More about Choosing Your Stare Point in Lawn Bowls

I have found that choosing a stare point about 5 meters in advance of the front edge of the mat works best for me. In fact, when helping beginners, I often make a chalk mark at that distance at approximately the correct angle for their bowls’ bias. This way the beginner gets a clearer idea of whether (s)he is properly controlling their delivery angle just by watching whether his or her bowl passes over the chalk mark.

Regular bowlers must struggle to identify slight imperfections in the grass or carpet to stare at. I have found recently that squatting on the mat while looking down at the far bank helps me choose a stare point that is truly on my aim line. There is a bonus. After I stand up and assume my erect delivery stance, all this time holding that stare point, I deliver my bowl more quickly, because the longer I have to hold my stare point the more likely my view of it will slip! As a consequence, I bowl better and faster.

If your club uses ground sheets all the time to protect the green from dumpers making divots (Etobicoke in Toronto)you can derive an additional advantage. The front edge of the ground sheet is about three meters in advance of the front edge of the mat. Often one can find a mark on this edge and move it onto your aim line by shifting your anchor foot position slightly on the mat. Thus, for example, by moving your setup position on the mat slightly your chosen aim point on the front bank and some distinctly visible mark on the front edge of the ground sheet can be lined up, so that all you need to do is roll your bowl over this distinct mark. This strategy is made easier by the change in the World Bowls Rules that now only requires a part of one foot to be on or over the mat at the moment  the bowl is released from your hand.
This strategy is particular useful at clubs (such as Etobicoke LBC) where a small V cut has been made in the center of each end of the ground sheet to assist in centering it. Using this V-cut in the ground sheet is particularly  useful when bowling in the evening under artificial lights where seeing clearly is more of a struggle.