Bowls at Turramurra, Australia

The novice bowling author is on an extended holiday in Sydney Australia until March.

The grass is faster here than on the synthetic surface at James Garden and much, much faster than the grass at Willowdale, but this is the least of the differences in play between here and Toronto. In Australia, the pair’s game is played with the leads opening with two bowls each, then the skips deliver two bowls; then the leads return to the mat and deliver their last two bowls, and finally the skips come back and grass their last two bowls. Thus, there is twice as much walking back and forth on the rink as in Canada.

One might think the game would proceed more slowly but it actually goes faster because, unlike in Canada, each rink has a marked center line that extends out from the two-meter T for eight meters at each end. This eliminates any signaling between the leads and skips concerning the centering either of the mat or the jack before the beginning of each end.

The presence of the marked center line creates several differences in how play usually evolves. In Canada, because of the problem centering the mat if it is moved up the green, most ends end up being played with bowls delivered from the 2-meter mark or no more than 4 feet further up the green. At Turramurra, and perhaps elsewhere in Australia, there is less tactical play with changes to the distance the jack is delivered and much more involving the location of the mat. In the first game I played in Australia, (social not competitive) both skips left it pretty well up to the leads to decide on the placement of the mat and the distance that the jack was delivered. In Canada, even in a social game, play would pause until the skip in possession of the mat came down the rink to the place where the jack was supposed to be delivered. The skip expects or more often just hopes the lead will deliver the jack close to where (s)he stands. The skip I played with simply waited near the forward ditch for the mat to be placed and jack to be tossed down seemingly at my discretion. Then they quickly moved the jack onto the center line for the first lead bowl.

At Turramurra, and perhaps in all of Australia, players do not use bowl rakes to gather the bowls when the end is over but the bowls are kicked back to behind the mat placement for the next end. In Canada as far as I have seen, rakes are used except for singles matches. As a consequence, in Australia, it seems that for the convenience of the bowlers, the mat is rarely placed at the 2-meter line, but almost always at least 4 meters more up the rink. Since very often the previous head might be as far as 10 meters from the forward ditch if the mat for the coming end is now placed 6 meters from the ditch, the bowls only need to be kicked a short distance. If the mat were placed at the 2-meter mark, the bowls would need to be kicked inconveniently far and there would be an increased chance that a bowl would end up gathering some sand in the ditch before it could be properly marshaled.

There is another reason that moving the mat might be discouraged by Canadian conditions of play. Ground sheets are used much more in Canada than in Australia. From reading the comments written by Australians on the blog, Julian Haynes Bowls, many feel that if conditions require ground sheets, play should be canceled. This is not the case in Canada.  In many places in Canada, the weather is quite variable throughout the bowls season. There are more days when it rains at least some of the time. Furthermore, the season, which is only from May to October to begin with, is extended by using ground sheets more toward the end of the season as the weather deteriorates. There also seems to be much heavier morning dew, at least in the Toronto area where I am from, and it doesn’t ‘burn off ‘ until about 10:30AM which is well after most tournaments have begun. According to the World Bowls Crystal Mark Second Edition rules, ground sheets are placed on each rink by the groundskeeper if in his opinion required and cannot be moved or removed except by agreement from the groundskeeper. Moreover, the rules further  state that the mat must remain placed with its front edge aligned with the back edge of the ground sheet. As a result, groundsheets take mat movements out of the game.

With a marked center line, the greater movement of the mat has a significant effect on determining the aim line. In Canada, some choose the aim line by selecting a particular distinct point on or beyond the forward bank and creating an imaginary aiming line that passes through that point; then carefully looking back along that line they find a stare point conveniently in front of the mat. The difficulty with this method is that the aiming line needs to be changed whenever the mat is moved significantly forward or back. Since significant mat movement is rarer in a Canadian social game, this is not a burden. In Australia, such changes in mat placement are more the rule than the exception, so, bowlers that use the above method are handicapped. At the same time, players who apply a method based on bowling at a fixed angle to the centerline are aided by the existence of a clearly marked center line. The simplest method of choosing the proper line for delivering bowls to the jack in Australia is by bowling at the correct angle off the center line because that angle is not changed when the mat position is varied!   All your attention can be directed at getting the correct weight for your shots.

