A Bold Lawn Bowling Strategy

A sports strategy is a plan that can be made before a sports competition begins. It is not determined by the fine details of a particular match situation. This latter is the business of tactics.

I propose that a team ( let us consider a pairs team ) decide that when it has possession of the mat during a match, it will place the mat at the closer hog line and deliver a jack that gets centred on the forward T. 

The end is played tactically from that point on. If the end is won, the same strategy is repeated in the next end. If the end is lost, the side attempts to recover the mat and restart its strategy. The strategy tries to force the opponents to play a game with a fixed minimum jack length and a dead bowl line 2 meters behind the jack.

The idea upon which the strategy is based is that there will be an advantage in playing a game the details of which your side has practiced much more than the opposition and which has some features distinctly different from the standard bowls contest.

To be successful in the execution, the lead must be accomplished at rolling the jack reproducibly 21-23 meters. This seems like a tall order, but it is a precise challenge that can be practiced by borrowing a box of 16 jacks from the clubhouse.

Why should this strategy work?

 

In Canada, the minimum jack length is 21 meters; in most other countries, the minimum distance is 23 meters. First, few other teams practice bowling either 21 or 23-meter ends from a mat at the hog line.

According to bowls.co.uk, “At the beginning of the first end, the mat is placed lengthwise on the centre line of the rink, the back edge to be four feet from the ditch.” I can find no official evidence for this purported rule. There is no such requirement in the Laws of Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark 4. Consequently, this is no longer required. The lead in the first end can place the mat anywhere from T to the closest hog line. The strategy proposed can be applied from end 1, so if the toss is won, you can take the mat and move it forward!

What is so different about playing this short game?

The re-spot position is identical to the initial spot for the jack. Putting the jack cleanly out of bounds will get it returned to the position from which it came!

Knocking the jack out of bounds is extremely unlikely; unless given a sharply glancing blow, the jack will end up live in the ditch. 

The team using this strategy should have learned to deliver the more accurate running bowl (since this is a more accurate delivery than a drive, with the best chance of ditching the jack), and this shot also provides the best chance to drive an opposing shot bowl into the ditch, where it will be dead. 

If the jack makes it to the ditch, the area available for the opposition to draw their own shot bowl is only half as big as usual. This is because the available area is only a semicircle around the jack. When the jack is in the ditch, placing a shot bowl behind the jack is not available.

 It is almost guaranteed that some deliveries will finish in the ditch as dead bowls. If the opposition does manage to deliver the shot bowl, your side has available the running shot to cancel it.

The probability of a rebounding bowl is much greater, and a rebounding toucher is live: 17.2.3.

The probability of a jack rebounding onto the rink is much higher, and a rebounding jack is live: 21.1.

Many more dispositions of bowls near the jack will constitute a target for a running shot because the depth of the head can be no more than 2 meters, so the gaps between bowls, or between a bowl and the jack, will be effectively smaller. A running shot is more likely to hit something.

Paul Foster bowls all his deliveries with the form required to deliver a runner; no backswing and a big forward step. In a famous open singles match, he came from behind in the last two ends by moving the mat up to the hog line and delivering a minimum length jack. You can see this starting at about the 1:17:02 mark in the online video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VEGkkHgZ6o

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.

A Theory About the Lead’s Bowls Playing Lawn Bowls Triples

When the lead plays his bowls in a triples match at least 12 bowls are left to be played in every end. It cannot be guessed whether his team will need to be protective or aggressive. The skip and to a lesser extend the vice have indicators of how play is proceeding. What can the lead do to increase the value of those opening bowls?

I have an idea. The lead must try to create a head favourable to his side.

This is easier to do if his side has the mat but even bowling second there are superior and inferior contributions.

All three lead bowls should finish behind the jack. To increase the probability of this, the lead’s first bowl must be weighted to be intentionally long.

Since it is the plan to be consistently further behind the jack with this bowl and subsequently subtract weight to approach nearer the jack, this first bowl should be delivered so that, more likely than not, it will come across the centre line. Since the intent is to be intentionally long, the opportunity should not be wasted to possibly trail the jack!

