A healthy retiree discovers Lawn Bowls, a sport he can compete in for 20 years! After 13 years of playing year-round, he tells what seems to work. What doesn't. What can be changed quickly; what slowly, and what must be apparently left to chance.
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Imagine that, when the mat was on the back T, you found that the correct aim line runs to a point on the front bank a particular number of meters to the side of the rink number.
On this theoretically perfectly flat rink, with the jack now sitting on the forward T and the mat brought forward, what fraction of that distance should you now use to deliver your bowl with the mat up?
This is an important question for players who want to actively move the mat. The change from bowling about 30 meters from T to T to bowling 21-23 meters from a mat drawn up to the Hog line changes several things simultaneously.
First, the curve of your bowl is going to pass over completely new areas of the rink. This is important because ( spoiler alert ) rinks are not actually flat over their entire surface!
Second, if you take an aim line running from the center of the mat to a point on the forward ditch, that proper point on the forward ditch moves closer to the rink number.
Then, third and most obviously, the required weight becomes markedly less.
That fraction = {d.sin(tan-1 W/L)}/W
Where:
d is the distance to a jack on the forward T
W is the distance in meters from the rink number to the aim point on the forward bank and
L is the distance from the back T to the forward bank
This fraction turns out to substantially vary as a function of the full length of the green. Perhaps surprisingly, there is little variation as a function of the rink’s width.
I have prepared a table below showing the fractional change in aim point.
Notice that for small changes in mat position around the back T, any aim point on the forward ditch changes by an amount less than the likely error in delivering your bowl! Practical result— small changes in length around the back T are not pertinent for aiming.
Distance to jack For 34 meter rink For 40 meter rink
d=21 meters 0.65 ( ∿ 2/3 ) 0.55
d=23 meters 0.72 ( ∿ 3/4 ) 0.61
d= 27 meters 0.84 ( ∿ 5/6 ) 0.71
d= 30 meters 0.94 ( ∿ 20/21 ) 0.79
According to Law 40.1.10 of the Laws of the Sport of Bowls Fourth Edition, Skips can, at any time, delegate their own powers and any of their own duties (except those described in law 40.1.7 which all pertain to the scorecard) to any other members of the team as long as they tell the opposing skip immediately.
In spite of this, I have seen without exception that skips place their least skilled bowler as the one who delivers the jack and the first bowls for their side.
Why do they do this? The answer: because they believe, incorrectly, that if they put this less skilled bowler to deliver bowls in the second position, that person will be required to measure, count shots, and direct the head when the skip goes to the mat.
But as Rule 40.1.10 paraphrased above acknowledges a skip is completely entitled to have his/her best teammate center the mat, deliver the jack, bowl first for the team, supervise the head when the skip goes to the mat, do the measuring, and report the score to the skip. The skip can then have his/her weakest bowler, bowl in the second position, and do the raking! All the normal lead and vice duties can be switched! All that is mandated is that such a skip must inform the opposing skip immediately.
There is an efficiency in doing this. Usually, as the two most experienced players on the team, they can communicate more deftly with signals to move the mat forward and backward and then get the mat aligned on the center line more quickly.
Then come the strategic benefits. The skip’s best teammate now gets the opportunity to deliver the jack to the length the skip indicates. Not only does this make more precise jack lengths more likely, but it also reduces the times the jack is too short, out of bounds, or in the forward ditch.
Advantages arise in the play as well. Because your best teammate is leading the way against what is usually the other side’s weakest bowler, your team is more often holding shot after the first six bowls have been delivered. Your best teammate has had unobstructed or minimally obstructed draw shots toward the jack. Your side has a reduced risk of playing those too-short-blocking bowls.
But now your weakest player must deliver alternating bowls with the other side’s vice. Well, if short bowls come now they may be blocking a head where your side is already more likely shot. Or maybe all your side needs is protection behind the jack. These are lower-skill assignments. Get the weight right and don’t be narrow.
