This afternoon I played an in-house social game of pairs on
grass at the Etobicoke Lawn Bowling Club. My lead was on fire. We had the mat
most of the afternoon and I kept calling for a jack 23-24 meters in front of the mat placed at the T line(in Canada the hog line is at 21 meters!). This I gathered from her
performance was my lead’s ‘natural length’ under the rink conditions that day.
Besides bowling consistently, she delivered the jack dependably to the 23-24
meter length and, since we were doing wonderfully, I never changed anything
throughout the match.
When the match was over I said to her in the clubhouse, “That
length seems to be very comfortable for you.”
She astounded me by replying, “But I like to change it for
variety.”
Bowls is challenging enough. Don’t do the opposition favors.
If your side is out-bowling them at your lead’s natural distance, let them struggle
to win an end so as to have a chance to change things. Then, you will get your
variety. If your side is out-bowling the opposition with a certain mat position
and jack length conditions, your success improves your confidence and, consequently,
further improves your bowling; at the
same time, your success creates doubts in your opponents’ minds and damages
their bowling.
Absolutely right, Clarke. Anything fair to gain the upper hand when in competition. When playing away, why don't teams more often start with the mat right up the green to disrupt the home team's knowledge of the line?
ReplyDeleteWell it could simply be a question of differing 'utility functions'. Her function was best served with learning and growing skills. She valued the opportunity to play at different lengths. Your's was in winning. Neither utility was wrong... simply different.
ReplyDeleteI differentiate between playing and practicing.
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