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.  

Choosing Bowl Size When Bowling with a Bowling Arm at Lawn Bowls

During a visit with a friend in Sun City Arizona, I was advised that since he now played with a bowling arm, he now used a number 4 bowl instead of the number 3 because grasping the bowl in one’s hand was no longer relevant.

This got me thinking. Why stop there? The larger the bowl’s diameter the more measurements your side is going to win and the better your score!

A size 00 bowl, (and these smaller bowls are becoming more and more popular), has a diameter of 116 mm. While the size 6 is  128.5 mm in diameter. If the centers of these two bowls are the same distance from a jack, the size 6 bowl’s outside edge will be 6.25 mm closer than the size 00’s outside edge. In close measurements between the two, the large bowl will win handily.

Even in the case of my friend, Bob, who could have switched from a number 3 to a number 6, the change would place him 2.25 mm closer to the jack on each delivery (so long as the bowls don’t stay on edge ). 

These largest-diameter bowls are now unpopular and a set can be picked up cheaply second-hand. Players using bowling arms should start picking these up for their own advantageous use!

I was given a set of size 7 bowls by the Etobicoke Lawn Bowling Club because no one was interested in them. One of these monsters is pictured!

Kit for Lawn Bowling

 

Shoes

Only flat soled shoes with negligible tread depth are allowed on a bowling green. Clubs may set restrictions on shoe colour as well. 

Sun Screen

Probably the most serious danger to health from lawn bowling is skin cancer from excessive exposure to the sun.

Sun Glasses

The sunshine can be intense on a bowls green. Keeping the illumination comfortable is beneficial for seeing clearly in the short run and vision in general in the long run. If you normally wear spectacles your prescription can be made up to incorporate screening that adapts to the light’s intensity.

Hat

A hat protects from the sun’s rays. Depending upon the width and location of its brim it can shield, the face, the ears, and even the back of the neck. The more extensive the brim however the more susceptible it is to being blown off your head and across the green. If your preferred hat is wide-brimmed carry a cap as well for windy conditions.

Water or Sports Drink

To maintain optimal muscle tone, maintaining hydration,

 and simply to remain comfortable you will need some form of liquid. 

Set of Bowls

A single set of four bowls that you are familiar with is enough. For social bowls bring four bowls even if the game is advertised to require fewer. The drawmaster may have to place you in a different game to make his numbers work.

The rules of bowls allow bowlers to try out different sets of bowls during the practice ends of serious competitions and then choose one set to play with in the ensuing match. I have never seen this done. Bowlers with multiple sets usually predict the best set in advance when they know the venu.

Alternate Bowls

Different greens play differently. When you are playing on a rink that is not your home club’s, you would like your bowls to follow a delivery arc just the same as you are most accustomed to. One bias cannot achieve this; however, if you have one set of narrower and another wider running bowls you may get close. Before the trial ends start, try out your different sets orthogonal to the direction of the competition. Then confirm (or reverse) this choice by delivering a bowl from each option at the trial ends.

Measuring Tape

Every bowler should carry a measure to be used or to be lent. String tapes and metal tapes are common but string tapes are preferred for serious play.

Chalk

Toucher bowls must be identified with a chalk mark. For this purpose, regular blackboard or sidewalk chalk can be used. For serious competition, spray chalk is preferred because one does not need to touch the bowl either with your hand (to steady it) or with a solid chalk stick. That way you don't risk flopping a toucher that is on edge. Regular chalk can be used for many additional informal purposes that contribute to a more enjoyable game. Chalk marks can be used to identify the T location at the two-meter line, center rink at the point where the jack is placed, and the point where the center point of the mat’s forward edge is to be positioned.

Chalk Container

If you use regular chalk it can get messy. I use the large-diameter sidewalk chalk that comes in a pack with many different colors. It is useful for marking the Ts and the center line after the bowl gets spotted correctly. This kind of large chalk can give a particularly large mess so I keep it inside one of those plastic containers used for pills; then it can be in your pocket but never mess it up.

