bet they’d rise to the occasion. I bet I’d even get back some of that Mojo I used to have as a young bowler. Notice I said Mojo, not skill!

Did you also notice I didn’t use the word ‘exercise’? My mind would take that word and add kinds of adjectives to it. Some I can’t print here. But play works. Who doesn’t like to play? Alright, I can hear some of you saying that play hurts now where it didn’t hurt before. That’s the problem.

It hurts because we haven’t kept at it. When was the last time you actually played; when you got together with some folks to kick a ball around a school yard, a playground or an open field?

Walking isn’t the same; it doesn’t use the same muscles nor does it challenge the mind to work in sync. Running – okay, I hear you – walking quickly to intercept a ball, catch a Frisbee or beat the dog to the stick you just threw brings all our faculties into play. See. it’s the play word again. We don’t say it would bring all our faculties into exercise, now do we?

The Smarty Pants Way:  We are going to look for opportunities to play more often and soon.  Anybody want to go bowling?