When You Can’t Hit your Line at Lawn Bowls Do this!

 If you have been reading the Greenbowler blog for a while you could be expected to know the answer to this question: If you are missing your line— that is failing to roll your bowl over your stare point, usually a spot about five meters in front of the mat — and consequently either leaving your bowl wide of the jack or having it cross over the center line and end up a distance away on the other side, what is the most likely problem with your delivery?

If you author that blog, you would be even more likely to think by now, after more than 10 years of lawn bowling, that surely that guy would quickly analyze what was going wrong and correct it within a few ends.

No such thing! For 36 ends, here in Portugal, bowling first at Valverde LBC and then the following day at Balaia LBC, my deliveries were all over the place and I was left scratching my head, wondering what was going wrong. My weight was fine but I was wide sometimes and narrow other times.

I should have reread my own blogs! If one fails to get one’s forward stepping foot firmly on the ground before one’s forward swing is well underway, the chance to deliver a bowl along the proper path to the jack is seriously degraded. What was infuriating— well not quite, it is only a game— was that I have written at least five blog articles emphasizing this— more than about any other aspect of the delivery.

Anyway, my bowling today confirms it; that was the problem. I hope my readers catch on faster than I did when they encounter the same problem!

Best Delivery Style for New Bowlers

 

After 7 years of playing lawn bowls I am generally happy with my delivery; happy with my weight control, happy with my line control, and happy with my consistency. The way I now bowl is substantially different from what I was originally taught. What introductory coaches teach can only serve as a standard starting point for the evolution of each player’s particular style. 

Nevertheless, it is fair to ask, “Could there be a better single form from which individual players could better evolve?”

I think the answer is yes there is. A better base for beginning bowlers would be the Shooters’ Stance because it is inherently more stable and accommodates more body types. Having the anchor foot angled to the aim line reduces upper body instability during those seconds when the bowler is supported on one leg as the forward step is taken. Angling the anchor foot also moves the bowler’s hips out of the way so the swing of the bowling arm is unimpeded in all cases.

The stepping foot on the other hand should point down the rink along the aim line or point at the stare point 3-5 meters ahead of the mat if you are teaching an aim point on the rink. This is so you can come down with your heel, rock forward onto the ball of your foot, and then walk through as if following your bowl. Walking off the mat is optional but the complete transfer of weight from your anchor foot is essential. 

The degree your stepping foot is initially positioned in advance of your anchor foot will depend upon how you set up your upper body. 

So far I have only spoken about foot orientations. The positions of each foot determine how you will support your body. Grip positions determine how you will hold your bowl. There are all kinds of advice concerning grip on the bowl. What is most comfortable for the individual is best for the individual. If there is any common element it is that the tip of your longest finger should rest on the center line of the running surface of the bowl so the bowl is released without unreproducible wobbling. The position of the thumb will depend upon the characteristics, size, and strength of your hand. Most introductory coaches and most coaching videos teach some variation of a claw grip to the degree that they call for the thumb to be somewhat opposite the fingers where it can squeeze the bowl so that it does not fall even when you turn your hand over so that only your thumb is under the bowl. Such a grip in my opinion is preferred if it can be executed comfortably but it is not mandatory. Some world-class bowlers use a palm grip where the thumb rests on the side of the bowl. Some persons, particularly older players, have arthritic thumbs or other handicaps that make a claw-type grip uncomfortable or impossible.

Even as I make this suggestion, I want to remind everyone that a bowls lesson should not be a person’s first experience with lawn bowling. That first exposure should not be a pedagogic opportunity; rather, it is a marketing opportunity. The goal is to fascinate, not to improve. The most fascinating aspect of bowls is that a bowl follows a beautiful predictable curved path; hence, tyros it is hoped will first pick up how to take grass and draw towards a jack.

This is a problem for actual teaching because the most important element of performance is really getting the correct ‘weight’.

In 2020 How Would I Describe My Bowls Delivery?