Bowls Cloth

The bowls cloth is the small towel that is used for the finishing polish before delivering your bowl. Many bowlers hold it in their free hand during the delivery or stuff it in a pocket. Many bowls keep this cloth moist and wipe their bowls before delivering them because they feel they can better grip a moist bowl.

 It is also recommended that the bowler whose responsibility is measuring should spread his bowls cloth on the ground close to the head and place each scoring bowl onto it as the decision is made; this avoids miscounting. Also, a dry bowls towel is useful for checking the wind speed at local ground level.

Towels (many for wet weather on grass)

Bowls competitions continue usually irrespective of rain. Even if it not actually raining, if the green is wet your bowls will get slippery and pick up grass clippings and mud left by earth worms. You will need quite a few larger absorbent rags to get through a match. Also, you may need to lend to other team members who are less prepared.

Grippo

Grippo is a trade name that has gone generic. It is a sticky cream that when thinly coated on a bowl makes it less likely to slip out of your hand in wet or cold weather. There are many formulations. On the bowl, it will feel tacky but will not hinder your release.

Bowling Glove

While some people use Grippo, others wear a glove on their bowling hand to get a firm grip. 

Old Nylon Stocking or Discarded, Ripped Pantyhose

If you use some form of Grippo the neatest way to smooth it onto your bowls is to first roughy apply it all over with your hand and then smear it evenly by sliding the bowl back and forth inside the expandable nylon cylinder of the above. 

Short Pencil

A skip must have some means of keeping the score. This responsibility cannot be delegated according to the Laws of Bowls. The drawmaster usually has extra pencils if you forget yours but it's better to be well prepared.

Scorecard Holder

The drawmaster or bowls club will supply a scorecard but it is not printed on stock firm enough to write on. One needs something at the back of the scorecard. I have attached an image of my scorecard holder. It includes an elastic band since scorecards come in different lengths.

Scissors

I have a scorecard holder but the scorecard is often too wide or too long to fit onto it. I have a small pair of scissors to trim the scorecard to fit the holder. Usually, only the border of the card needs trimming.

Wet Weather Gear

A bowler must be prepared to continue playing even in heavy rain. 

A water-repellant jacket and water-repellant pants are therefore advisable. This clothing should not just be water-resistant; it should be water-impermeable! Most of these jackets are equipped with a hood that will go up over a simple cap. The peak of the cap is important to keep the hood out of your eyes. This clothing should go on over your regular bowling outfit so that it can be quickly donned or doffed as the weather shifts. The problem with most is that there is no ventilation so you perspire inside. i it is hot weather only use it for heavy rain.

Snacks

This is optional. In a tournament some snack food will normally be supplied between games; however, many players have their own preferences and bring that food with them.

Small Index Cards to Record Bias

Only I do this. As a match proceeds, I keep a record of my aim lines both on the forehand and the backhand for both odd and even ends. I see that players often forget the correct lines during a game and waste some bowls. If I'm in doubt I can check! When an aim line changes during play, I alter my record.

Wedge

Any time after all the bowls have been played in an end any player, who senses that a bowl that might be in the count might fall over thereby changing its distance from the jack, may wedge that bowl so that it stays standing in its position. Although this can be done with any suitable object that comes to hand it is useful to have something designed for the task. 

Umbrella

It is a universal safety rule that a player cannot put up an umbrella on the green. The reason for this is that the shaft significantly increases the chance of being hit by lightning. However, a small umbrella can be used on the bank to shelter bowls that have been dried with a towel but have yet to be played.  Of course, this is only an option in the absence of wind!

Cleaner for Glasses

Prescription eyeglasses only improve vision if they can be seen through without distortion. 

Spare Clothing

This is only an occasional need. If you are required to go somewhere directly after your match.

>23-Meter Measuring Tape

In an official competition, the umpire will have this tape but if your side has a strategy involving delivering short jacks it may be useful for speeding up the game to have your own.

