The Advantage of Winning the Toss in Lawn Bowls

At the start of a lawn bowls match there is a coin flip or some other random means to select the team that has the right to take the mat first,   roll the jack, and grass the first bowl. At my club in Canada, James Gardens, there is a widespread opinion that playing first is judged a disadvantage, and winning the toss invariably results in a request for the other side to lead off first. That is, very often, even in tournament play, the team winning the toss chooses to bowl second. It seems to me this is an immediate admission that your lead does not have good control of the jack. Winning the toss should be an advantage, so long as the lead is skilled enough to use it. Bowling the jack followed expeditiously by grassing the first bowl is the only time in an end that one bowler has the opportunity to bowl twice in immediate succession. But it is an advantage only if the jack is bowled with exactly the same motion that you use for your bowls. This allows the lead to get a reading of the weight that will be needed and to apply that information immediately.

Suppose that the opposition has won the toss but elects to bowl second. This gives your side an immediate opportunity to play, for example, a short end with the jack close to the ditch. Your lead should already have practiced to bring the mat forward to the 14-meter line and to bowl the jack to within two meters of the ditch. If the placement of the jack succeeds, your lead gets to grass his first bowl at a target (s)he has just placed. The opposing lead, usually also a less experienced player, is faced with the task of not bowling short because this is strategically inferior and not bowling into the ditch where the shot would be lost completely. Moreover, the opposing lead has had no more than the practice ends to determine the aiming angles and the proper weight. Isn’t this just the kind of pressure situation you want to create quickly for an opponent? 

Now suppose the least favorable situation plays out and your lead ditches the jack when trying to place it. The consequence is nothing more than that the other lead gets the chance to set the length for the end which (s)he could have chosen when the toss was first won, but (s)he still losses the opportunity to bowl immediately afterward delivering the jack. Your side still gets to grass the first bowl and has had the opportunity to work with the jack to get a better idea of the appropriate weight.

This is only one set play strategy; others are possible. Another opening strategy is simply to set up the longest end possible with the mat as close to the back ditch and the jack as close as possible to the front ditch. Having to bowl long is the most stressful for bowlers with poor style and imperfect balance.  Having to bowl long increases the tendency to bowl narrowly on the forehand and too wide on the backhand, because there is a tendency to hold onto the bowl longer and the arm may start to be pulled across one’s body just as the bowl is released.

Whatever the case, the team provided the first roll of the jack should most often have a preferred position of the mat that is not the standard 6 feet from the back gutter, and a preferred length, which might be, for example, a long jack from a position more forward than 2 meters. Your lead may have a length of jack that s(he) is most comfortable with. This 'natural length' can be determined by using the standard bowling motion as for a delivery to a long jack. Measure this length of travel for the jack, add two meters to it, and count this length back from the forward ditch. This is the preferred mat position for your lead. Now measure the mat’s distance from the back ditch. This is how much your lead should bring the mat forward if your side wins the toss or is ceded it.

If a team has practiced using these parameters and the opposition has not, this can be a distinct advantage. I noticed this when I played last year in a regular game wherein the opposing lead always moved the mat about 18 feet out from the back gutter. It led to me wrongly estimate my length.

Every time that your team wins the mat the jack can be placed at your preferred ‘practice position and length’. The opposition may soon choose to take the mat rather than give it away.

Whatever one does; whether one takes the mat when one wins the toss or ceded it to the opposition, what you choose should be part of a pre-established strategy. That is, it should be worked out beforehand, understood by all the team, practiced, and executed without any discussion. In this way, no team member will be flustered, while all the opponents will be surprised. This is an excellent way to start a match! You are clearly in control of the action. 

It is important to start briskly. For example, the lead can immediately bring the mat forward and center it with the help of the skip. Mark the center-front of the mat with chalk so you can easily find the place again. If the jack is successfully placed near the ditch, the second carries the lead’s, and then the rest of the team’s bowls up to close behind the mat. The opponents can be left to move their own bowls. The skip quickly centers the jack with the help of the rink markers and gets minor adjustments from the lead. Then the lead smartly grasses that first bowl. The other lead now has the mat but is unlikely to be set to play.

If you are going to try this, your lead needs to practice for it. In Canada, the springtime is a good time to practice it. Do it before everyone gets their bowling season started because it is easier to get hold of a half-dozen jacks to practice with when the green is not busy. 

This is an opportunity to emphasize again that that between two bad choices it is better if that first bowl is ditched rather than having it substantially short; err on the side of length. With a short jack near the ditch, the probability is highest that the jack will end up in the ditch before all the bowls have been played. Short bowls will not score. Back bowls will be precious.