The lead’s 2nd and 3rd bowls will be delivered with better information, both with respect to weight and line, than the first bowl. The first bowl is, in a sense, a ‘sighter’ bowl. It provides feedback about the rink conditions.

This is all that can be expected from the lead that does not possess the mat.

If one’s side does possess the mat, more is possible. It should be prearranged that the skip will decide on jack length: short, intermediate, or long, but the lead could be given authority to choose the mat position. If this permission is granted, the lead should choose the mat position so that whether a short, intermediate, or long jack is called for the jack will finish close to the forward T (2 meters from the front ditch).

Why do this? Because we have already decided the lead’s first bowl is going to be intentionally behind the jack and more likely than not, narrow, and if there is going to be a heightened chance that the jack will be trailed, the closer that trail takes the jack towards the front ditch, the more difficulty for the opposition.

If your side has possession of the mat and your skip calls for a short jack, where should you locate the mat? The answer is 2 meters behind the closest hog line, because from there you can try to roll the jack to the forward T, but even if it is 2 meters short of the T, it will still have traveled the requisite 21 meters (in Canada, 23 meters in some other countries). At the same time, you have 2 meters behind your target length before you are too long and fall into the ditch and give the jack away!

If an intermediate jack is requested, the mat position should be about 5 meters back from the closest hog line. If a long jack is called for, take the mat to the back T.

All this may be well and good, but sometimes you, as lead, will deliver a bowl short of the jack. If your line is still good and your bowl is only a little bit short, you may have a decent shot bowl! You still need to get behind the jack with your remaining bowls. 

Speed of Play as a Strategic Consideration at Lawn Bowls

When readers are in serious competition, the Greenbowler blog has consistently advised them to use variations in jack length and mat position in their tactical and strategic planning. But it appears there is another variable that I haven’t mentioned adequately.  I just didn’t consider it that important. When other literature mentioned it, I discounted those claims.

Today, at Valverde LBC, I played a 21-up singles match in which my opponent acknowledged to me after the match that what I had discounted up until now was what seriously upset his game- more than any other aspect. At the same time, he sportingly acknowledged that the practice was completely within the rules.

What had happened was this. My strategy, whenever I had the mat, was to never play an end from the 2-meter line; and never play two ends in succession from the same mat position; but almost always play either short or medium-length jacks. I managed to execute this plan but according to my opponent, the reason it worked was that it slowed the game down “more than any game I have ever played.”

I have no doubt that his observation was truthful. Even in a game where every end is played without the mat shifting off either T, I am a slower player; and that is when only 4 stare points and a single weight need to be identified and remembered. So, a slow delivery added together with constant moving and centering the mat (he nearly always placed the mat back as far as possible and delivered long jacks ) and a closely matched competition in a 21-up match would all conspire to draw it out. 

The take-home lesson from the match was that steadily playing a different pace game can upset an opponent’s concentration far more than I would ever have imagined. That slowing of play can substantially and fairly be achieved with mat movement.  

The Usefulness of Moving Your Set Position On the Mat

 

What is the effect of moving on the mat and making the exact same delivery on a perfectly homogeneous and perfectly flat surface?

An assumption in this analysis is that one can repeat a delivery with exactly the same angle with respect to the center line and with exactly the same velocity. 

If your standard stare point is a spot on the forward bank you cannot use this technique.  Moving on the mat can have only a random effect. Your eyes are not good enough to change your aim point by such a small amount at such a great distance. 

If you are a bowler whose stare point is a physical discontinuity in the bowling surface between 3 and 5  meters in front of the mat, it is theoretically possible to effect a useful change in the finishing location of your bowl.

Suppose you move your anchor foot position 6 inches to the right in a horizontal direction with respect to the front edge of the mat while leaving unchanged the vertical location of your anchor foot. You then select a new stare point precisely six inches to the right of the first one at exactly the same distance in front of the mat line.

The original stare point, the new stare point, the new toe position of your anchor foot, and the old toe position of your anchor foot will now form the four vertices of a narrow parallelogram on the rink surface.

