David Bryant’s Grip

Although it is widely acknowledged that David Bryant was the greatest lawn bowler of all-time, his delivery style is no longer followed by any of the top world lawn bowlers.

In particular, nothing is said about his grip which by today's standards is unconventional.

I have studied this grip by careful slow-motion and stop-action examination of videos of his matches, but most particularly his Youtube video sponsored by Toro.

Grip

Bryant places his thumb on top of the bowl on the mid-point of the running surface. His index fingertip rests on the side of the bowl close to the centre of the rotational axis. His middle finger seems to be about where the grip of the bowl would be. His actual bowls are without grips. It also appears that his third and pinky fingers are near the centre of the running surface opposite his thumb.

That this is approximately correct follows from seeing quite clearly that when he releases his bowl his hand is not an open up-facing palm but more like a hand extended for a hand-shake. What is problematic is that when I try to imitate this release my bowl leaves with a wobble while his is decidedly smooth!

An advantage is that this grip is easily modified by moving the thumb to one side or the other to tilt the bowl as many experts recommend for driving.

Backswing

When Bryant does the Bryant twist in taking his very substantial backswing, because the index finger is on the side of the bowl, that index finger completely supports the bowl from underneath at the top of this backswing.Because his grip so substantially supports the bowl during his backswing David can have a very long, high backswing. This can be very helpful on heavy greens.

Delivery

Two famous bowlers come up from a crouch and deliver their bowl from a higher position than their ready position: Andy Thomson and David Bryant.

Follow Through

Bryant releases his bowl from a standing position without any knee flexing. He bends entirely from the waist to bring his delivery arm to the ground. Unlike all twentieth-century world-class bowlers, he transfers all his weight to his stepping foot and raises his anchor foot off the mat often as high as his hips to avoid falling forward. Only after regaining his balance does he sometimes walk forward after his bowl.

Post Script: Excuse the fuzzy images; stopping the motion is imperfect.