10 REASONS TO PLAY LAWN BOWLS
IT’S FUN & FAMILY FRIENDLY – Bowls is great fun and is something the whole family can enjoy together. IT’S SOCIABLE – Bowls attracts people of all ages and from
‘It’s not about winning or losing – it’s about playing the game
TERMS USED IN LAWN BOWLING
“Jack” – that white ball against which all bowlers wish their bowl will lie when it comes to rest. “Be Up” – means – dont be short – short bowls are wasted bowls. “Bias” – the “weighted” or “small button” side of the bowl. “Jack High” – if a bowl is Jack High it means that it has reached a position such that its nearest part is laterally aligned with the jack. Effectively it means that the bowl and jack are precisely equidistant from the mat. “Dead End” – the jack has been knocked out of bounds. The end is not counted and played again. “Draw a Shot” – bowl so as to finish with the closest bowl to the Jack. “End” – bowling to the opposite end of the green is called one end, returning is another end. The number of ends played Is to be decided by the tournament committee. “Grass” – direction line the bowl takes in order for it to curve or bend in to the Jack at the finish of its run. “Hand” – the side on which the bowl is delivered – either the forehand or the back hand. “Head” – the bowls that are grouped around the jack. “Narrow” – sometimes called tight, means that you did not take enough grass, or start the bowl out far enough from the center line to the jack. “A Rink” – the normal rink is a 4.3-5.8 metres wide area running from one end to the opposite end and is 31-40 metres long. “A Green” – the area containing a number of “rinks” “Shot Bowl” – the bowl lying closest to the jack/kitty. “Take the Green” – a suggestion from a skip to a player who is delivering his bowls at a wrong angle to correct his fault by increasing the angle of delivery. “Toucher” a bowl which has hit the jack between the time of its delivery and its coming completely to rest. The bowl remains in play even if it goes into the ditch within the confines of the rink. It should be marked with chalk for recognition as a toucher. “Weight” – the amount of power applied in delivering the bowl. Heavy weight means that the bowl stops further than desired. Light weight means that it stops short of the spot desired. “Too Wide” – you started the bowl too far out from the center line to jack – took too much grass.Do You Know Some of the Finer Points of Lawn Bowling?
Position on the Mat – Before the delivery of the jack or bowl, a player must be standing on the mat with all or part of at least one foot on the mat. At the moment they deliver the jack or a bowl, the player must have all or part of one foot on or above the mat – Law 7.1 When is a bowl dead – When it is not a toucher and ends in ditch; not a toucher and rebounds onto rink after contact with the face of the bank or with toucher or jack in the ditch; less than 14 metres from mat line; comes to rest completely outside boundaries of play – Law 17 Possession of the Rink – Shall belong to the team whose bowl is being played. The player in possession of the rink shall not be interfered with, annoyed, or have their attention distracted in any way by their opponents.i.e. talking, coughing, kicking bowls together, standing close to the mat or just in vision. As soon as each bowl has come to rest, possession of the rink shall be transferred to the other team, time being allowed for marking a toucher. Law 41 Lawn Bowls in Australia is played under World Bowls Laws of the Sport of Bowls 3rd Edition January 2015 (“law”) as varied by Australian Domestic Regulations (“D.R”)Lawn bowls are played on a ‘green’ which can be synthetic or grass and is divided into ‘rinks’. The boundaries of each rink are defined by ‘rink markers’ which are usually orange.