This strategy has worked very well for me in inter-club competitions and above. Your teammates need to understand the reasons for the change. It needs to be clear to your number two that the change augments both his/her responsibility and authority. The person who now delivers the 4-6th bowls for your side normally will immediately feel greater responsibility has been assigned to him/her even though the nonplaying duty is still raking.
I do not recommend this change for social games or other club roll-ups. The newer players who so often play lead need some opportunities to learn mat placement and jack delivery. Besides in open draws the person playing skip does not know the other team members so well.
When the opposition has the mat, they deliver the jack and the first bowl of the end. This is not the time to be chatting, getting a drink, or finding your own bowls. You should already be holding your first bowl and be standing behind your opposite lead watching the line taken and the result achieved. You should use this information to improve the outcome for your own first bowl of the end.
Leads are required to follow the instructions of their Skips and these instructions are provided by the hand and body signals they send once the previous bowler has completed a delivery. What is written here is only to acquaint you with some of the considerations a skip may be having when deciding what instructions to send.
Opposing Lead’s Bowl >2 meters from the Jack
An opposing bowl that finishes more than 2 meters from the jack should not be a consideration when deciding your own first delivery. Knowing the aim line that was taken by that bowl is very much a consideration. It can be a guide and a warning. Did it hit something in its course? Did it backup and break its smooth curving path? The rink may tell its secrets but you must listen!
Opposing Lead’s Bowl is Close and Behind the Jack
You might think that an opposing first bowl that finishes just to the side of the jack and around a bowl diameter behind would make your life more difficult, but in fact, it presents an opportunity. If you can follow that bowl down the rink and come to rest touching that bowl (resting the bowl) you will be shot. If by chance you strike that bowl with a bit more velocity you will roll it back and perhaps take its place! (chop and lie). In both cases, the opposition bowl makes it more likely that you will have a happy result.
Opposing Lead’s Bowl is Behind the Jack but Not Very Close
The opposing lead has just delivered a back bowl. Your skip will want your first bowl to finish closer to the jack but behind the jack. Your skip is likely to let you choose the hand you prefer. If you have no strong personal preference choose the hand your opposite lead just played, you will have a better estimate of the correct aim line. If you have no natural preference and the two sides are, as far as you know, equally well-known and equally ‘forgiving’ choose the same side as that upon which the opposing bowl has come to rest. If your bowl trails the jack you prefer it to go away from the opposing bowl.
Opposing Lead’s Bowl is Jack High but about a Mat Length Wide of the Jack.
‘Jack high’ means that the front edge of the bowl so described is level with the front edge of the jack. Another term is jack level.
This is a favorable situation for your side. This bowl does not block your delivery path and is not so close to the jack as to be an eventual serious competition for shot bowl. Rather it confers a small advantage to your side.
If you deliver your bowl on the same hand with enough weight to reach to or behind the jack but your bowl runs a little wide you can get a wick off the inside edge of this opposing bowl that will nudge your bowl in towards the jack and push the opposing bowl away.
Your skip is likely to call for you to bowl to the jack on the same hand where the opposing jack high bowl is sitting.
Jack or Bowl Situation
Suppose the opposing lead delivers a jack-high bowl that is closer than the width of a bowl from the jack. This is the so-called ‘jack or bowl’ situation. Your skip might call for you to bowl to a specific spot on the other side of the rink from the close opposing bowl and slightly beyond the jack’s distance from the mat because that is where the jack is very likely to be by the completion of the end. You are being asked to prepare for the shot that will send this close bowl and the jack separate ways with the jack going hopefully towards your waiting bowl.
In Your Line but >1 meter in front of the Mat
Unfortunately, your skip will decide whether that bowl is in your drawline. I say unfortunately because often you will have a better idea of whether your delivery is blocked than your skip. For the sake of overall team cohesion please follow the skip’s decision in this situation; even though your judgment may be the better one. When the skip asks you to change the hand it is for fear that your bowl will be stopped far in front of the head. The open hand will give you a clear path to the jack! Check your bias. This is a situation where you might forget and the innocent error would be regarded as mutiny!
