"How do you eat an elephant?" Remember that riddle? The answer is, "one bite at a time." While it was originally just an elephant joke, it became a popular phrase for awhile with motivational books and speakers as an example of how you should tackle your large objectives in life.

That is, once you have set your mind on achieving "something," make a list of smaller goals that will lead to that "something." In this manner, you will build a series of attainable steps that, each time you accomplish one, will keep you in a positive frame of mind and make you see that the large objective is getting nearer and easier to attain.

"So," you're asking yourself, "how does that apply to bowling?" Well, it has a lot to do with improving your game if you've made up your mind to do so. Each of us has an objective in mind, besides having fun, with regards to our bowling game - bowl decently so as not embarrass myself, raise my average by twenty pins, become a 200-average bowler, and so forth.

Okay, let's say that you're a 130 average bowler and want to raise your average by twenty or more pins to get at least to the 150's. Doing a self-analysis of your situation, you can see that if you make three to four more spares a game, you will achieve that objective.

With more experienced bowlers who average 190+, one or two more spares a game is 15 to 20 pins. As a 130 bowler, you will tend to throw a gutter ball here-and-there and also some short count first balls so three or four more spares per game is more realistic at first.

The large objective is this - raise your average from 130 to 150+ within the next six months. (Let's pretend that you will be very satisfied if you get there and would not want to accomplish any more than that.)

Here are the smaller goals that will get you there:

1) Find a coach who will instruct you in shooting spares. Since you need to get only three or four mores spares a game, you probably won't need to change your style too radically.

Note that if you go to the USBC website at bowl.com and go to the "Coaching" section, you will be able to find a certified member of the USBC Coaches Association by putting in your zip code for the area in where you live.

2) Decide on a set time once or twice a week for your coaching session to be held. You must make the commitment to stick to this schedule if you want to reach the objective.

3) Decide on the spare methodology that you will use and develop. Some of the more widely acceptable ones are the "3-6-9," and the "2-4-6" sparing systems. There may, however, be a better and more suitable one that your coach knows.

4) Set a goal that you will be at a 140 average by the time three months have passed and a 145 average after 5 months. These are measurable points of getting to the 150 average for the purposes of charting your progress.

While this may be a simplistic example of a large objective, are you seeing how the objective has been broken down into smaller and easily attainable steps? The "elephant" is the 150 average and the goals you set to get there are the "one bite at a time."

Once you get into the habit of breaking down large objectives into little and more easily achievable ones, it will be much easier to get to where you would like to be. Don't be afraid to aim as high as you want as long as you remember to break them down into easy to reach goals. As each step along the way is reached, you will gain more-and-more confidence in your purpose and before you know it, you will be bowling the best that you can.

Which reminds me, "why is it so difficult for an elephant to hide in your refrigerator?" "Because you can always smell the peanuts on his breath."

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)