Cultural Aspects of the Game

At the Turramurra Bowling Club in Sydney Australia many more men are bowling than women, while at James Gardens in Toronto, there are more ladies than gents. Mixed bowling is the most common bowls game in Canada but it seems that the men far outnumber the ladies at Turramurra. Even more noteworthy is the extent to which men and women do not mix down under. Ladies play on ladies' days and hardly make an appearance at the club at other times. This may be connected with the fact that bowling clubs in Australia typically have a bar and some slot machines, but this is just a tentative hypothesis. There are also hints that the men prefer male-only games because they can use rougher language, drive more often, and perhaps drink more freely afterward.

It appears that bowls is much more expensive to play here in Australia.  If you want to play often you must play in an organized game that costs between $15-20 per player. This outlay includes some lunch, and coffee or tea perhaps a couple of times during the day. For the men, there is also the expense of a traditional alcoholic beverage for yourself and your opposite number after the contest. This is not to say that these extras do not have value but just that they are not optional. They are inherent aspects of the entertainment package. In Canada, for regular weekly scheduled in-house games, if you want food you bring a lunch, and tea and coffee are supplied by the club. Since almost all clubs are unlicensed, there is simply no opportunity to imbibe on the premises. You can pay $0.50 for a soft drink from the club frig or drink from the water fountain. Canadian bowls clubs more closely resemble an outdoor skating shack; the Australian bowls club is more like a golf country club!

Best Lawn Bowls Competition Videos

As a novice lawn bowler situated in Canada where the greens are now covered with snow, I watch a lot of bowling videos, waiting until December 27th when my wife and all head off for nearly three months in Sydney Australia where we will have kindly been invited to bowl at the Turramurra Lawn Bowling Club.

As a Christmas present for my followers I offer my two favorite lawn bowling videos for your entertainment and instruction. The first climaxes with some of the most amazing shots directed at a jack in the ditch that you will ever see. The competitors Greg Harlow and Alex Marshall are so impressed with each others excellence that you see them congratulating each other even before the match is decided. I particularly like Alex Marshall's abbreviated follow through and controlled steps following each bowl. Greg Harlow's delivery is the smoothest most classical delivery I think you will see.  The match is the  2011 World Championship semi-finals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB_r0fvcYcc

The second video match features what I feel is the most dramatic drive shot artist in the world, Canada's Ryan Bester. This match features the most dramatic shot I have ever viewed. This match is the World Cup 2007 Australia Vs Canada 2nd Semi -final

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXRxWzL2Amw

Enjoy and Seasons Greetings.

Interpreting What You Can See from the Mat

Above you can view a head of bowls with a long jack as seen from the mat (top) and then taken from just in front of the head (below). Using the rules in the table below you can quickly work out the disposition of the bowls without visiting the head. 

In order to bowl the proper length, you must be able to provide accurate information to your subconscious computer.  You need to tell it whether your last bowl was long or short and by how much. Particularly in singles, this must be done at least part of the time by an estimation done from the mat. You can't go back and forth to the head after every bowl! Even in non-singles games, some skips may not be competent to properly and concisely convey important information. Other skips may modify the truth to save your feelings or as part of their own strategy to correct your play. Such misinformation will only confuse your natural gift for making adjustments.

In lawn bowls, the jack may be placed anywhere from 21 meters to 29.5 meters in advance of the front edge of the mat. My eye level is 66 inches from the ground (I am six feet tall). Thus at 29.5 meters the angle between the horizontal and my line of sight is 3.25 degrees. When the jack is at 21 meters, the corresponding angle for me is 4.56 degrees. My bowls when lying flat have a height of about 4.25 inches and these bowls' diameter is 5 inches, so standing up each has a height of 5 inches.  A jack’s diameter is 2.5 inches. Doing the calculations I get the numbers in the table below.

