I recently finished two weeks practically living at
the James Gardens Lawn Bowling Club. I kept almost regular business hours so
that new bowlers would know that the club was open for their free trial,
practice, and/or instruction. I took two days off during that spell so I could
play in a couple of open pairs tournaments; otherwise-at the club-at the club!
During this volunteer spell, there was plenty of free time for personal practice. I discovered that if I turned my wrist in to my body on the backswing my line corrected so that I could aim directly at a mark on the front ditch rather than having to trace a line back and pick a stare point about five meters out from the mat on the green. However, after trying this in a few matches I have returned to my previous delivery completely.
Where I did find this turning the wrist inward helpful was in casting the jack. On the slow Canadian grass, I was finding it difficult to roll the jack a full length green, from T to T. To achieve this I needed a very high backswing, where the bowling arm was coming well above the horizontal position. This was only comfortable when I turned my wrist 90 degrees in to my side as it passed my leg and then another 90 degrees as my hand reached its highest point. For comparison, on a representative Eastern Canadian green, to deliver the jack to the hog line (21meters) I needed only a 45 degree backswing. But whatever the length, the delivery was straighter and more fluid when my wrist is twists during the swing.
When done to deliver a bowl this is called the Bryant twist. It was also part of Tony Allcock’s delivery.
October 2016
ReplyDeleteUsing the Shooters stance as taught by Nevada Roda there is no need for this twist. It goes with the conventional delivery with feet parallel to the delivery line.
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ReplyDeleteThe Bryant twist might FEEL easier but you can have huge timing issues if not done to perfection. To get your wrist back to the straight on line delivery position is not that easy whereas the traditional straight up and down and through leaves far less to think about and lessens the probability of error.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Bowls and golf are very similar .
ReplyDeleteIt is trite that the less moving parts you have in your
delivery, the easier and more accurate will be.
So, for example, if you use a “whip” in your hand/fingers at release, there are two factors at play assuming your body is dead still ( which is preferable):
The arm pendulum AND the finger whip.
So, assuming you get the desired result ( or wish to correct the delivery) you must ensure BOTH mechanisms are identical on the next delivery or change one or both.
And god increases the incidence of error.
So , certainly for newish players, keep the bowl hand facing the direction you desire and try to swing with the bowling arm only!!
Body still,eyes on your direction marker , straight pendulum arm and practise!
Neville