You will be urged over and over again in web articles to enjoy the socializing aspects of lawn bowls. Chat with your team-mates and opponents etc., they counsel. I don’t completely disagree, but let's say the tenor of this blog is decidedly different. For me, if you don’t play well you are not going to enjoy the sport.
In my experience, a big obstacle in the way of the new bowler (besides throwing the wrong bias) is missing one’s line, in particular when switching between forehand and backhand shots in the same end. Obtaining the correct line requires sensitive discrimination and careful observation. It is a selection that one needs to change depending upon what preceding bowls teach you. In a game, four aim points need to be noted and retained: forehand and backhand aim points in each of the two directions of the rink. I have found that I can concentrate on other aspects of delivery if I actually write down on the back of a business card, that I keep in my shirt pocket, what my aim points are. Then I update or refine them as I roll more bowls. This is particularly easy in triples or fours since there is plenty of free time to make notes during the play of the end.
In choosing a stare point to concentrate on during a delivery, first, a point is selected just beyond or on the bank of the forward ditch. It can be a lane number, an out-of-bounds marker, a hog line marker, or a part of a bench, fence, or other permanent structure. Then, I mentally trace back, in a straight line from that point, all the way to the point of release of the bowl on the front edge of the mat, either on my forehand or backhand as the case may be. For some, squatting while mentally visualizing this line helps. David Bryant, the greatest bowler of all time, did this. Tilting my head to bring it right above the shoulder of my delivery arm also may help me. I originally had written in this blog, "For a left-hander, like myself, the point of release of the bowl on the forehand should be right alongside the mat. For a left-handed backhand, the stationary foot should be just to the right of the centerline of the mat with the toe pointed towards the corresponding aiming point near the ditch. This way the backhand bowl should pass over the center point of the front edge of the mat."
Today (July 2014), I have become a center-line bowler. I position myself so that my delivery arm swings over the front center point of the mat for both forehand and backhand. Anyway, whatever the point on the mat over which your arm swings, follow with one’s eye the imaginary straight path from the aim point at the ditch back to the mat. This is the bowl’s release line.
There’s much discussion among experts about how far out on this line the aim point (the so-called stare point) ought to be. What I have found is that it is much more important how physically distinct the stare point is, rather than how far out it is from the mat. If you are actually staring at a piece of leaf or a bare spot on the lawn, it is easier to concentrate than if you are looking at a minute discoloration on a carpet. Sometimes, on a synthetic surface, there are small sparkling grains of material, probably sand from the ditch shining in the sun, but these are best avoided as marks because when you start your delivery and change the elevation of your body they may simply disappear as the direction of light reflection changes.
In this respect, bowling on grass is much easier than on a synthetic carpet. The grass has many more good-sized inhomogeneities with good color contrast than a well-maintained synthetic surface.
You will be urged over and over again in web articles to enjoy the socializing aspects of lawn bowls. Chat with your team-mates and opponents etc., they counsel. I don’t completely disagree, but let's say the tenor of this blog is decidedly different. For me, if you don’t play well you are not going to enjoy the sport.
In my experience, a big obstacle in the way of the new bowler (besides throwing the wrong bias) is missing one’s line, in particular when switching between forehand and backhand shots in the same end. Obtaining the correct line requires sensitive discrimination and careful observation. It is a selection that one needs to change depending upon what preceding bowls teach you. In a game, four aim points need to be noted and retained: forehand and backhand aim points in each of the two directions of the rink. I have found that I can concentrate on other aspects of delivery if I actually write down on the back of a business card, that I keep in my shirt pocket, what my aim points are. Then I update or refine them as I roll more bowls. This is particularly easy in triples or fours since there is plenty of free time to make notes during the play of the end.
In choosing a stare point to concentrate on during a delivery, first, a point is selected just beyond or on the bank of the forward ditch. It can be a lane number, an out-of-bounds marker, a hog line marker, or a part of a bench, fence, or other permanent structure. Then, I mentally trace back, in a straight line from that point, all the way to the point of release of the bowl on the front edge of the mat, either on my forehand or backhand as the case may be. For some, squatting while mentally visualizing this line helps. David Bryant, the greatest bowler of all time, did this. Tilting my head to bring it right above the shoulder of my delivery arm also may help me. I originally had written in this blog, "For a left-hander, like myself, the point of release of the bowl on the forehand should be right alongside the mat. For a left-handed backhand, the stationary foot should be just to the right of the centerline of the mat with the toe pointed towards the corresponding aiming point near the ditch. This way the backhand bowl should pass over the center point of the front edge of the mat."
Today (July 2014), I have become a center-line bowler. I position myself so that my delivery arm swings over the front center point of the mat for both forehand and backhand. Anyway, whatever the point on the mat over which your arm swings, follow with one’s eye the imaginary straight path from the aim point at the ditch back to the mat. This is the bowl’s release line.
There’s much discussion among experts about how far out on this line the aim point (the so-called stare point) ought to be. What I have found is that it is much more important how physically distinct the stare point is, rather than how far out it is from the mat. If you are actually staring at a piece of leaf or a bare spot on the lawn, it is easier to concentrate than if you are looking at a minute discoloration on a carpet. Sometimes, on a synthetic surface, there are small sparkling grains of material, probably sand from the ditch shining in the sun, but these are best avoided as marks because when you start your delivery and change the elevation of your body they may simply disappear as the direction of light reflection changes.
In this respect, bowling on grass is much easier than on a synthetic carpet. The grass has many more good-sized inhomogeneities with good color contrast than a well-maintained synthetic surface.
Using the shooters' stance one's eye is already directly over the aim line. This is another of the benefits of this delivery.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI find it is much harder to find and hold good stare points at night with artificial lighting. At the Etobicoke LBC where ground sheets are always used,this 'night vision' problem can be solved by choosing as stare point a distinctive mark on the edge of the ground sheet.
ReplyDeleteOn very fast surfaces I prefer a stare point about 3 meters in front of the mat edge because a consistent line independent of weight the assumption is that the bowl does not bend from release point to the stare point. At James Gardens, on a synthetic carpet, if one's stare point is 5 meters out and the jack is short the bowl will curve before it has travelled 5 meters.
ReplyDelete