Now, so long as the bowl’s arc and your weight are the same as for the first delivery and so long as you exactly roll the bowl over your new stare point and have the exact same weight, then so long as the rink is perfectly homogeneous and perfectly flat this second bowl will finish 6 inches horizontal distance to the right of your first delivery. 

What this exercise leads one to conclude is that moving on the mat may be an effective strategy for a bowler that sets a stare point closer to the mat but will be futile for someone who aims with respect to a spot on the forward ditch!  

The Delivery at Lawn Bowls: Creating a Distinct Stare Point on your Aim Line

Apparently, most bowlers choose their aim line by looking for an aim point on or behind the forward bank. I also gauge the bias for my delivery using such a distant point, but then I go further and imagine a line from that point back to the centre of the mat and choose as my stare point a spot on that imaginary line about 5 metres in front of the mat line. I do this so that when I release my bowl I can clearly see whether I have managed to roll my bowl over that chosen stare point or whether I have been either wide or narrow of it. Based on where my bowl ends up I then know, when it is an unacceptable result, whether that poor result arose because I missed my stare point or alternatively because my stare point was itself just incorrect!

This post is directed to those who use a stare point that is close to the mat like I do. 

I have found that my consistency in rolling my bowl over a stare point about 5 metres in front of the mat line is improved if there is a real visible mark at that spot. A well-maintained green does not have many clearly visible marks on it; however, there are two ways that even a single mark on the rink can be used.

First, if there is a mark about 5 metres out but it does not fall on your aim line, moving your foot position on the mat can sometimes bring that spot onto your aim line and it can become your stare point. This is illustrated by (A) in the Figure.

The second method is more flexible. Suppose you can see a clearly visible mark on the green but it is too far forward to work as your stare point. When you get possession of the mat you can move the mat so that this visible stare point, your aim point on or beyond the front ditch, and the centre of the mat line fall on a straight line. This is illustrated by (B) in the Figure.

Using one of these tricks can make your stare point visible.

Changing Mat Position and Jack Length at Bowls

Which rink am I playing on?

Here are what I think are the key points concerning changing the mat location along with changing the jack length. Some of these assessments may be controversial. That is what the comment section is for.

⦁ If you are the lead, let your skip know if you are comfortable with moving the mat and changing lengths
⦁ Changing mat position and length in pairs, triples, and fours games is mainly used to help your lead outdraw the counterparty
⦁ Never change a winning trend….. always a losing one. Winning the last end does not constitute a trend.
⦁ If you need to change, change the mat position and length at the same time.
⦁ If it upsets the opposition more than it upsets your side, it is working!
⦁ Particularly when using a nonstandard mat position, visualize the path of your bowl before delivery.
⦁ Your initial delivery line at a new mat position should be parallel to the line you would have taken from a mat on the 2-meter mark; that is, your aim point on the bank gets narrower as you move the mat forward.
⦁ After your first delivery from this new mat position adjust your line; the rink is not flat and you are bowling across different ground.
⦁ If you get possession of the mat and need two or more points in the upcoming end, change the mat position. Although, the change may be just as likely to lose you two or more points as win them, if you must have more than a single you should risk it. 
⦁ If you are taking the mat well up the rink and plan to play a short end with a less experienced lead, place the mat two meters short of the hog line and call for the jack two meters from the front ditch. This gives your lead the greatest leeway to deliver an acceptable jack.

Moving the Mat at Bowls

Walk along behind the rinks at your local club. More likely than not most of the mats being played from are set within two feet of the T line. In almost every one of those matches one team is losing (ties excepted). In quite a few, one team is losing by more than three shots.  Why haven’t these skips started looking for a change that can turn their fortunes around? Yes, you can change the length without moving the mat but remember that when you are losing, you may not get that many chances to control the mat. Why not introduce two changes in one end? If you can turn it around you won’t be able to tell which change worked for you or whether it was the combination but we aren’t running a clinical trial here. You are just trying everything to give yourself a chance to win.