I bowl from the Shooters’ stance. My anchor foot is positioned at an angle of 45 degrees to the line of delivery. I have chosen this because it provides less side-to-side tilting during my stepping when I am on one foot only. For the set-up, I use the South African foot positioning which places the stepping foot one-half a stride in front of the anchor foot. This reduces the length of the forward stride and reduces the time that I'm standing on one leg. I hope this increases my stability. In my set position, I have my non-bowling hand resting on the knee of my forward leg. This keeps my center of gravity lower than it would otherwise be in a completely erect posture; again trying to minimize sway. My hand on my knee locks in the stability. My weight is essentially completely on my anchor foot so that my forward stepping will be less encumbered.

My wrist is no longer cocked. I abandoned this experiment because it was inconsistent with having a more relaxed arm. The biggest change from previous years is that I now hold my bowl tilted, even in the ready position so that no  Bryant twist is required during the backswing. This follows the observed practice of Stuart Andersen (search Stuart Andersen in this blog). The natural position of my hand, when it hangs loosely at my side, is not with fingers parallel to my aim line but slightly turned in. Previously, when I was using a Bryant twist in my backswing I felt the bowl’s changing center of gravity as I twisted my wrist was throwing off the smooth line of my backswing. Starting with the wrist off-center as Andersen does eliminates this perception. Bringing my wrist back into line, so the bowl’s running surface coincides with the aim line, occurs in the forward swing and I do not feel it.

My grip for a draw or running (run-through) shot is best described as having the “C” formed by my thumb and index finger on the bowl’s grip marks. (Since I use Aero Zig-Zag Grooved bowls, there is an actual channel for my thumb and finger.) My middle fingertip is centered on the running surface of my bowl. In contrast, for a drive, all four of my fingers are on the bowl with my index finger on one grip and my baby finger on the other.  My two middle fingers are near the center of the running surface. Putting all four fingers behind the bowl seems to improve my power while preserving accuracy.

Following David Bryant’s teaching, holding the bowl in a proper grip and standing in my proper set position, I look back and forth alternating between my stare point, over which I must roll my bowl to get the proper bias swing, and the jack location, whose distance I need to internalize to get the proper weight. At the same time, I make a few abbreviated practice swings along the proposed line, and then when I feel comfortable I begin my backswing.

My backswing is slow and measured; like an archer drawing his bow or a pool player lining up his cue. My mind is focused on keeping my backswing on top of the extension of my aim line out behind me. My eyes stare at the ‘stare point’ on my aim line which I want my bowl to traverse. As the bowl passes the lowest point on my backswing, my stepping foot starts forward. My stepping foot points (the centerline between heel and toes) along the aim line and comes down parallel and close to the aim line. The continuation of my backswing and my forward stepping somewhat offset each other in terms of weight transfer but I sense some net transfer of weight backward on my anchor foot at this point. As my forward-stepping foot gets planted on the ground my forward swing begins accompanied by a smooth transfer of my body weight forward onto my forward leg. My body dips slightly to bring my bowl closer to the ground. I release my bowl just in front of my forward foot. During the forward stepping and forward swinging, my mind is blank—in order to commit complete control to my subconscious. Once the bowl is released, I consciously observe whether I have rolled the bowl over my stare point so that I will know whether I need to correct my line or simply do a better job of hitting it!

It is important, I think, to be sure that one completely transfers one’s body weight forward onto one’s stepping foot. This is achieved by taking an actual step off the mat.  I have so far failed to consistently follow this, so it is a work in progress. I am also trying to vigorously draw my fingers and thumb off the bowl as I release it so that there is no last-minute deflection from the line; but, this so far is just a hoped-for outcome. Since I am trying to leave the forward swing to my subconscious it is difficult to consciously control the bowl’s release.

