Getagameofbowls - listing lawn bowling games in Australia

Add a Tournament

Coaching & Playing

Running Tournaments

Hints for Coaches and Players

Equipment which does not need to cost the earth
--- The essential low cost items
--- Items which can be purchased

Introducing people to the game
--- Run a Learn to Play Bowls
--- Have Bowls Parties at Your Club
--- Welcome School Groups

Coaching Individuals and Groups

Individual Practice

Club Practice

Circuits

Games

Dealing with the mat well up the green

Using the mat to get outside or inside a bowl

THE ESSENTIAL LOW COST ITEMS
(1) HALF TENNIS BALLS
In most practise situations a half tennis ball is more useful than a jack. Used instead of a jack it wil not ever move to the wrong place.
They also can be used for all sorts of marking situations for coaching exercises.
Get a supply from a local tennis club or buy them for about $2 for six from your local cheapie shop.
Get 24, cut them in half and put them in your coaches shopping bag

(2) PLASTIC MARKING PIECES
The next most useful device also costs very little.

Obtain some off cuts of thin rigid plastic sheeting (up to 1.5mm thick?) in white or a bright colour. Cut them into small rectangular pieces (about 100mm x 300mm).
These are then used for many purposes, mostly to mark positions on the green where bowls should pass.
Because they do not affect the path of the bowl they are much more useful than the more commonly suggested old DVD and CD discs.
I have found that on most days there is no need to fix the markers in place, but it is useful to have some 25mm flat head nails in your bag to fix them in place on windy days

(3) OTHER PLASTIC MARKERS
Find some small different coloured markers which can be used to indicate target areas on the green.
I use orange donut shaped plastic rings about 50mm diameter and 10mm thick – perhaps raid the toy cupboard!

(4) COACHING MATS
If your club has some old cloth mats guard them carefully. When you need to put out 20 mats for a coaching exercise modern plastic mats are very heavy.
In addition a thin cloth mat is often useful as a target area instead of a jack

ITEMS WHICH WILL COST YOUR CLUB
(1) TARGET MATS
These mats are very useful for many coaching activities. They can be obtained from BowlsSA for $160.00 Find them at Bowls SA Two mats would be needed by a club sonducting regular coaching with groups and especially with schools

(2) REBOUND DISCS
The coloured bowl disks and white jack disks stay put when hit and are useful for much more than driving practise.
A set of 12 disc costs $135 from Doncaster Sporting Gear

(3) JUNIOR BOWLS
If your club is serious about introducing children to the game you should have at least one set of junior bowls. Most children up to 11 years ols can not handle size 00 bowls. For a big group you can use indoor bowls but a serious tryer should be able to use the junior bowls $319 per set. One source from the Lawn Bowls Shop

INTRODUCING PEOPLE TO THE GAME
Run a Learn to Play Bowls Class

Every bowling club offers free instruction to new bowlers, most offering a temporary membership during which the bowler is introduced to the game. However your club can get a boost in membership by running a learn to play bowls course which involves some expense and and lots of organisation. The process is
Plan the process and apply for a grant
Prepare a brochure and distribute through a direct mail organization - I recommend Australia Post.
The brochure needs to be properly designed (we used Elance). If your club offers non bowling services to the local area quality advertising for these services delivered to every letterbox in your area will be worth far more than the total cost of the brochure and distribution. Find a sample brochure here
Receive applications, prepare participant packs including booklets on the game
arrange coaching groups (ideal size 6-10 using two rinks with one coach and one helper)
Organize a slick orientation night for all applicants
Do the grind of four or five sessions.
Then run a special tournament for trainees and invite them to join your club
Costings You should be able to break even on the course, and if you get 25% of trainees joining your club you will be way ahead after the first year.

Financial Results for a recent course at my club

Costs - brochure sent to 16500 mail boxes printing $1700 Mailing $2300, participant packs $300 Total $4300

Income 80 at $40 $3200.

We received a grant which meant we ran at a slight profit. 21 students became members.

