A Lawn Bowls Strategy for Playing Singles against a Perennial Skip

Suppose you most often play lead or vice in triples matches but now you are matched to play singles against a player who typically skips.  What possible advantage could you have? This was the question I asked myself recently here in Portugal when I was drawn against one of the top players in our men’s club singles tournament.

Leads and vices have more practice estimating the length of the jack seeing it just from the mat. Skips are the only players who regularly stand at the head and then later deliver their bowls. Consequently, they know precisely the distance from jack to mat when they walk to the mat end of the rink. They don’t have to guesstimate: they can even pace it off if they wish! This is different with singles play. Only the marker is in the head. The singles competitors must, each in turn, eyeball the jack and from that, work out their proper weight. 

That is, unless you as the opposition deliver standard lengths, placing the mat on the tee and sending full length jacks or some other length which an experienced bowler can handle in his sleep. Don’t do it…..every time you get hold of the mat move it up the green and deliver anything except a jack on the front tee. That way the ‘Perennial Skip’ is challenged to estimate the length from the mat alone and you quite possibly have more experience doing that. Furthermore, if you have delivered the jack, you have your muscle memory to help you. 

Rolling your ‘natural length’ from different mat positions is a strategy I have used.

This may not bring victory but it can avoid what otherwise might be a blowout!