 

The Ten Top Greenbowler Lawn Bowling Blogs

Ryan Bester at Broadbeach

 

I've been posting The Greenbowler Blog for seven years. Although, as the editor, I can see which of my 228 posts have been more popular this information is not readily available to readers although posts can be selected by keywords using the search tool in the right-hand column of each blog article. So below, I list, each with its own link, my 10 most popular blog articles of all time. If this proves useful and there is a demand for it, I will supply links for numbers 11-20 later.

1. The Secret to Controlled Weight

2. Strategy and Tactics at Bowls

3. Lawn Bowling from the Shooters Stance

4. Measuring at Bowls

5. Jack or Bowl: Reading the Head

6. Strategy of Leads at Pairs

7. Controlled Weight

8. Choosing your Correct Bias for Bowls

9. Delivering Bowls with a Cocked Wrist

10. Henselite Supergrip Championship Bowls

Why One Aims with the Advancing Foot Bowling from the Shooters’ Stance

 

It makes a lot of sense to place your anchor foot at 45 degrees to the aim line for a lawn bowling delivery. Placed at an angle rather than parallel to the aim line gives more stability when all your weight is on one foot as one steps forward. But why should one step out with one’s advancing foot toe pointing at your stare point on your aim line as also recommended by New Rodda?

 

Following the same argument wouldn’t it give an even more stable base to have that advancing foot also come down firmly at an angle to the aim line? 

I couldn’t understand the difference until recently when I was thinking about a different problem. How could I bowl smoothly if my stepping foot landed with a jolt as I set it firmly down in my delivery? The answer appears to be that I would need to come down on my forward stepping heel and rock forward transferring my weight from heel to sole and finally to my toes as I walked off the mat. But this is only possible if one points the advancing foot  somewhat parallel to the aim line. 

So that is the real reason why Nev Rodda  says to use the advancing foot to aim: the purpose is not really to enhance your aim (as he says, “This is how I like to explain it.”) but rather to smoothly transfer weight from the anchor foot to the advancing foot!

Learning from David Gourlay’s Delivery

The author’s delivery is more like that of David Gourlay than any other professional indoor lawn bowler. It is interesting that although David is perhaps the best overall athlete among the top bowlers, his delivery is physically undemanding.

Grip 

David uses something between the claw grip and what is called the gyrostatic grip. The gyrostatic grip was designed to allow the hand and forearm to remain in its normal position, without needing to turn the hand palm up, as is the case with other grips. The palm and fingers are located on the side of the bowl with the thumb on top. Put simply it looks like the bowler is palming the bowl from the side.

According to Len Hyde, a coach from New South Wales Australia, it is no longer taught, at least in Zone 9 of Australia. Neither can I can find any online references to the grip.

In David’s adaption, his thumb rests on the grip but is more forward than most people’s. His thumb is almost above the rotational axis of the bowl. His index finger runs down the side of the bowl with the fingertip in the grip ring. His remaining three fingers seem to be together, all on the running surface, but with the long middle finger on the center of the running surface.

Ready Position

Gourlay adopts the Shooters’ stance to the extent that the toes of his anchor footare slightly turned in towards his aim line. His stepping foot is a shoe length forward of it. Most characteristically- his non-bowling hand is already on his knee before his action begins. His arm when ready is about 30 degrees from vertical and the bowl is at a height just below his knee.

Delivery

Because his grip already turns his palm in towards his side, no Bryant twist is needed in David’s backswing. The backswing is short and tight enough to his body that he wouldn't actually need to bend his anchor leg in behind his advancing leg, although he does. 

When he releases his bowl his index finger remains outstretched but his other fingers curl up behind the bowl as if to give it a flick. This is made clear in the close-up picture of his hand just after letting go of the bowl. This seems a consistent attribute of his delivery.

Because of his grip, the bowl leaves his hand with some wobble. Gourlay seems to adjust for length by varying the length of his forward stepping. He follows through low and does not walk off the mat.

For some reason that I cannot even hypothesize about, he, more than other players, asks the marker to move because the rink boundary stripe is being obscured.