If a team loses badly and the skip has not taken every opportunity to alter the conditions of play by changing length and moving the mat, the loss should be charged to the skip. It is my opinion that when a skip falls behind by three or more shots, (s)he should make some change when the mat is regained.

What do you think?

Lawn Bowling Tactics; Moving the Ground Sheet- Moving the Mat

At some lawn bowling clubs in Canada, groundsheets are permanently put down at the mat end of the rink except for special championship matches. The Etobicoke Lawn Bowling Club, one of the clubs to which I belong, is one of these. I understand how this protects the greens and avoids embarrassment for those bowlers who would otherwise make regular divots in the surface. It is not too heavy a price to pay. It respects the diligent work of the volunteer greens tenders.

It should not, however, discourage skips who believe that a strategic advantage can be had by moving the mat. There is a rule that the front edge of the mat must slightly overlap the back edge of the groundsheet, meaning that mat and groundsheet must move together. In Canada, because groundsheets are not just put down when it is necessary to protect particular damaged areas of the rink, there is a national rule that groundsheets may be moved, without the greenskeeper’s permission, up and down the green as required to position it-- so that the mat will go where the skip who controls the mat wants it. 

Nevertheless, the inconvenience of moving both groundsheet and mat before starting every end is a real disincentive to adopting this tactic. It should not be. It is not necessary to move mat and groundsheet a big distance to obtain a benefit from this tactic. Just moving them together one or two mat lengths forward will change the path the bowl follows. Furthermore, by making this change your side is asserting itself, taking charge of the end, and increasing respect for your team vis-a-vis ordinary social bowlers. If the opposition wonders aloud whether what you are doing is legal, all the better. Whatever authority is in charge will confirm your right in the matter. If there is a referee invite the objectors to consult him or her.

When the end is finished, do not offer to move the groundsheet back to the two-meter mark. Leave it to the skips to decide; besides, you expect to win the next end and use the same mat position in the one subsequent as you continue to win ends!

Many skips are accustomed to playing over the groundsheet at the head end of the rink. Other skips will want to take up this groundsheet and then relay it when the end is complete. Accommodate the opposing skip in whatever suits him or her.

 It is not a requirement to pick up the groundsheet at the skips' end of the rink simply because the jack is being delivered past it and closer to the forward ditch. In fact, this is routinely accepted when the groundsheet is in its standard location and the jack has been rolled to within 2 meters of the forward ditch even though it is this configuration that most often causes visible interference with good draws to the jack. If the groundsheet at the skips' end is up nearer the hog line and the jack has been delivered long there is actually less chance of groundsheet contact with a normal draw shot. Nevertheless, many opposing skips will want to take the groundsheet up in this situation. If it makes them more comfortable, I suggest that you readily agree to this also.

When moving the groundsheet up the rink it may be useful to mark where its corners sit with chalk. This way returning the groundsheet to the same location will be simplified for subsequent ends. But even if you don't do this, remember that it is not actually necessary that the groundsheet be either completely straight or perfectly centered so long as the mat itself is properly centered with respect to the rink's center-line. 

Those club players who play open tournaments infrequently, typically bowl varying-length jacks all from a mat at the T.  For some reason, it is my experience that women club bowlers are the most easily disturbed by mat/groundsheet movement. To give your team the greatest legal advantage you should choose any configuration different from the one with which they are most comfortable. Don't let groundsheets take away this valuable tactic that is totally within the rules.

When Losing: Move the Mat When You Change the Length

Author in Vilamoura Portugal 2016

In a triples match on Monday at Valverde LBC, a missed opportunity by the opposition illustrated the importance of moving the mat to change length as opposed to simply shortening the roll from the two meter mark.  I was leading for my team and we were winning playing full length jacks. Our opponents, each time they won one of the odd numbered ends, tried a shorter jack coming back. The difficulty was that they didn’t change the mat position. They didn’t realize that both my vice and I were using an unusual discoloration on the green as a visible stare point (the Valverde green is otherwise annoyingly uniform?!) and this was helping us disproportionately.

If our opponents had moved up the mat at the same time as they changed the length, our very useful visible stare point would have become useless and our better bowling, with respect to line, might have deteriorated