I am proposing the
term 'motif' to identify any common, significant feature in a lawn bowls head.
Enumerating the motifs displayed in any lawn bowls head along with an
understanding of their significance for the selection of your tactics for that
head will be my approach to lawn bowling head analysis.
Before I can analyze a head in this way, I
must identify and discuss more motifs.
A very common motif
is the ‘jack-high wing bowl motif.’
This consists in the jack and a bowl, approximately jack-high, separated from
it by 2-3 feet. When this motif is present in a head it should suggest as one
possibility a potential draw shot, targeting the jack, delivered from the same side
as the jack-high bowl. The chance for a successful outcome in this
configuration is more than for a draw to a bare jack, because the delivered
bowl will sometimes wick off the inside of the jack-high bowl and end up rolling
close to the jack. Because in this circumstance an overly heavy delivery is
buffered and corrected by its encounter with the jack-high bowl, the demands on
the delivery are more forgiving and a fortunate outcome is more likely. Any
overweight gets expended pushing the original jack-high bowl further from the
jack.
Of course, the
positions of other bowls in the head may increase or decrease the likelihood of
success using this archetype. Any head will comprise quite a few different
motifs, each suggesting a different shot. The skip’s job is now to choose the
best option from among the suggestions.
<< The chance for a successful outcome in this configuration is more than for a draw to a bare jack, because the delivered bowl will sometimes wick off the inside of the jack-high bowl and end up rolling close to the jack.>>
ReplyDeleteWhile undoubtedly true... i wonder if the difference in success rate is significant and out-weighs the risk of the wick-possibility unduly influencing the shot. In other words - when you see the chance of the wick... might that possibility encourage you to aim a shade closer to the jack-high bowl or add a little weight. Thus leaving you with a greater chance of the wick but less chance of making the naked draw.
Of course your primary objective is a good draw to the jack. The presence of the jack-high is just protection against certain types of errors in that delivery. The skip is just proposing what he(she) considers the best option.It is the bowler's responsibility to keep the correct perspective.
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