Outdoor Lawn Bowls
Beginners Guide
Bowls is the ultimate sport for all, a genuine sport for life. It is completely inclusive and accessible regardless of gender or age.
Anyone can play, but to be the best requires skill, mental strength, resolve and powers of endurance. No sport is easier to learn, but to achieve any sort of mastery demands determination, concentration and practice.
Bowling clubs are at the heart of almost every community in Scotland. Club membership is inexpensive compared with most other sports.
The basics:
Outdoor bowls is played on squares of closely cut grass known as “the green” which is then divided into a series of separate strips known as rinks.
The green is surrounded by a small ditch to catch bowls that leave the green, behind which is a bank on where markers are placed to indicate the boundaries of each rink and the centre line.
Players deliver their bowls from a mat placed on the rink by the bowler whose turn it is to deliver the jack. The jack is a small white ball which is the target. Both the mat and the jack must be placed on the centre line.
Bowls are shaped so that they take a curved path towards the jack. The object is to get one or more of your bowls closer to the jack than those of your opponents with one point scored for each counting shot after each “end” has been completed.
There is a wide array of formats. Matches are most commonly played by singles or teams of pairs, triples and fours. The number of bowls each player delivers varies according to the competition.Traditionally matches have been played to one single score, commonly 21 shots, or over a specified number of ends, however increasingly there is a trend towards playing matches in sets.
LAWN BOWLING TIPS AND TRICKS TO IMPROVE YOUR GAME
The first step towards learning and mastering a sport is getting acquainted with the rules of the game. The rules usually help players get familiar with terminologies used during gameplay, which shed light on the equipment and the layout of the playing area, among other things. Although the game may seem simple at a glance, it requires concentration and presence of mind to guarantee success. Like many other sports, practice makes perfect. You can only learn to play bowls at a bowling green since it is a physical activity and with practice, muscle memory kicks in to give you the edge you need to become a pro.
Lawn bowling may prove difficult for beginners at first, but we have put together some bowling tips to help you improve your game and enjoy yourself while at it!play
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Bowls is typically a simple game, and that is a good first approach to take when playing. Getting back to the basics will greatly improve your development. This applies to the shot techniques you decide to use as well as the mat position. Once you have the basics down, you can be free to switch it up and see what other, more advanced techniques have to offer, and you can apply these tactics to give you an edge over your opponents.
Finding a line is one of the most important tactics you can employ during a game of lawn bowls. The line is the path the bowl takes from your hand to the position you would like it to rest once it comes to a complete stop. Learning how to achieve a correct line, whether you have aimed towards the jack or an opponent’s bowl, requires you to master your preferred throwing technique as well as establish a comfortable weight. You also have to visualise the bowls journey, and this can also be improved through practice.
TAKE A CONSISTENT MAT POSITION
To improve on your delivery technique, ensure that you take the same mat position for every throw. This will help your mind adjust the force you are using as well as the direction accordingly, to help you make the best shots. If you pick a different position for every throw, your aim will be slightly different for each shot. Switching or changing positions comes in handy when trying to avoid an obstacle or when playing on uneven lawns.
With these bowling tips, you can be sure to improve your gameplay and battle it out with the best of the best. However, one of the most important tips to keep in mind is to have fun! Lawn bowling is supposed to be a social and fun game, and if you incorporate that into your game, then you’ll be sure to enjoy the sport.
All you need to know about the Rules of Lawn bowling
http://Laws of the Sport of Bowls – Crystal Mark Fourth Edition World Bowls https
