Bowling Surfaces

There are a wide range of different aspects in relation to playing conditions which lawn bowlers will have to adapt to. In general terms you have the outdoor game which is played during the summer on a maintained bowling green of grass. The indoor game is played during the winter on an artificial surface where the bowling green consists of underlay flooring and a carpet. However, each surface varies in the way it plays as their will be individual traits dependent on a variety of factors.

There will be different runs on greens which cannot be explained on an outdoor surface, this is just due to the way the grass grows. However, runs on outdoor bowling greens will tend to stay the same on each individual bowling green which means players can gain a competitive advantage on their home or well known playing surfaces.

Outdoor greens in the United Kingdom although maintained to a high standard, are known as heavy playing surfaces which in technical terms to a bowler is a slow playing surface. This means players will have to deliver their bowls more powerfully to reach the final destination. This could be due to the adverse weather we have, which means the bowling surfaces cannot be maintained to their maximum level. All greens vary in speed dependent on how well they are kept and sometimes the natural environment plays a role on how the surface will play as the grass could grow differently compared to others, although this will not have a major influence.

Shown below is an example of an outdoor green in the United Kingdom, this particular green is Kelvingrove Bowling Green where the Lawn Bowls was held for the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Outdoor greens in the southern hemisphere however, are able to be maintained to a maximum level due to the kinder weather conditions. The playing surfaces are fast in comparison to that of the United Kingdom, which in technical terms to a bowler means the surface is playing fast. This means players will have to deliver their bowls less powerfully to reach the final destination. A lot of players will look to move to Australia or New Zealand to be exposed to these playing surfaces on a regular basis.

Shown below is an example of an outdoor bowling green from the southern hemisphere, this particular green is Broadbeach Bowls Club bowling green which is home to one of the best teams in Australia the Broadbeach Bulls.

As you may have noticed from the photos, although not entirely apparent, the playing surfaces in the southern hemisphere are maintained to maximum efficiency compared to the surfaces here.

Indoor greens in the United Kingdom do not need maintained like outdoor greens as there is no grass to be cut on a regular basis. The surface consists of underlay and a carpet. The only maintenance which will provided on indoor surfaces are the stretching of carpets to ensure maximum speed is kept. Over time the carpet will wear away through the continual play and stretching to maintain it, which means new carpets may be required every decade or so. Indoor surfaces are fast in comparison to that of the outdoor surfaces here, this is due to the bowls almost sliding along the carpet which means bowls are delivered less powerfully to reach their final destination. Indoor greens will vary in speed dependent on the underlay flooring present, which will also have an influence on the different runs on the green. Heating of the indoor arena has an effect on the playing surface, as this will cause the carpet to almost stretch due to the heat which will result in a quicker playing surface. Similar to that of outdoor greens, each surface has its only personal traits.

Shown below is an example of an indoor playing surface from the United Kingdom, in this particular instance the green shown is from Ayr Indoor Bowling Club where I personally play during the indoor season.

Shown below is an example of an indoor playing surface from the southern hemisphere, this green shown is from Tweeds Head Indoor Bowling Centre in Australia.

In this instance, indoor surfaces in the southern hemisphere are similar to that of indoor surfaces here as the playing conditions are similar as the examples above show.

Where bowlers from the United Kingdom will find the indoor a quicker surface than their outdoor greens, bowlers from the southern hemisphere will find their indoor a slower surface than their outdoor greens due to the maximum level of maintenance on their outdoor surfaces.

With this being said, this will have an influence on delivery technique. Different aspects of this will be discussed in my next blog. So stay tuned for more updates.

Aspects Of The Game

The overall aim of the game is fairly simple for anyone to understand, it is to deliver your bowls as close as possible to a smaller white ball which is known as a jack. It gives the impression that it may be easy, but at the highest level different elements become apparent to that of the beginner.

All games are competed for on a standard bowling green which can either be an outdoor grass surface or an indoor carpet surface. A mat is then placed accordingly and a jack is rolled to the other end of the green as a target, with different lengths and options being available to high performance players. The jack will be centred at the start of play to let bowling commence, the players then take turns to deliver their bowls in the appropriate sequence. When all bowls have been delivered, this means an end has been completed and the player or team will score shots according to how many bowls they have closer than that of their opposition. The direction of play is then played in reverse to the end before.