That Very Significant Last Three Meters of Jack Length at Lawn Bowls

 

Just because your lawn bowling opponent(s) can successfully bowl to a jack twenty-seven meters from the mat doesn’t mean at 30 meters the same success will persist. It is that last little stretch in length that so often makes the difference.

 

Even if you are worried that you might deliver the jack into the forward ditch, it shouldn’t deter you from trying to deliver a really long jack, if you have reason to believe that that would benefit your side. Even if you do lose the jack occasionally in the front ditch and give away the mat and jack length to the other side, isn’t it better to have an authentic long jack some of the time if that is what you think would provide an advantage?

The other day I was leading for my side in a triples match where the opposing skip bowled with one knee on the mat. This meant that he was bowling with arm strength alone…..there was no possible contribution from body momentum because he could not step forward. He was able to bowl fairly well to 27 meter jacks but when the length went to 30 meters he was either erratic or three meters short. This provided the tactical advantage to win the match, even though I delivered the jack into the front ditch twice and lost the mat advantage those times. When I did succeed in placing the longer jack we were able to score several multi-point ends.

Honolulu Bowling Again

 

The bowls season in Canada is well past so my wife, Tish, and I spent a fortnight in Honolulu Hawaii where we could play some bowls at the Honolulu Lawn Bowling Club. It’s not our first visit, we discovered this club, the only one in the state, last time we went to our timeshare at the nearby Hilton Hawaiian Village. The club is just a 20-minute walk or a bus ride of a few minutes from where we stay.

The club has retained all the good characteristics I wrote about on my first visit but with a refreshed cast of characters!

If you are in the area, check online for the hours they play and drop in for a few games. I have found no other place where you are adopted so quickly as part of the group. Bring a bowls towel or a club pin from your home club. They have places to display all the different locations their visitors hail from.

A unique (in my experience) detail of the playing paraphernalia is the construction of the rakes they use to gather the bowls. I have included a picture of one of them. The device has no wheels that can make divots in the playing surface. The construction is from PVC piping and PVC joints assembled to give the correct plow shape. Sliding on the green is enhanced with larger pieces of PVC pipe threaded onto the central area. There are PVC caps on the ends of the two arms of the device. The whole assembly is light. It slides easily and it has a good wide bowl-gathering opening. 

“After Four a Meter More” at Lawn Bowls

The Greenbowler blog has recently researched the effects of rain and wind on the delivery and rolling characteristics of a lawn bowl. There is another environmental factor which has some importance but it does not depend upon the weather from day to day— it changes from hour to hour.

I was reminded of the significance of this factor while watching a video from the 2023 Australian Bowls calendar. The commentators noted during the match that the competitors were increasingly leaving their bowls a bit short. They quoted an Australian saying, “After four a meter more.”

I had never heard this but it encapsulates in a memorable way an important bit of lawn bowling lore. When the bowling surface cools down its resistance increases modestly but quickly and the weight that was perfect earlier in the day, when for example it was sunny, becomes insufficient.  Even in overcast conditions, the high temperature for the day often comes between 3 and 4 o’clock. After that time you need to instruct your subconscious control mechanism that a little extra push is required!

How, When, and Where High Wind Can Affect Lawn Bowls

A strong, steady, or moderate wind with occasional strong gusts will affect the draw of a lawn bowl but really only on a fast green. In the northern hemisphere playing on grass, its effect on bias normally can be ignored. Playing on an outdoor carpet, bias correction deserves consideration, if the wind is high, the sun bright, and the surface hot. 

Strong winds affect weight on all surfaces because they throw off your body’s balance.

 

A headwind needs more weight and a tailwind needs less weight no matter the playing surface because some significant fraction of the extra distance we get when the wind is behind us is caused, not by the wind propelling the bowl, but by the wind tipping us to put more of our body weight into our delivery….just as a tailwind pushes us when on a bicycle. In contradistinction, a headwind reduces our forward momentum in our delivery.

