The importance of control of the mat so that one can dictate jack length is sometimes not emphasized enough. An entertaining Youtube video of a match between Katelyn Inch and Chloe Stewart forcefully reminds us of that principle. The match exhibits massive swings correlating with the choice of the mat length.
The match has another teaching at the 2:46:30 minute mark. Chloe has a perfect position with counting bowls immediately in front of and immediately behind the jack but she accidentally disturbs the head while trying to place her next delivery behind the head. The jack becomes exposed and Katelyn is able to take advantage. A short blocking shot that would force Katelyn either to avoid it when driving at the head or change hands for a run-through shot would have been better tactics and wouldn’t risk disturbing the head.
