Rotating Bowl and Wrist in the Backswing

Many expert Australian bowlers employ an inward wrist turn when taking back the bowl for a delivery. They then reverse this twisting during their forward swing so that the bowl comes out of the hand in the normal way. A coach has suggested that this is because these players started playing lawn bowls very young and they would have had difficulty holding onto the bowl on the backswing in those early years because their hands were small.

An Australian lawn bowling manual that recommends trying this modification does so with the codicil that first one should know exactly why you are making the change.  It can help to:

·         restrict the delivery arm from flaring out in the backswing

·         improve the completeness of the backswing

·         reduce the inclination to bowl across your body in the

   follow-through

Nevertheless, whatever its advantages, it adds an elaboration to the delivery. If simplicity enhances reproducibility using a straight back arm and wrist motion should win out in the end.

Bowlers who adopt the shooters’ stance gain nothing from this embellishment because their backswing is the freest of all and has no particular tendency towards narrow bowling.