Getting Weight Right: Standing on the Aim Line 2/3 of the Way to the Jack

I have discovered a way to avoid short bowling by my lawn bowling team members. I do not understand why it works but it does seem to work with a variety of different subjects.

To do it you must learn the correct aim line for the bowler you wish to assist. The easiest way to do this is to make some deliveries with that team member’s bowls and compare the draw with your own.

Then stand at a spot on that aim line, 2/3 of the way from the front of the mat to the jack, and ask the bowler on the mat to bowl at you. For some mysterious reason, the bowl gets delivered with a weight appropriate to get it to the position of the jack!

I don’t know why this works but I can hypothesize. The bowler senses that at least a certain velocity is needed to take the bowl to you along the aim line without substantial bending away and that is quite a good approximation to the velocity required for the bowl to curve towards the center line and arrive at the jack. 

 That is to say, your request asks two things of the bowler:

1. Bowl along the proper aim line, and
2. Bowl with sufficient weight that the bowl does not curve away from me very much

These two demands actually indirectly define the perfect draw path. The bowl must start out on the required aim line and it must not curve to any substantial degree until it is 2/3 to 3/5 of the way down the rink!

If you adopt this methodology in a match the opposing skip may claim that your positioning is illegal and the rules require that you at all times stand behind the head. This is not correct. The applicable rule from The Laws of the Sport of Bowls Crystal Mark Fourth Edition is:

12.1.3  As soon as a bowl is delivered, a player who is controlling play from a position that is either level with or in front of the jack, must take their position as described in law 12.1.2.

12.1.2  Players at the head-end of the rink and who are not controlling play must stand: 

12.1.2.1 behind the jack if they are members of the team which is in possession of the rink; 

12.1.2.2 behind the jack and away from the head if they are members of the team which is not in  possession of the rink; 

12.1.2.3 on the surrounds of the green if the jack is in the ditch; or

12.1.2.4 well clear of the head if it is not possible to stand on the surrounds.

This means that once the bowl, whose play you are controlling, is released you are required to move immediately to a position behind the jack and then, once that bowl stops, away from the head.