The Lead’s Bowls: The First Bowl of an End at Lawn Bowls

The lead whose side has possession of the mat has the privilege of delivering the jack. Remarkably to me, some people who can deliver bowls quite adequately cannot dependably keep the jack from passing out of bounds.  Therefore, a lead’s first responsibility is to be worthy of trust to keep the jack in bounds. The second responsibility is to be able to roll the jack to more or less the length the skipper signals.

In Canada and Portugal where I have mostly played, the centre line is not marked. When I bowled in Australia there was a clear white centre line extending about 10 metres out from the back ditch. Where there is no centre line, the lead needs to understand the skip’s signals that will be needed to make sure the mat is straight and on the center line, no matter where it is placed from the T up to the closest Hog line.

 While rolling and getting the jack centered, the lead’s first bowl should be sitting separate from the other bowls and close beside the mat. That way, immediately after the jack is centered, the lead can get set and deliver that first bowl. This is important because the weight used to deliver the bowl should be close to the same used for the jack and the shorter the intervening time the better the muscle memory.

Except for the first and second ends of a match, the lead should have learned the correct aim line from a previous end. It is the lead’s responsibility to remember the aim lines on the forehand and the backhand for each of the odd and even ends. The easiest way to do that is to remember the points where those aim lines intersect with the forward ditch. That is four distinct items. I used to write these down (for example): odd ends; forehand- at boundary, backhand- 3/4 towards boundary: even ends; forehand boundary, backhand 1 1/4 towards boundary.  These points move somewhat closer to center rink as the mat is moved up the rink toward the Hog line.

You can also learn how much bias to allow by watching the deliveries of other bowlers from a vantage position right behind the bowler to see precisely how they lay down their delivery and what the outcome is. You may have to make some allowance for the difference between your bowls and theirs. Check out what make and type of bowl they are used. That’s not against the rules!

For some reason that I cannot fathom, a lead’s first bowl is more often delivered too wide than too narrow when playing on grass.

This may be because, if the lead cannot remember the correct aim line for the hand and end, (s)he may take the boundary marker for the aim point. Because most greens in Canada or Portugal are somewhat slow, this aim line is too wide and the first bowl of the end doesn’t make it back to center rink. If you cannot remember or have never learned the correct aim line, I recommend running your aim line to intersect the front ditch 3/4 of the distance between the rink number and the boundary marker. This gives you a better chance to finish close to the jack on one side or the other.

The most important aspect of the first bowl of an end is that it should finish behind the jack. Perhaps you need to ask your skip to stand a useful distance behind the jack and imagine his/her feet as the target. However you do it, 70% preferably more of your first bowls need to finish behind the jack. 

When your side has the mat that first lead bowl is delivered with the knowledge that you have just sent the jack the same distance; but when you are the lead whose side did not deliver the jack, you must not fail to concentrate on visualizing the path your bowl must travel to reach that jack so that your first bowl will not be short. Watch carefully also the rhythm speed of the opposing lead to help with the weight. Of course, if it turns out to be a poor bowl you don’t want to emulate it!

As far as the correct aim line; you should remember it from previous ends but you also get a reminder hint from the line of your opposing lead— so long as you pay attention.