An indoor World Pairs 2022 match at Potters, illustrated a point I have consistently urged in this Greenbowler blog.
The most dependable way to get the shortest jack length is to bring the mat forward to the hog line and then bowl the jack just past the forward T. In a match that Andersen/Burnett played against Foster /Marshall, Foster, who was leading, first tried to deliver a short jack with the mat back (at 34:54 minutes) and lost the jack when it was too short whereupon the opponents continued playing full-length jacks to easily win the first set.
In the second set, Foster got the jack back, and he took the mat forward to the hog line and easily delivered this jack past the forward T (at 49:55 minutes) whereupon it was spotted at exactly 23 meters. Foster and Marshall, using this length change, got a good lead and won the second set to force a tiebreaker.
Bringing the mat forward to play a short jack length is even more of a no-brainer on the portable rink because there are 3.5 meters from the T to the ditch instead of the regulation distance of only 2.0 meters! It is equally a no-brainer outdoors in Canada where there can be a distinct lip at the edge of some greens that reduces the likelihood of ditching the jack.
When playing on such a rink, before the match commences, go and inspect the edges of both ditches. There may be a bigger lip in one area as opposed to the remainder of the edges.
When employing this strategy your lead should deliver the jack toward that area.
If you are playing in Canada and would be content with a 23 meter jack length, place the mat 2 meters short of the first hog line and deliver the jack from there. You will have 2 meters leeway to be short and 2 meters leeway to be long!
This is an essential skill that should be in every player's bag of tricks.
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