	Completely see Jack behind Bowl	See half Jack behind Bowl	Completely see Bowl behind Jack	Completely see Bowl behind Bowl
Short Jack	Inches	Inches	Inches	Inches
	49.5	33.9	27.6	53.3
	Feet	Feet	Feet	Feet
	∿ 4	∿3	∿ 2	∿ 4.5
Long Jack	Inches	Inches	Inches	Inches
	71.1	49.1	40.3	74.8
	Feet	Feet	Feet	Feet
	∿ 6	∿4	∿3.5	∿6

It is worth noting that a bowl can be as much as two feet in front of the jack and still completely hide it, so even though the jack is covered a good draw can readily become the shot bowl.  Also, even if the jack is completely hidden as seen from the mat, there can be plenty of room to catch and trail the jack without touching the covering bowl.

Another Reason to Draw Your Bowl Behind the Kitty

 Keywords: lawn bowls, tactics, strategy, delivery, draw, shot, competition, short, long, bias, tipping over, jack, weight

Novice lawn bowlers are frequently reminded that drawing long behind the jack is strategically better than being short and in front. The usual reason given is that when the jack is moved by a later bowl that movement is almost always backwards. Short bowls are very likely to end up further from the jack when the final count is taken. There is another very good reason that can be precisely quantified. Short bowls, when they tip over, usually fall away from the jack. Long bowls tend to fall down so that they end up closer to the jack. The amount the former moves closer  and the latter further away is exactly the same; that is 3 .5 inches. The result for two bowls, one that draws so that its centre of mass ends up 1 foot behind the jack and the other so its  centre of mass ends up 1 foot in front of the jack, is that after each tips over, the back bowl will be 7 inches closer than the front one! In competition this will often make a difference .

The Secret to Controlled Weight Delivering Lawn Bowls

I learned something today that was so startling and made such a dramatic difference that I was tempted to keep it as a secret- just for a year or two- I thought. Why should I share the secret? Then I thought again, “What is the point of writing a lawn bowling blog especially for novices if you hide the most important thing you discover?”

So here it is! You all must have heard, “It doesn’t matter what your style, consistency depends upon reproducibility of the delivery whatever it is.” This is true; but, I didn’t realize how precisely the statement must be interpreted. You need to be able to reproduce the same form exactly, in every detail, even those things that you think can’t be very important. This is why simple delivery styles are best, even though any style can be perfected. Uncomplicated movements are the easiest (I didn’t say easy) to repeat consistently, end after end, season after season. There is a valuable dividend that follows from this simplicity. If your style is reproducible in every little respect then your mental computer will make corrections to the speed with which you release the bowl to correct for previous short or long bowls.

I say I have magically improved my draw accuracy. What was I doing inconsistently before? My follow through was not sufficiently controlled. My bowling hand came up somewhat higher sometimes than other times. My fingers flexed sometimes while remaining straight other times. I would not have expected that these are consequential differences, but they are. 

I discovered these differences watching professional indoor bowlers on Youtube and asking myself, “How does my delivery deviate most from theirs?” The answer was that, in the follow through for any draw shot, their hands were still pointing to the ground. They never raised their bowling arm more than 45 degrees from the vertical. They stopped the arm rather more abruptly after releasing the bowl and never curled their fingers up. Moreover, many of the best players followed through by walking. with halting measured steps off the mat following the line of delivery and as they watched the progress of each bowl. See for example Foster and Marshall in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zql2KzXudGI who exhibit this distinctly. With these two champions the exaggeration of these points makes it even easier to see.

So now I keep these little things constant, concentrate on a smooth release onto the green and let my subconscious computer determine the weight. All I tell myself is whether the jack is short, medium or long while I look carefully at its position. I don't consciously measure my backswing the way I did when I started! 

Draw or Drive at Lawn Bowls: The Tactical Decision

There is an old saying: draw for dough, drive for show.

I think that this is saying is that those who win the tournaments use the drive shot less frequently than those who do not. That is, those who drive most often end up out of the money.

But this may be confusing cause and effect. Those who drive most often do so because they are already in trouble. They are already most at risk of having a multiple count against them or losing outright in the final ends; that is- being out of the money. The winners who eventually get that ‘dough’ are most likely the ones threatening to score a big count.

