I Can’t Even Accurately Estimate the Length of the Jack in Lawn Bowls

It takes a novice, like myself, several years to learn to control one’s body sufficiently to more often than not deliver a bowl with the proper grass, even on a perfectly level rink; however, in my opinion, this is child’s play compared to the difficulty of delivering with controlled weight. The fact is that standing on the mat I cannot even accurately estimate how many meters down the green the jack has been thrown. If my brain cannot determine that distance how can I instruct my muscles how much force to apply to my bowl? This inability to estimate the distance is more severe if I am playing on a middle rink. The closer I am to the edge of the green the easier it is to gauge the distance helped by looking at the closer side boundary. Often the edge of the green has its own calibration used when the bowling is proceeding cross-wise.

In this respect, the skip has an advantage over colleagues since when (s)he bowls (s)he knows from being at the head exactly where the jack sits. I would appreciate a skip who tells me (1) how many meters behind the hog line, or (2) in front of the front ditch, the jack is. On the occasions when I have asked, skips look at me quizzically or grudgingly. Sometimes they pace it off as if it was unnecessary information that I ought to acquire by myself. How can I be expected to deliver a bowl within a meter of the correct length without knowing that distance?

Perhaps this is a particular deficiency in me but what can I do to improve it or hasten the acquisition of this skill?