Another Reason to Move the Mat

 

James Gardens Lawn Bowling Club has an outdoor sand-filled carpet. This is the second season of play since its installation and much of the fine whitish sand has worked its way into the carpet fibers as they are supposed to; however, most bowlers release their bowls slightly above the carpet surface and this leaves a series of dots where the bowl has bounced ever so slightly. This is caused by the re-emergence of sand where the bowl hits. The result is that one can see clearly the track of a prior bowl.

A first bowler who finds a good line gives away that line to the opposing bowler who bowls next. Furthermore, subsequent bowlers are gifted with increasingly well-marked paths on both forehand and backhand.

The remedy is to move the mat so that these paths no longer apply.

Only a small forward or backward change will do the job while leaving plenty of marks from the previous bowling to obscure the correct line.