Follow-through

Walking off the mat is not part of David's delivery. His weight goes fully forward but his anchor foot remains on the mat until the bowl is well down the rink.

The Bowls Delivery of Darren Burnett

Darren Burnett is most infamous to Canadians, like myself, because at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he won the gold medal in men's singles defeating Ryan Bester of Canada. Darren Burnett is one of the professional bowlers who most clearly illustrates the Shooters’ Stance. Because his anchor foot is distinctly angled with respect to his aim line, he does not need to twist his wrist in his backswing. His grip is classical- four-finger claw grip.

Burnett delivers from an athletic stance. He stands tall and looks down the rink from a fully erect posture and sights down the rink. Then as his arm pushes forward in the delivery motion he looks down towards his bowl. It is unclear whether he keeps his eye on a stare point. Perhaps his stare point is very close to the mat. This is a bit mysterious.

Different from all other bowlers in his ready position he raises his bowl up as high as his chin by bending his elbow. He also raises his other hand which remains close by the bowl as if to steady it. This is evident in my first picture.

When he begins his bowling action he rapidly lowers the 
bowl as he draws it

back towards his anchor foot. He steps forward but not as with others close to his aim line but rather partially away from it. When his foot is firmly down he sweeps forward and drops the bowl onto the rink.

Burnett lets go of his bowl further above the rink than other top bowlers and the bowl gets away with a considerable wobble.

 Burnett’s non-bowling arm ends up resting on his forward thigh. Unlike other bowlers, his forward stepping leg, from knee to foot, angles away from his strictly vertically bowling arm.

Learn from Paul Foster’s Bowls Delivery

After the 2019 World Indoor Bowls Championship, Paul Foster was ranked fourth in the world. It is interesting fo bowling enthusiasts to examine his delivery.

Stance

Foster bowls from the ‘shooters’ stance’. This style was first popularized by Nev Rodda in his blog. This is not to say that Rodda invented the stance although he certainly coined its name. All Rodda says is that he brought it to wider attention that top bowlers were using it.

The Greenbowler author has adopted the Shooters’ Stance himself.  

Foster is a tall man and he starts his on-mat delivery routine from the erect athletic stance. Once he has secured his grip, he holds his bowl hanging loosely at his side.

Grip

Paul’s grip is the classic claw grip. Furthermore, he does not bend his wrist in a scoop as recommended by New Rodda. His wrist remains straight, relaxed but locked.

Foster’s Opposite Hand Position

The ‘opposite hand’ refers to the hand that does not do the bowling. This hand in the cases of most bowlers participates very little in their deliveries.  His free hand never touches either his thigh or knee but moves from supporting his bowl when first standing on the mat to hanging loosely at his side during his swing.

 Foster’s Back-Swing

Foster has no backswing. As a consequence, he does not need to tuck his anchor knee in behind his forward heel because his anchor leg is well clear of his swinging arm. This is attributable to using the shooters’ stance. The bowl ends up next to his anchor leg’s knee as he strides forward; his bowling arm only moves down.

Forward Stepping

 Foster’s entire body moves forward with his bowl swing. His forward stepping foot first contacts the bowling surface heel first and then he rocks forward onto his toes. The bowl is not released until his advancing foot is solidly grounded as is the case with all top bowlers.

Both his draws and drives use the exact technique of the ‘running shot.’ Greenbowler has completed blog articles covering the running shot and comparing it with the yard-on and drive shots. For clarity, I will quote the pertinent part from one of those articles:

“The delivery of the running shot begins with the delivery arm holding the bowl hanging vertical and the body bent at the waist to bring the bowl close to the ground. Some players use a little backswing for this shot but no backswing is preferred."

Because he has essentially no backswing he moves his whole body quickly forward with a large forward step.