The game of bowls can be played in a singles, pairs, triples and fours format. There are a variety of different lengths of games, dependent on the competition or format being played. However, commonly singles is played with four bowls per player, pairs is player with four bowls per player in teams of two, triples is played with three bowls per player in teams of three and fours is played with two bowls per player in teams of four. Normally the player who plays last will be in charge of have an instrumental influence in directing the team’s shots and tactics throughout a game.

There are a different variety of shots that can be played, but for a beginner the main shots that are element will be the draw shots, the strike shots and the over the weight shot. Bowls can be played on the forehand and backhand which means for a right handed bowler the forehand draw is initially aimed to the right of the jack and curves in to the left. The same bowler will be able to deliver a bowl on the backhand which will be aimed to the left and will curve in to the right. For a left hander, the opposite would apply for this.

A draw shot is when the bowl is delivered to a specific location without disturbing the other bowls too much. The strike shot involves delivering a bowl with a lot of power in aim to substantially move either the jack or a specific bowl depending on the tactics being deployed by the team, there is very little curve on this shot. The over the weight shot is when a bowl is delivered with enough power to guarantee reaching the final destination with a little more power, in order to create minor disturbance. The curve of a bowl is known as the bias to players in the bowling community.

The gap at each end of the bowling green is known as the ditch. Bowls reaching the ditch will be removed from play, however if the bowl touches the jack during the initial delivery of that bowl then it will remain alive and in play. This is known as a chalker to players, as it will be marked with chalk or spray chalk to signify it is alive in the ditch. If the jack is knocked into the ditch it remains alive, unless the jack leaves the markings on the side of the rink of play. If this happens, the end is declared dead and will be replayed unless the rules of the format deem otherwise which is not common on a high performance level where the jack will be respotted on set points on the rink which players would be aware of before play commenced.

Shown below is an example of a white jack. Jacks may have a different weight dependent on whether they are meant for indoor or outdoor surface.

All jacks are fairly similar in size and have no bias, they come in different colour although it is common that they will be white, yellow and pink.

There are a variety of different brands available in the sport of lawn bowls. The most common being Henselite, Aero Bowls, Taylor Bowls and Drakes Pride. Each brand offers their own lawn bowls with different types of bowls available with different biases. Aero Bowls is the most popular brand in the modern age, but I have a preference for most Henselite branded products at the present moment.

There are a range of bowls available to each player with different biases which will curve less and more. The bowl the player will play with will be down to the surface they are playing on and individual preference. As bowls will have more bias on a quicker surface, some players will play with a bowl with less bias which is known as a tighter line bowl where as a bowl with a big bias is known as a high line or swinging bowl. Each bowl is available in different sizes which include 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Aero Bowls have started offering sizes in half measures as well, to gain an advantage over its competitors. Most sets of bowls are offered in either a medium weight or heavy weight. Size and weight is all down to the size of hand and what feels comfortable to each player. Usually the bigger the hand a player has, the higher size of bowl they will play with. Some particular sets are also available in a range of colours and patterns.

I personally play with a big bias bowl on the outdoor surface to create as high a line as possible to suit my individual preference, this particular model is known as the Henselite Tiger. Whereas on the indoor surface I play with a medium bias bowl which is in between a tight line and high line bowl, as the bowls have more bias on the quicker indoor surface so I do not need as high a line bowl to suit my individual preference. This model is known as the Henselite Tiger II. Both my sets of bowls are a size 3 heavy, which is the around about the normal. On a non bowling relating matter, this must mean I have normal sized hands (haha).

The way specific bowling green's play may demand specific types of bowls. This is the case for my the bowling green I play at during the indoor season as the runs on the surface does not suit a high line bias bowl so a medium bias is the biggest bias bowl I can play with to have a consistent level of performance on my home surface.

Stay tuned for my next blog, which will information about the different bowling surfaces players will have to adapt to.