If you are facing predominantly a headwind, start estimating to finish 1-2 meters behind the jack. Then, with subsequent bowls, you can subtract weight as necessary to improve your proximity to the jack. This way you will finish with fewer short bowls.

Be prepared to stop your delivery or step off the mat to wait out a really severe gust no matter its direction.

The following considerations that relate to a correction to your draw apply only to high winds combined with fast greens as noted above.

Larger heavier bowls can be expected to be deflected less by wind. So long as the weather is dry using a set of bigger bowls can be advantageous. If the weather is both windy and rainy, however, the rain will have the greater influence and smaller bowls that are easier to grip should be preferred. 

There is a hypothesis, based on an analogy, that bowls with grips should be slightly more resistant to being deflected by the wind. This, it is argued, is because the grip’s indentations would cause a more turbulent flow of air around the bowl. For golf balls, this has been scientifically studied and is why all commercial golf balls are covered with dimples. The disruption of the laminar flow around the golf ball as it flies through the air allows it to travel farther.

 This is a very weak analogy when applied to bowls. A lawn bowl is very much bigger than a golf ball. It has many fewer dimples. It is not arcing rapidly through open air without other wind-disrupting nearby surfaces (like the ground). 

So contrarily, but also without any scientific investigation, Jack High Bowls { https://www.jackhighbowls.com/help/lawn-bowls-gripped-vs-non-gripped-which-is-best/ } reports that some bowlers asseverate that their ungripped (ringed) bowls perform better in the wind than their bowls with grips. If I had to choose I would prefer the anecdotal reports of bowlers over a poppycock hypothesis based on a very dubious analogy. 

When would the wind be strong enough to be a consideration even on a fast surface? 

If standing at the head, you extend your bowl’s cloth horizontally from your waist and let it drop, the wind is of no consequence if the towel only blows 6 inches away from the vertical. Also, a wind needn’t, and really cannot, be taken into account if it is swirling without any consistent direction. Often you don't even need to drop your towel to read it….  just look at any movement or the angle it hangs at. If there are flags at the corners of the rink, look at them.

In a steady strong wind on a fast surface, the most common advice is to always bowl the wide hand. The wide hand, where there is a steady strong cross-wind, is the side towards which the wind is blowing. Bowl a narrower line than what you would choose without wind. You might get an idea of how much to narrow if you have gotten a chance to deliver the jack exactly down the center line.  From how much it has been pushed downwind by the time it has stopped you can estimate. For a stare point 3 meters out in front of the mat line, adjust by a tenth of the distance the jack has been deflected. For example, if the jack, delivered down the center line, has blown downwind by a meter, adjust 10 centimeters; if half a meter, adjust 5 centimeters. At lower wind speeds the adjustment will be less than your error in hitting your stare point! (my error anyway )

 Let us assume for example that the wind is blowing at right angles to the rink’s center line from your left side. Initially bowling on an aim line slightly to the right, that is, in the direction the wind is going (ie downwind), the wind will accelerate your bowl a tiny increment at its release, but 2/3 to 3/5 of the way down the green your bowl will bend back and encounter a slightly more significant but still only partial headwind that helps it come to rest. Provided the correct bias has been chosen your bowl still returns to center rink.

High winds on a fast green favor random error and random error improves the chances of the team with poorer fundamentals. Short ends reduce the time your bowl is moving and reduce the opportunities for the wind to interfere. Play those shorter ends as close as possible to any available windbreak. Move up the mat so you are closer to the clubhouse if that can deflect away the wind. Also, vices and skips may want to play a more aggressive game. Run-through shots have their impact before they are moving slowly enough to be much affected by wind. Finally, be patient about adjusting your line. Your shot may have been fine, it may have just been the victim of a wind gust. 

Bias Winds

The following paragraphs about ‘bias winds’ are only pertinent to play on very fast greens combined with strong winds. These are common in Australia, New Zealand, and wherever there are older greens with outdoor sand-filled carpets. I belong to one club with such a facility; James Gardens LBC in Toronto Ontario Canada. 

