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Friday, November 22, 2013

The Secret to Controlled Weight Delivering Lawn Bowls



I learned something today that was so startling and made such a dramatic difference that I was tempted to keep it as a secret- just for a year or two- I thought. Why should I share the secret? Then I thought again, “What is the point of writing a lawn bowling blog especially for novices if you hide the most important thing you discover?”


So here it is! You all must have heard, “It doesn’t matter what your style, consistency depends upon reproducibility of the delivery whatever it is.” This is true; but, I didn’t realize how precisely the statement must be interpreted. You need to be able to reproduce the same form exactly, in every detail, even those things that you think can’t be very important. This is why simple delivery styles are best, even though any style can be perfected. Uncomplicated movements are the easiest (I didn’t say easy) to repeat consistently, end after end, season after season. There is a valuable dividend that follows from this simplicity. If your style is reproducible in every little respect then your mental computer will make corrections to the speed with which you release the bowl to correct for previous short or long bowls.


I say I have magically improved my draw accuracy. What was I doing inconsistently before? My follow through was not sufficiently controlled. My bowling hand came up somewhat higher sometimes than other times. My fingers flexed sometimes while remaining straight other times. I would not have expected that these are consequential differences, but they are. 

I discovered these differences watching professional indoor bowlers on Youtube and asking myself, “How does my delivery deviate most from theirs?” The answer was that, in the follow through for any draw shot, their hands were still pointing to the ground. They never raised their bowling arm more than 45 degrees from the vertical. They stopped the arm rather more abruptly after releasing the bowl and never curled their fingers up. Moreover, many of the best players followed through by walking. with halting measured steps off the mat following the line of delivery and as they watched the progress of each bowl. See for example Foster and Marshall in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zql2KzXudGI who exhibit this distinctly. With these two champions the exaggeration of these points makes it even easier to see.

So now I keep these little things constant, concentrate on a smooth release onto the green and let my subconscious computer determine the weight. All I tell myself is whether the jack is short, medium or long while I look carefully at its position. I don't consciously measure my backswing the way I did when I started! 

8 comments:

  1. As I enter my fifth season of bowls I confirm the importance of these little things mentioned above but I have to admit that I do vary my backswing for different lengths. In fact this variation is the only conscious difference I make for different lengths. I use the same variations in backswing when delivering the jack in singles or when I am the lead. I still look carefully at the jack so there may be unconscious changes. I then stare at my aim point and 'feel my backswing'.

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    1. One thing i feel when i tried it is that my forward step is balanced naturally with my back swing *unconsiously* and followthrough very natural. Thank you. will let you know how it went on the green tomorrow. I've been playing 15 years now and still struggle with weight-control...i'm feeling more balanced and more confident practicing my delivery in the lounge. This will be a real test tomorrow on the green.
      Thanks for your input, was desperate for help...
      Any tips for aim at different weighted shots? (Of course if my weight control is better surely it will open the door.)
      Thanks again
      Gerhard

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    2. Hey the 12 Novemver 2017 reply, i posted on 11 Nov. and pasted it into the reply above and deleted it below.. So it was yesterday i said that i'm trying out your advise.. Worked 100%

      Thank you so much. I studied Alex and Paul's game with the link you gave.. i studied them with new eyes..

      My delivery is more like Alex's (regarding my back-swing and forward step that starts the same time (with my arm at the bottom passing my leg with the same weight i'm going to play and then my arm just follow through with balaced weight from backfoot to forward foot).

      I watched another video for footplacement called shooter-stance and adopted that stance..Alex Marshall and many others stand with that balanced backfoot slightly sideways and front foot in front at comfortable position.

      That stance plus the simplistic arm movement and stepping forward with balance was the winner combo for winning my game today... ps even if i didn't win: i rolled exactly where i aimed and my weight control + repeatabality was excelent i even drew 3 ditch draw shots drived acurately moved the jack 2 times intentionally (haha it went sour moving it half a meter too much, but worth a try to get 5: i was lying shot moved jack for 5, but gave 2 away). we won 18 11 in 18 ends...

      Thank you we had a low scoring game only because after lying shot (with 2/3 in the head) every time i had fun placing my balls strategicly trying to split all the bowls to never give away more than 1.. i felt like a professional not being scared to draw a bonus shot knowing i bowl where i aim - Awesome! Not everyone is keen to learn.. But i had lost my first 3 league games this season and hope next Saturday will be better.

      Sorry for the long letter, but i'm bubling with joy heheheh!

      Thank you my bowler friend for your generousity in sharing your success.

      I don't mind sharing it eather, because it will only make competition greater, lifting everyones game.
      Once you have success people will be eager to learn.

      Thanks kindly
      Gerhard

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  3. My reading of many books has told me three ways to control weight:

    (a) increase/decrease backswing - but I find have no memory before playing a shot what my backswing was on my previous shot

    (b) increase/decrease size of forward step - but I find have no memory before playing a shot what my step-size was on my previous shot

    (c) crouch more or less before delivering (David Bryant's advice) - but magically, before playing a shot I can remember my crouch height of how high I stood on my previous shot!

    But guess what? If you stand higherer/lower, you will swing back further/less and make a bigger/smaller step forward, respectively, so these are ALL THE SAME THING. It just depends which one you can remember you've done, shot after shot - for me it's the crouch height, but for you it may be one of the others.

    Good bowling, Des

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  4. Works for me too, thanks very much for a very worthwhile tip, i also use the shooter stance , so am very careful to ensure my hips rotate to be adjacent to the bowling line .

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  5. This article has been copied without attribution or permission at
    http://www.theleader.info/2017/11/17/watch-secret-control-weight-delivering-lawn-bowls/ on November 17 2017.

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  6. Agree with most of the above guidance especially the walk through. Not many players bowl well by scooping or coming up too early in the follow through.Amazing results can be achieved by staying down for that extra second.

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