My Background Of Lawn Bowls

Lawn bowls has been a sport that my family has played for countless generations and has been a major part of our lives for as long as I can remember. The sport involves indoor and outdoor bowls which are playing during the winter months and summer months respectively.

I first started playing from only a year or two old with small carpet bowls up and down my living room with my family members. As the years went by and I grew older, I seemed to have mastered all the different particular runs in my living room like a seasoned professional.

When I was 10 years old, my Dad said it was time to join a junior section at the club he played at which was Prestwick Indoor Bowling Club. Following that, I joined the outdoor club of Newton Park. Both were very successful clubs, with their gent’s teams being included in the best teams in Scotland at the time. The indoor club had one of the best junior teams in the country as well, this could be used to my advantage to help develop my game appropriately as I grew into the sport.

In the following years, local indoor county titles were won at both junior and gents level with regularity. At only 13 years old in 2003 I was part of the junior team to win an indoor Scottish title. Evidently, three years later at 16 years old in 2006 came my second indoor Scottish title and with that came my selection for Scotland in the indoor international youth team. Success came at a young age and I began to take what I had achieved for granted. As a result I lost focus on what I was trying to achieve and my interest in the sport diminished for a few years, with my attention being focused to other areas of my personal life.

In 2007, I moved to Ayr Seafield Outdoor Bowling Club. In the following years I was part of teams winning local outdoor titles at gent’s level in Ayr with regularity without firmly establishing myself at the level I wished to achieve. To this day, I am still a member of this club and our successes have continued to grow. We have established ourselves as one of the strongest teams in the county and look to progress further in the future.

In 2011 at 21 years old, I qualified for the outdoor Scottish finals at senior level for the first time. This success was used as a stepping stone for the further successes to come. In 2012, I got to my first ever outdoor club championship final only to be unsuccessful. I used this experience to my advantage and bounced back the following year to reach the final yet again. This time, I came out on top defeating the 2009 Scottish gent’s singles and 2010 British Isles gent’s singles champion with the last bowl of the game. This was a massive confidence booster in the grand scheme of things.

In 2013, I moved to Ayr Indoor Bowling Club. Immediate success came my way by reaching my first indoor club championship final and coming out victorious. In addition to this, I was part of the Gents Team to win the indoor Scottish Division One title, only to be pipped in a playoff to gain entry into the Premier League.

The following season, more success followed on a personal and team basis. I was managed to reach the semi-final of the indoor Scottish under 25 singles before being beaten. I continued to try and develop my game as much as possible and managed to defend the club championship title I had won the previous season. The gent’s team I was part of also had great success, losing only one game all season to successfully win another indoor Scottish Division One title and due to the governing body changing the league set up we gained automatic promotion to the Premier League.

During the 2015 outdoor season, I was part of the gent’s team at Ayr Seafield to reach the Ayrshire final. It was the first time in the clubs history that they had reached the final. However, we were unsuccessful across the board and unfortunately lost out. However, during this game I managed to beat the indoor world ranked number two player Paul Foster MBE which was an extremely positive experience I could take moving forward. He is one of the most successful players Scotland has ever produced, one of the most naturally gifted players I have possibly ever seen with my own eyes.

This season, I managed to reach the quarter final of the indoor Scottish Gents Singles only to lose out. However, in the process I managed to beat one of the most established players in the game David Peacock on route to the quarter final. He has represented Scotland at all levels, including the commonwealth games. Needless to say, I played one of the games of my life to win. This experience continued to help my confidence grow. Our gent’s team firmly established themselves in the Premier League, finishing third in our section. A successful season for all involved, which will be looked to be built upon next season.

With the recent successes, I have been selected for Scotland in the indoor international gent’s team. This is by far the biggest accomplishment I have achieved in the game and I am greatly honoured that my hard work has not gone unnoticed.

The most important thing to remember is to not take anything for granted and if you want to achieve something, you must be willing to work hard for it while continuing this process in order to maintain your progress while developing all aspects as much as possible.

Stay tuned for my next blog, where I will discuss the different aspects of the game of bowls.