To know when it is tactically wise to drive in singles or as the skip in other contests, (in team games you don't bowl with weight unless the skip calls for it), you need to know some statistics about your own draw accuracy. I use the median of medians test to measure this. For example, for me, only one bowl in three come less than 52 inches from the jack. From this, I calculate that only one bowl in six will be within 37 inches. This is pretty bad; but hey, I’m still a novice playing on a fast green.

Anyway, one bowl sitting beside the jack can present a cross-sectional target as large as 17 inches. Furthermore, with a hard drive one does not need to worry about accuracy with respect to weight. How hard your bowl crashes into the forward ditch doesn’t matter. Consequently, the problem is reduced from a two-dimensional problem for that draw for shot: correct line and correct weight; or the one-dimensional problem: correct line for the drive. Which do I think I have a better chance of achieving: driving and passing within 8 ½ inches (either side) of the center of my target one bowl out of six; or drawing within 37 inches of the jack one out of six? Assuming a bit of instruction and practice in the basics of driving, the latter would be my statistical choice. Remember most people drive faster than necessary and so lose accuracy. But also remember, there are other tactical considerations because the two shots' purposes are different. Generally, drawing is to score while  driving is to save.

So:

1. For a promising drive, the target should be at least as large as a jack-high bowl separated by 5  inches (the cross-section of my bowl) from the jack.

2. You must almost certainly have the prospect to save at least 1, usually more, if you hit anywhere on the target.

3. You should have a second or third in the head which you are very unlikely to hit with your drive.

My conclusion is that, so long as you have been taught something about driving, you are likely to use it properly more when you are just a 3-5 year novice, because your median draw shot is relatively inaccurate. As your draw ability improves, driving will become tactically less often appropriate. Put another way, as you become more likely to win dough, you will be less frequently in situations where driving is the statistically correct tactic. 

Shoulder Season: Time to Practice Running and Drive Shots

At the James Garden Lawn Bowling Club in Toronto Canada http://www.jamesgardenslbc.ca/ , October is the end of the bowling season. By the end of the month the last day to clean out lockers has come and gone. If you know the combination for the lock on the bowling shed you can still get mats, jacks etc. Most bowlers are gone. It can be rainy and cold. Alley bowling, curling, hockey and figure skating beckon for a large part of the membership. This is a good time for me to get out, on the better days, to practice running shots and drive shots. Now there are no people playing on adjacent greens to find you a nuisance and to grumble or to disparage your first novice attempts. Even when you could confine all the bowls to your own rink during the popular bowling months, there was a vocal contingent who thought giving anything more than a nudge to opposition bowls was not sporting. Now I can practice in secret! From the end of December until the middle of March I will be in Sydney Australia where my wife and I have been invited to play and take advantage of the coaching at the Turramurra Lawn Bowling Club.  

Choosing Your Bowl Size; Different Advice

When I started lawn bowling in May 2012, I followed the standard advice. If I could touch both my two index fingers and my two thumbs together at the same time while encircling the running surface of the bowl, it was not too big for me. Following this advice I started with a number 4 Vector VS made by Taylor. (Such bowls are the best value/price delivered in Canada  and ordered on-line.)

Now after two years of experience, my own suggestion is different. Nonetheless, there is nothing wrong with this standard advice, if you are just going to be a social bowler who never tries anything but a draw shot. If, however, there is the slightest chance that you are going to get hooked on this game and become serious and competitive, your bowl size should be the one which you can hold firmly when you are holding the bowl with your hand inverted (thumb towards the ground) using the grip you will employ for a drive shot. (It is not necessarily comfortably holding the bowl this way; you will feel a strain from the weight of the bowl but you should be able to hold it 15 seconds without falling. The reason for this requirement is that the drive shot requires a substantial backswing. At the high point in that backswing you will be holding your bowl in your drive grip with your thumb underneath the bowl. It is at this point that you are most likely to lose your grip on the bowl.

I have found that if I use the next smaller size to what I would have chosen using the conventional test (in my case a number 3 instead of a number 4 bowl), my hold on the bowl even during a drive is  more secure.  I have never heard this advice anywhere but that is what works for me!