In Your Line but Quite Close in Front of the Jack
Ironically, when your opposite’s lead bowl is unambiguously in your line, your skip may not switch you to the other hand. The reason is that even if you hit that blocking bowl squarely your bowl will finish a very good second and if your bowl just glances off that opposing bowl and rolls on a tad further it may be you who has shot bowl!
But if the opposition bowl is within 6 inches of the jack and you are asked to bowl the other hand still better! Your aim line runs between the bowl and jack but don’t be short. Anything behind is good.
Directly in Front of the Jack; Hiding the Jack
Your opposite has delivered an excellent shot. It is difficult to visualize your delivery when you cannot see the target. Ask your skip to show you the exact distance of the jack by placing a foot beside the jack with your toe pointing towards it. Let that visible toe be your target for visualizing your shot. There are three good outcomes of your delivery. You may hit this blocking bowl away. You may trail the jack or most likely of all you may widen the head making it easier to hit and disrupt.
Centre Rink Close Behind the Jack
In lawn bowling ‘niggling’ is defined as unwarranted attacking your opposite's best bowls. Your opposition lead has delivered the best possible opening bowl! Your own skip will probably call for you to get close behind the jack. Bowl enough narrow that besides getting behind the jack as your skip has instructed your bowl will make it back to center rink or even cross it. If perchance you hit something on the way you are a hero, if not you’ve done OK!
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.
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!
A number of years ago I attended a Canadian bowling delivery clinic and I asked Steve McKerihan, a perennial member of the Canadian Commonwealth team, whether he visualized the delivery before executing it. He told me, “Yes- but I visualize the delivery in reverse.”
What he meant was that he started with a picture of his bowl at rest in the location that was his target (usually right up against the jack) and then saw in his mind’s eye the bowl slowly move away from the jack and with gradually increasing speed back through its arcing path to his delivery hand on the mat.
Frankly, I had forgotten about this remark for quite a few years but recently realized that this ‘running the video backward’ can improve my visualization, particularly the last portion going into the head.
It is not enough to just get an impression of the possible arcing path of the incipient delivery; this last part of the course where the bowl enters the immediate vicinity of the jack must be part of it.
Imagining your bowl rolling along this complete path (whether forward or backward ) is how you teach your subconscious that this is what you want to do next.
Visualizing the complete path is best done standing up straight behind the mat. Holding the line and holding one’s stare point on it is done in the ready position which, depending upon individuality, may be a crouch. I have found that squatting just behind the mat helps me precisely pick a stare point.
When I release my bowl from my hand I immediately sense whether it is going to be a good shot. Why this feeling comes is still a personal mystery.
During the first three years of my lawn bowling novitiate (2012-2014), I had been overwhelmingly concerned with line and had paid scant attention to length. The result: I rarely had a bowl that went out of bounds (an error of about 2 meters in line) but I often have errors of weight more than two meters!
Putting the problem this way makes it obvious that instead my first concern should have been correcting my weight and I should have left line to my developing intuitive sense. This should be the case particularly when playing on grass where bowling, aiming at the boundary mark, is never far wrong.
I was spending excessive time on the mat finding the stare point and insufficient time just assessing the distance to the jack and feeling the correct amount of backswing and forward muscular thrust.
My partner for novice pairs, Thomas Wu, had invented a system of ‘notches’ in his backswing to control his weight and he encouraged me to try it. He said he could feel each of these positions in his backswing as a ’click’ so he knew when to arrest that backward swing and start his forward pendulum motion.
Perhaps this sense comes with practice and perhaps not, but what is beyond dispute is that more attention to weight would pay dividends.
I tried paying primary attention to length in a friendly match at Willowdale LBC on a Monday evening back then. While doing this I simplified my game by setting my stare point on the forward bank rather than finding a closer spot on the rink. The combination resulted in the most satisfying result I had achieved for quite a while. My backswing clicks were at 6”, 9”, and 12” behind the heel of my anchor foot.
Although such mechanical guides are the only way to gauge distance when starting to bowl, after about six years one just imagines the required path of the bowl and then leave it to one’s subconscious mind to control the delivery.