I am a left-handed bowler, so when I talk about what I was taught or learned some other way it will be written for the lefty. For a change it will be you right-handed people that will need to transcribe the instructions or see things in a mirror.
As I said in my introductory blog, the new bowler’s mind is too busy for his or her own good. I shall try to write down what I remember from my first few lessons. In what follows I use a few terms that are probably not too general. I call the ‘mark’ the point at or beyond the front ditch which is the furthest point on your ‘aim line’. I call the ‘aim line’ the imaginary straight line that runs from the point of release, just off the front of the mat, to the ‘mark’. I call the ‘aim point’ the spot on the ‘aim line’ where one stares during delivery. I also call it the ‘stare point’. Because the ‘stare point’ is closer to where one is standing on the mat, your head does not need to be raised as high to focus on it. There is less strain on the neck.
So here goes: (remember I am left-handed)
1. Take the correct grip and turn the palm up holding the bowl.
2. Make sure that bias is correct for the forehand or backhand as selected.
3. Step onto the mat.
5. Stand up straight and align feet parallel with the aim line.
6. Make sure straight arm swings smoothly straight at your side and over the line. This will require me to remove items from my left pocket.
7. Identify an aim point out on a line to the mark.
8. Bend knees and place my right forearm on my right thigh.
9. Imagine the correct backswing for the weight required.
10. Take a deep breath and hold it until you release the bowl.
11. Backswing first and step forward second with my right foot. The distance the bowl will travel (weight) is determined by both the length of my step and the height of my backswing; they should be matched to preserve balance.
12. As the delivering arm swings down like a pendulum, lay the bowl onto the line.
13. Follow through so the left hand comes up through the aim point to the mark and the little finger rises a little more than the index finger.
14. Watch the bowl to see whether it passes through the aim point and get a feel for the grass and weight on the green.
15. Step off the mat to the left for the next bowler to come to the mat.
Remember,this is how I started. This is the standard teaching.Who knows how long ago it was formulated. For what I would suggest today search for the shooters' stance using the search tool on this blog. That is what I would recommend six years later.
ReplyDeleteDavid Bryant who is probably the greatest lawn bowler of all time raised his anchor foot into the air so that all his weight was transferred forward to the advancing foot. I know of no top bowler that has this style today.However, I do continue moving forward so that I walk off the mat now in 2018. Thus I do not step off the mat to the left as in step 15 above. Completely transferring weight forward is essential for easy weight control.
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