Following Through

Foster has one of the most reproducible follow-throughs in the game. He does not stay down like others….as the bowl leaves his hand it sweeps forward and upwards as if his fingers were giving some extra spin to the bowl. But his fingers all remain straight. They do not spin the bowl. Foster’s bowls, more than other top bowlers, drop onto the carpet. The sound is distinct. His arm elevation and even his finger positions are consistent. This is seen in an image captured from a video.

Walking Off the Mat

Foster walks off the mat in methodical juggernaut-like steps with a distinct hesitation after each step. This in combination with his athletic stance is his most characteristic feature. He shares this walking off the mat with his doubles partner Alex Marshall.

Positioning on the Mat

Foster does not use ‘walking the mat’ much. He seems to take up positions at the front of the mat with his anchor foot on the mat and his stepping foot about one foot in front of the mat.

Learn from Stuart Andersen’s Bowls Delivery

After the 2019 World Indoor Bowls Championship, Stuart Andersen was ranked second in the world. It is interesting for bowling enthusiasts to examine his delivery.

Stance

Stuart Andersen bowls from the ‘shooters’ stance’. This style was first popularized by Nev Rodda in his blog. The Greenbowler author has adopted the Shooters’ Stance himself.  

The distinctive aspect of Stuart Andersen's ready position is that he holds the bowl already twisted. In other words, Anderson does not use a Bryant twist but starts with the bowl’s running surface at an angle to his aim line! At the beginning of his delivery action, he lowers his body but does not begin his backswing until the bowl is at ankle height. 

The shooters' stance & Anderson's bowl angle together

Grip

Stuart Anderson’s grip is the claw grip. He does not bend his wrist in a scoop but it remains locked. It is the angling of the bowl in his ready position that sets him apart!

 Anderson’s Opposite Hand Position

The ‘opposite hand’ refers to the hand that does not do the bowling. This hand in the cases of most bowlers participates very little in their deliveries.  Stuart Andersen uses his free hand to steady his bowl even as he sinks down by bending his knees to lower his entire frame. His free hand never touches either his thigh or knee but moves from supporting his bowl to hanging loosely at his side and helping to maintain balance during the complete delivery.

 Anderson’s Back-Swing

Stuart Anderson has a short backswing, throughout which he holds his bowl at the same angle to the aim line that he had at the beginning of his backswing... essentially no backswing. He does not need to tuck his anchor knee in behind his forward heel because his anchor leg is well clear of his swinging arm both because he uses the more open Shooters’ stance and because his backswing is so short.

More than other top bowlers it appears that his delivery is shoulder motion rather than arm motion. It gives a sense of compactness.

Forward Stepping

 Stuart’s entire body moves forward with his bowl swing. His forward stepping foot first contacts the bowling surface heel first and then he rocks forward onto his toes. The bowl is not released until his advancing foot is solidly grounded as is the case with all top bowlers.

Following Through

Stuart Andersen has one of the most reproducible follow-throughs in the game. His arm elevation and even his finger positions are consistent. This is seen in the picture. It seems he lets go of the bowl by drawing back all his fingers at once.

Walking Off the Mat

Andersen doesn’t walk off the mat smoothly or consistently but his weight is completely forward at release and his anchor foot is only touching the mat with his toes.

Positioning on the Mat

Stuart Andersen does not use the mat much. He seems to take up just the two positions; one forehand….one backhand.

Learn from Robert Paxton’s Bowls Delivery

After the 2019 World Indoor Bowls Championship, Robert Paxton, who lost in the Mens Singles Final to Nicky Brett, was ranked third in the world. It is interesting for bowling enthusiasts to examine his delivery.

Stance

Robert Paxton bowls from a stance with both feet parallel and almost side by side on the mat. The foot that he will advance is one-half a shoe length forward of his anchor foot. This is close to the classic feet-together position. Most often both feet are close to completely on the mat. The modern teaching is that only the anchor foot need to be on the mat. Center-line bowlers are taught to deliver both forehand and backhand over the front center of the mat. Another recent teaching is to have the foot that is going to step forward into the shot, slightly advanced. This style was first observed among South African bowlers but is now common throughout the world. Another option very common today is the Shooters’ Stance, popularized on-line by New Rodda from Australia. In point of fact, the author  of Greenbowler has adopted the Shooters’ Stance himself. 

