The Forgiving Side at Lawn Bowls

 

Bowling in a particular direction on a particular lawn bowling rink may have a more forgiving and less forgiving side. This will not be visible.

If a portion of the path that a lawn bowl takes from mat to jack has a slightly concave (center lower than sides) curvature, even though this is undetectable to the eye, the effect will be to correct a delivery that is slightly miss-delivered. Such a side, whether it be backhand or forehand, is said to be ‘forgiving’. Conversely, if a portion of the path that a lawn bowl takes from mat to jack is convex (center higher than sides), this will amplify any miss-delivery and send the bowl further from its intended target. Such a hand is called ‘unforgiving’. The most frequently observed consequence of an ‘unforgiving’ hand is the failure of a bowl to come back toward the center of the rink as it slows. We say, “The bowl hangs out”. We mean the bowl can’t get back because it is on the wrong side of a ridge in the rink. Ridge is just another name for a convex surface!

Whether a rink has ‘forgiving’ or ‘unforgiving’ characteristics doesn’t matter in most instances. Both your team and your opponents usually face identical challenges. But what if your side and the opposition end up repeatedly bowling on opposite sides of the rink and your opponents are consistently getting closer to the jack. They may be simply more skilled— well, not much can be done about that! But the other possibility is that they are bowling on the more ‘forgiving’ hand of that rink.

When that might be the case, you need to switch to match the hand on which they are bowling. It is remarkable how often this is ignored. Today, for example, bowling at Valverde LBC against a visiting touring team from England, the two leads bowled 18 ends with each playing his own side doggedly, even though it seemed apparent that the side one opponent was choosing was punishing the slightest deviation in delivery.

The rules of bowls require that the team that won the previous end must bowl first in the next end. So if the player you are paired against must bowl first, you can bowl the same side and the same line. Follow him down! Beat his bowl! Don’t just stubbornly struggle when the green may be conspiring against you.