Stand and deliver, or step forward and roll?
There is no ‘golden rule’ about what stance a new bowler should adopt. There are some helpful pointers which may help the novice evolve a style which produces good results consistently.
Stability is key. So the feet may be side by side as you stand and deliver or in the ‘shooter’ or stepped position, and the bowler may (or may not) take a step forwards as the delivery arm begins the rear-wards pendulum swing. The essential check to make is that there is balance throughout the delivery action.
Follow-through is an essential part of delivery in all ball sports. Doesn’t matter if you are a cricket, tennis player, golfer, footballer or bowler (tenpin or lawn!): completing the action through the line of travel of the ball or bowl will help achieve accuracy.
Smooth transfer of the bowl from hand to green is a good thing, giving maximum control over direction and bias balance.
Think of an aircraft’s wheels at the moment of touchdown. A less than perfect landing results in clouds of rubber smoke as the tyres slide and bounce on the tarmac.
The perfect landing is smoke-free, and that’s the ideal visualisation for a bowls delivery as the bowl makes contact with the grass or carpet. Flexing the knees to lower the body and get the delivery hand closer to the ground is good practice.
On outdoor greens, dropping the bowl from waist-high onto the green is frowned on because of the damage (divots) it causes to the lawn.
Indoors, although a high release is not regarded as good practice, many older, not to say elderly bowlers with back and knee injuries successfully deliver their bowls from knee height or even higher with surprising accuracy onto the jack.
Finally the novice bowler cannot do better than remember the golfer’s refrain: “The more I practice, the luckier I Get!”
Thanks for the great service
Customer reviewsHi, I just wanted to thank you for expediting the engraved bowls jack. It arrived this week to my delight.
Great service, thank you once again,
Anita Hall,
Leicester
Underwater Bowls?
Trade SecretsDear Jerry Sanders,
Congratulations!
I am pleased to inform you that you have successfully achieved the Level 2 – Donyngs IBC qualification.
education@scottishswimming.com
The CoachBowls Team
Stand and Deliver?
Playing the gameStand and deliver, or step forward and roll?
There is no ‘golden rule’ about what stance a new bowler should adopt. There are some helpful pointers which may help the novice evolve a style which produces good results consistently.
Stability is key. So the feet may be side by side as you stand and deliver or in the ‘shooter’ or stepped position, and the bowler may (or may not) take a step forwards as the delivery arm begins the rear-wards pendulum swing. The essential check to make is that there is balance throughout the delivery action.
Follow-through is an essential part of delivery in all ball sports. Doesn’t matter if you are a cricket, tennis player, golfer, footballer or bowler (tenpin or lawn!): completing the action through the line of travel of the ball or bowl will help achieve accuracy.
Smooth transfer of the bowl from hand to green is a good thing, giving maximum control over direction and bias balance.
Think of an aircraft’s wheels at the moment of touchdown. A less than perfect landing results in clouds of rubber smoke as the tyres slide and bounce on the tarmac.
The perfect landing is smoke-free, and that’s the ideal visualisation for a bowls delivery as the bowl makes contact with the grass or carpet. Flexing the knees to lower the body and get the delivery hand closer to the ground is good practice.
On outdoor greens, dropping the bowl from waist-high onto the green is frowned on because of the damage (divots) it causes to the lawn.
Indoors, although a high release is not regarded as good practice, many older, not to say elderly bowlers with back and knee injuries successfully deliver their bowls from knee height or even higher with surprising accuracy onto the jack.
Finally the novice bowler cannot do better than remember the golfer’s refrain: “The more I practice, the luckier I Get!”
For new bowlers
For New BowlersThe game of lawn bowls begins when a small white or yellow perfectly circular ball (the JACK) is rolled some 23m down a perfectly flat lawn or carpet.
A larger, heavier melamine ball (bowl), which is NOT perfectly round, is rolled after it by each player in turn. With the right weight and direction it will come to rest next to the jack. Rather than following a straight line, the bowl takes a long slow gentle curve to reach its destination.
One of the sides of the bowl is slighter heavier than the other. This gives the bowl a ‘bias’ so that as the bowl slows down there is a pull towards that side. The bowl literally curves around until it comes to a stop.
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR BOWLS
So that you have the best control possible of the delivery it’s important to use a bowl that’s the right size for your hand. To find your size, stretch out your bowling arm horizontal to the ground and place the bowl in the upturned palm, gripping it comfortably.
Now (with a friend’s hand underneath to catch it if it falls) rotate the wrist 180 degrees. If the bowl feels as if it is slipping out of your grasp, it’s probably too big. Go down one size and repeat.
DON’T follow the practice of placing your hand around the belly of the bowl until the second fingers meet at the top and the two thumbs touch at the bottom. This takes the weight of the bowl out of the equation and is a completely useless guide.
Consider too that some bowls of the same numerical size have different widths. So for example a Taylor Blaze size 2, an Almark Slimline size 2 or a Henselite Tiger size 2 might be more comfortable for you than a Taylor Ace or Drakes Pride Professional of the same size.
After your first season you’ll also want to take into account the route taken by the bowl from mat to jack – a wider or narrower curve. But that’s a subject for another page…
That’s it! Now click on the links below to discover more…
Fantastic delivery tutorial from New Zealand
Here’s how you communicate without shouting:
Download the Laws of Bowls here (PDF File).
Outstanding service!
Customer reviewsGood measure
Trade SecretsWhile on the lookout for hot new products for serious bowlers I came across this advert. Those of you who know your scriptures will immediately hear Luke 6:38:
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
With this measure you couldn’t lose!
Ems Mourn – poor Timing?
Trade SecretsOFF WITH THE OLD, ON WITH THE NEW
Item 1: Not so much a night of the long knives, more the morning of the guillotine. Never have so many ministers been culled in one day than by Boris this week. This is a BIG CHANGE. Read more
Ullo John, gotta new bowls set?
Trade SecretsUllo John, gotta new bowls set?
Alexie Sayle doesn’t play bowls. If he did he’d probably come up with a new lyric about the datestamp on lawn bowls.
Read more
A thousand words on bowls delivery
Playing the gameIs there a right and wrong way to deliver a bowl? Absolutely not – there are as many fine delivery styles as there are good bowlers. The pictures above illustrate some good – and bad – pointers to achieving a successful bowls delivery. Read more
Why are Park Bowls Clubs closing?
Trade SecretsNo Bowlers behaving badly?
Only this week I had the painful task of ‘rescuing’ bowls equipment from a park bowls club.
It was a true rescue, because 24 hours later the club secretary handed the gate keys back to the council. Read more