Tactics: Wicking Off Jack High Bowls

There is a saying, very common in the days of all wide-bias bowls, that a jack-high shot bowl doesn’t stay shot on slow to medium greens. With the wide-spread use of narrow bowls, this has become true even on fast greens. The reason for the aphorism probably is that the wick into the jack off this wing bowl is very attractive because the other possibilities for deliveries from that side are also inviting: a better shot bowl or a trail of the jack away from the jack-high shoulder bowl. If the wick occurs it usually results in the delivered bowl becoming shot and the former jack high bowl being turned away.

Whether the jack-high bowl is yours or an opponent’s, bowling to achieve this wick is good tactics; however, whether one should change hands to try this is debatable. If the shot also requires that you both switch hands and bowl the wider side it may be, on balance, unwise. Whatever the case, the novice needs to follow the skip’s instruction. Do not select your bias and step onto the mat until you receive that call. The reason: wrong bias bowls are most frequently delivered when you misguess the skip’s shot selection.