....Quite a large percentage, right! Well how many matches contain within them a six point conversion? ....Or two three point conversions? What I am getting at is that a lot of matches swing on the skip making a few big shots with one of those final bowls.
My co-blogger, John McKinnie who writes Bowling
for Gold, makes the point in a recent offering that some shots deserve more
careful preparation than normal. Forget that some people, like Ryan Bester, bowl so
fast that you would think he doesn't prepare at all. I am talking about
mortals!
Particularly if the shot required is something
other than a draw shot, I think one needs to really methodically go through a
check-list in preparation; not to increase your nervousness or increase the
tension but to settle oneself and make sure you have brought to mind everything
you have learned.
I skipped a team that won a competition at James
Gardens on Saturday. The difference we won by could be accounted for by last
shot or second-last shot conversions. Among these, I scored on three out of
four drives where we were down at least three in each head. Yes, I was also
lucky in some of these outcomes, after lucky after I hit the head, but those successful
shots ' gave our side a chance' in those ends.
The moral: practice those rescue shots and then
take a few seconds to prepare before trying to performing them.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention, Clarke. In those few moments of thought I'm effectively acting as skip, giving myself the advice I would give a player in the same situation if I was skip, e.g. 'Don't play backhand. There are two short opposition bowls you're at risk of knocking up. Play forehand. You can draw, but doesn't matter if you're a bit too long since you can wick off this bowl, or carry the jack. We've got bowls at the back. Whatever you do, don't be short.' Biggest benefit from a few moments of thought is I'm playing far fewer short bowls. Regards, John
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