Grip

To identify Robert Paxton’s grip you need to run Youtube video at the slowest speed (1/4 of normal) and stop the frames when he is adjusting his grip. Paxton bowls using a grip halfway between the claw grip and what is called the gyrostatic grip.

I could find no reference to the gyrostatic grip on Google however it is taught by a booklet called The Lawn Bowler’s Manual written by Len Hyde of the Zone 9 Association of Coaches in New South Wales Australia. This grip is designed to allow the hand and forearm to remain in their normal positions, without needing to turn the hand over, as in the case with the other grips. The palm and fingers are located at the side of the bowl with the thumb on top. The gyrostatic grip may be useful for club bowlers who have very short thumbs or arthritis. Such people might model their deliveries after Robert Paxton.

In Robert’s grip, instead of his hand gripping the bowl from the side, an extension of the line of his wrist intersects the plane of the running surface of his bowl at about 45 degrees.

Although  Paxton’s overall delivery is speedy, the amount of time he takes confirming that his finger positions are precise is longer than for most. This is because, being a gyrostatic/claw bowler, the bowl does indeed roll off his fingers and hence they need to be precisely positioned.

For a reason that is not obvious Paxton tilts the upper part of his bowl towards his body in the ready position.

 Paxton’s Opposite Hand Position

The ‘opposite hand’ refers to the hand that does not do the bowling. This hand in the cases of most bowlers participate very little in their deliveries.  Robert  Paxton has a very peculiar action of his free hand. At the ready position; just before starting his delivery action, he has his hand on his thigh a few inches above the knee. An instant before he starts to move, he hitches up his pants with the fingers of this hand in a sort of scratching motion and then as he starts his delivery action he slides this hand down and cups his knee with that hand. This action is probably done to loosen his pant leg so that  he can stride forward without hindrance. Amusingly he retains the action even when he is wearing short pants!

 Paxton’s Back-Swing

Robert Paxton has essentially no backswing. His draw uses the exact technique of the ‘running shot.’ Greenbowler has completed blog articles covering the running shot and comparing it with the yard-on and drive shots. For clarity, I will quote the pertinent part from one of those articles:

“The delivery of the running shot begins with the delivery arm holding the bowl hanging vertical and the body bent from the waist to bring the bowl close to the ground. Some players use a little backswing for this shot but no backswing is preferred. “

Well, Robert Paxton uses the running shot delivery for regular draw shots and drives by adjusting to an appropriate weight.

Because he has essentially no backswing he moves his whole body quickly forward with a large forward step.

Although Paxton is not a palm bowler, his delivery is an option for palm bowlers. Since there is no backswing the bowl cannot fall out of the hand. The other option for palm bowlers is Nicky Brett’s delivery that makes use of the Bryant twist to retain the bowl during a backswing.

Forward Stepping

 Robert’s entire body moves forward with his bowl swing. His forward stepping foot first contacts the bowling surface heel first and then he rocks forward onto his toes. The illustration below shows him on the toes of his advancing foot with his arm outstretched following the bowl. His eyes are still staring at his aim point.

That the knee of his anchor foot bends in behind the heel of his stepping foot is best seen in the left-most picture under backswing. People often wonder why this is done. The reason can be understood from the slow-motion delivery.

Following Through

In the follow-through  Paxton's wrist remains locked straight and there is no flicking of his fingers.

Walking Off the Mat

Paxton doesn’t walk off the mat to the same extent as other top bowlers. Because he stays so low and his forward step is so long he is not in position at the end of his follow-through to walk normally.

Positioning on the Mat

Robert Paxton can be seen to change his set-up position on the mat to help get around bowls or to be sure that he gets back to center rink .