This weeks winner comes from a country I love more than any other…. AUSTRALIA.
Congrats Zac Krebbekx from South Australia.

If you want to win a signed autograph card (like the one below) just email me at belmo@jasonbelmonte.com a question, any question. If it’s what i consider the best question of the week, YOU WIN!

Below is the conversation between Zac and I.

QUESTION:

Hi Jason, 


FIrst of all, congratulations on all your success over the past few years.
It is obvious you have worked very hard and proves that you should never give up,
no matter what someone tells you! 


So onto my question.
Everyone talks about your unique two-handed style but I never hear any questions about
the mindset of a professional bowler,such as yourself.
When you are on the lanes, do you (or ever have) found tenpin bowling to be a stress
reliever?  Where you can just go out and concentrate on doing the best that you can and
block out the hurdles of everyday life (especially for someone of your caliber and media attention). 
I hope to hear from you and good luck in the future along with the addition to your family.

Cheers

Zac Krebbekx

ANSWER:

Hey mate,
 
 First off - great question. I think that many people may also have been
 wondering the same thing.
 So before I answer your question Ill need one thing.....
 Your home address - Congrats mate, you are the winner of the 'question of
 the week'. I will be sending you a signed autograph card asap.
 
 Ok now my answer.
 
 The mind set for each athlete will almost always be different. For me, i
 try and 'switch on' when im on the approach and then switch to 'stand by
 mode' when in the players area.
 Im always thinking, about the shot at hand, but i try to relax my head
 when im not preparing for my shot. Does that make sense?
 
 The other thing I think is really important is patience. I am not a
 patient person by nature, but in bowling, is imperative that you have
 some.
 
 A bowling game to me is not a JUST a score - its 10 individual frames. If
 i can bowl 10 great shots, then my score (most of the time) will take care
 of itself.
 Now if your game doesnt have 10 great shots, its important to remember
 that 1 game wont get you to the title match (I mean we normally play
 multiple games in qualifying and each one counts) but 1 bad game can take
 you out of contention. So EVERY pin is important. I cant tell you how many
 times I have missed a final 4 or a cut by less then a few pins.
 So no matter how bad that game seems to be going - make sure you get every
 pin you can during that game.
 
 Now blocking out 'outside' influences (like media or hurdles of everyday
 life) is not easy, but for me what I try and do concentrate at the job at
 hand.
 Putting my mind to making great individual shots (for me) blurs out those
 hurdles. Most of the time haha.

Is Bowling a stress reliever? Well for me, its my job, and like most other jobs in the world
its the main cause of stress in my life haha.
Bowling for a living is a dream come true, but like all jobs, we have our good days and our bad days. 
 
I hope Zac that this answers your questions and thanks again for writing!

Your mate
 
Jb

We have the 2nd winner of the ‘Question of the week”.
This weeks winner hails from sunny Spain.

Below is his question and my answer…. also at the bottom of the page is the card that I have signed and sent to him.

Thanks everyone for the loads of questions – keep them coming, your could be next weeks winner.

QUESTION:

Hi Belmo!
 First of all, congrats for your new web page, I'm looking forward to see
 what kind of stuff will be on sale in your store! Well, I'm sending you
 this
 e-mail to see if you can answer this question that came up to me when I
 started watching PBA bowling (and win your signed card also, LOL)...

 Do you have fun bowling? Don't get me wrong. Of course you have. What I
 mean
 is that if apart from tournaments, training, clinics and so on..how often
 do
 you bowl just for fun with friends, your wife,etc without caring about
 your
 score, movements and those things? I think that it should be very tough to
 quadrate all your liabilities and have time for yourself.

 Well, I hope I get some answer! Hope to hear from you soon!

 All the best
 Javier Merelles

ANSWER:

Hey Javier,

Mate thanks heaps for this questions, I dont often get asked this so it was fun to answer.

I really dont get to just bowl for fun. I often see young guys come into
the bowl in my home town and they look like they are just having a
absolute blast.... They usually only score about 78 but they are having so
much fun.
Its something I miss about bowling. Once you get to the professional
level, its hard to bowl a game of 78 and muck around.
I feel like my mates are always expecting me to shoot 300 haha, so i try
and knock over as many pins as I can to show them that Im worthy to be
called a pro haha

Kimberly used to bowl with me in league but since she is 8 months
pregnant, those days may be over haha

So to answer your question - for me, i never really bowl just to mess
around with friends. When i bowl with my mates, im still trying to make
sure that I beat them all, otherwise ill never hear the end of it if a mate
beat me haha

Cheers for the question

Your mate

Jason Belmonte

Thank you to the many emails/questions I was asked. Its very nice to know that there are a heap of you out there wanting to know a few things about me.
Every Friday a winner will be announced, so keep those emails coming
belmo@jasonbelmonte.com

Mike,

Mate, firstly congrats. You are the weekly winner of the signed autograph card. The question you have asked is something many people would like to know. So please email me your home address and ill be sending you the card ASAP.

Now the answer to your questions.

Question:

Have you and Kimberly ever thought about possibly moving to the States so that you would not have to travel as much in between tournaments? And what are your plans as far as your career once you become a father? Will you still travel and bowl as much as you do now? I think you’re awesome Jason! Keep it up!!

Answer:

Kimberly and I are actually only weeks away from meeting our first child. Moving to the USA is now not an option for us.
We have a large extended family and we are both very much family loving people. Having our little child grow with their family around them is very important to us.
As for whats going to happen to me on tour when im a daddy….. that is a really tough question. I guess the short answer is i better strike more haha.
With an extra mouth to feed, every penny counts. Seriously though, the tour will be extremely hard to bowl on with out my wife and little baby with me. Its a sacrifice that i have to make and whilst I am not happy about it, Kimberly and I and the baby will do our best to make it work.
I plan to bowl as much on tour as possible, but i think my travels around the world might slow down a little.
Thanks Mike for the question

Your mate

Jason