The term ‘bias wind’ appears in only one place on the internet— in the Using the Head blogs written by John J. Tupper. Despite its infrequent usage, I consider it a very useful term to reintroduce here. A ‘bias wind’ blows directly, head-on to a bowl as it slows down and finishes. It causes a bowl to stop more rapidly. In contrast, a ‘back bias wind’ is a wind coming from directly behind your bowl as it finishes.

The bowl experiencing a ‘back bias wind’ on really fast greens will seem to run on endlessly. This is because just as that bowl is slowing, it is being pushed from directly behind by the strongish wind.

No matter from what direction the wind comes, it will most dramatically change the path your bowl takes as it slows down. Consequently when you are bowling into the wind approach into the head will be flattened.

When the wind is from behind you it will stretch the entry into the head and make the angle between the line of entry and the centre line smaller.

What to Do About a Downpour of Rain During Lawn Bowls

Lawn bowls is a recreation and is played for pleasure. If a social roll-up is stopped suddenly by heavy rain everyone just runs for the clubhouse or scrambles to get one’s woods and heads home.

In a tournament, the same can’t happen.The Laws of the Sport of Bowls Fourth Edition set rules for what can and what cannot be done. In this blog, I will consider the best course of action for different situations so that your team will be well served while the rules are adhered to.

Downpour During but Not Close to the Finish of an End

The rules concerning Game Stoppages apply.

33.1 If a game is stopped because of darkness, weather conditions or any other valid reason by: 

• 33.1.1  the Controlling Body (or authorized person in the absence of the Controlling Body) (Greenbowler- this can be the event convener or the greenskeeper);
  
• 33.1.2  the umpire (Greenbowler- often there is no umpire) after an appeal has been made by the players; or
  
• 33.1.3  agreement between the players (Greenbowler- meaning the 2 skips since the preposition ‘between’ is used) when an umpire or a representative of the Controlling Body is not present;
  

the game must be continued either on the same day or on a different day. The scores will be as they were when the game was stopped. 

Suppose two teams are playing an end when the downpour occurs. The skips quickly agree to stop play. This means that according to Rule 33.2, the end is declared dead and will need to be replayed completely when bowling resumes. The moment the skips agree to stop play one of them, most appropriately whoever does not have the shot, should pick up the jack and fling it back towards the mat. By doing this there can be no later illegitimate argument that the end should be continued from where it was stopped. Doing so would be a violation of the rules so this action makes it de facto impossible!

Downpour During Skips’ Bowls

When the downpour comes, the skip who has the mat has two choices: ask for a 10-minute delay or ask if the opposing skip would agree to stop the match. The skip on the mat does not need to explain the alternatives to the other skip but can propose the choice most beneficial to his team. If it seems likely that his team can win points in the end— 

he should ask for a 10-minute delay whereupon if the weather has moderated, the end can continue, or

If it seems that his team will lose points in the end, he can propose a stoppage of play which if accepted will make the end dead. If a stoppage is agreed he should pick up the jack so that no dispute about continuation is possible later.

If a 10-minute delay has been granted by the opposing skip but the time expires and it is still raining, the Controlling body will, by then, have called a stoppage in play probably with a further delay, whereupon the end that had been delayed by agreement between skips becomes a dead end and will need to be completely replayed.

 

Downpour Just Before the Very Last Bowl is Played

If a skip is holding the last bowl of the end and has the mat when the torrential downpour arrives. (s)he has the two choices above plus one more choice:

• He can tell the opposing skip that he will not deliver the last bowl and pick up the mat. The end is consequently complete and the score must be tallied and the end counted.

Downpour After the Last Bowl is Played

Either skip can ask for and get agreement for a stoppage but the end must be counted and the score added to the scorecards of both skips. The two players responsible for scoring must agree while they are on the green. They may be both running towards the clubhouse already, but they must agree and record a score!