Playing a game of Twenty-One with Monique Ley is a little bit different than at Las Vegas.
Ley ripped away 21 straight strikes a couple of weeks ago at Estevan Bowl, her longest such streak ever, while setting a lane record at the bowling alley. On Feb. 7, she got a three game total of 248-300-279 for 827 pins, breaking her own record set in 2016 by three. She also broke her own record for the ladies series in Saskatchewan and achieved 21 strikes in a row in their Wednesday night league.
For Ley, the mental focus has to be at just the right level for continued success.
“For me, out of ten, my mental focus needs to be at a six for me to be able to do that,” said Ley. “I have a different level of intensity, so if I’m really intense I get nervous, an that’s when I screw up. So I have to stay at a six.”
Ley said it takes a long time to be able to train oneself to be able to keep it at a level like that. Getting in a zone like that was just something that happened.
“My first game, I kept on leaving corner pins in the first game,” she said. “I was actually complaining about how I couldn’t take out the corner pin. Then I just made a small adjustment and starting carrying and it changed a lot.”
Ley has had two sanctioned perfect game of 300 but has done six altogether now.
Later this spring, Ley will once again attempt to go to Worlds in Las Vegas in 2019. Last December, she and the Canadian team finished 17th at the competition, with Ley averaging 175.67 in three games with the team while Ley individually bowled a total of 24 games with an overall average of 193.42.
“I took the month of December off, just to take a break from it,” said Ley. “I was getting a little bit run down from practicing and training for worlds. I just got back into it in the middle of January. I’ve just been getting ready for upcoming tournaments. I have a busy March to July.”