Have Bowls Parties at Your Club

Every person who enjoys a social day on your greens is a potential member of your club. If there is a night where your bar is open anyway and you have willing coaches then a bowls parties are very easy to organize and can be offered to corporate groups, family groups and small business and school groups.
My club offers them on Friday nights at $12.50 per head for bowls and a finger food supper.
A coach attends each session with responsibility for getting out the equipments, very basic instruction and safety.
The caterer provides the finger food at the time requested.
The group size offered is 8 to 80 and and more than one group can be present on the same night

The club makes a good profit on every party and also sees them as a long term recruiting tool

Coaching School Groups

If your local schools are interested and you have trained and approved junior coaches then your club should welcome school groups coming with teachers and helpers as part of their Physical Education program.

Do not overdo this type of visit. The ideal program for an introduction to bowls for children aged 12-16 consists of 2 to 4 sessions of 60-80 minutes.

Children who have a good experience at your club will tell their parents, who are probably in the age group who are your prime recruiting target. Very few children will take up bowls as their sport, but in very few years be of an age to join night owls or barefoot bowls

Here is a program for a school bowls class

In South Australia (an probably in other states> year 12 students can do lawn Bowls as a major or minor sport in their year 12 Physical Education course. if you get a chance to have such a group at your club jump atr it. As a coach you will learn a lot. Half of all bowlers at my club would fail the assessment criteria required for this course

COACHING INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL GROUPS

Whether you have been approached by one player or are taking a small group of up to six many of the same techniques will be used.

Some important things to consider

In any session the more people per rink the less valuable the practice. Hence if you have the space with three people use one rink, for 4 or 5 two rinks and for 6 three rinks. Set up the rinks before your students arrive with mats at each end
Your first duty is to check for safety and to find out if your student has any physical disability

Your first session with a club bowler who has asked for help

Check bowls and grip

From your observations try to correct mat position insisting that they use the correct three positions
(1) behind the mat to receive skipper's instructions
(2) move to the opposite corner
(3) line up the shot and then step onto the mat along the the line

While everyone may have a different action and different ways of getting green and weight, every bowler will benefit from getting onto the mat in this way. About half of all club bowlers do not get on to the mat in a consistent manner.

Set up two flat plastic markers 15cm apart 10 metres from the mat so that your student's bowl should pass between them for a good green. Get the student try to put 4 bowls through the gap, then adjust the markers so that a bowl through the gap will have perfect green. Diagnose faults which may be causing errors.

You now know the size of your task because if the student can not aim a reasonable percentage of bowls through a gap 10 metres away there are problems to be solved.

Continue for the remainder of the session with students bowling through gaps and building confidence. For a more advanced bowler narrow the gap to 5cm

If you have more than one student finish the session with a game such as the target mat game

Subsequent Sessions

What you do will vary considerably depending on the your observations in the first session. You should at some time check out these basic areas

(1) Getting the green

[a] For each mat position sighting the fixed spot on the bank and drawing down to a spot on the green
For using the bank the long lines we currently use in most clubs are very helpful.
The spot on the green will be a given distance from the end of the line.
The player stays down until his bowl passes this spot
The combination of where the bowl passed the spot and the finishing distance from the centre line should give the player exact green the next bowl from the same mat position
The spot on the green ten metres from the mat moves approximately one tenth of the distance a correctly delivered bowl finishes from the centre line (depending on the speed of the green)

[b] Visualising the required path of the bowl
A player who visualizes fixes the angle required for correct green given the conditions on the day
For visualisation a useful method is to put 4 or 5 flat plastic markers along the path of the players bowl for a given length from mat to mat(use a mat as the target) and see if the course can be followed for well delivered bowls. This is a great confidence building activity for any bowler

(2) Discuss how the player varies weight and use activities to test this.
Talk about the arm as a pendulum, varying the length of the step, moving forward or back on the mat
If the player has no method, show your method
For some players they can vary the height of the arm for the pendulum by sighting through the arm and the bowl to the front of the mat
Get them to bowl to 4 markers (long, shorter shorter shorter) until they work it out
For more advanced players put down two markers initially three metres apart and have them deliver two bowls, the first shorter than the long marker and the second between the first bowl and the near marker. Each time they succeed reduce the gap by a half metre

Teaching more advanced players how to deal with a mat up the line
Provided wind conditions do not change on each side of the green there is one angle at which the bowl must be delivered for it to finish on the centre line.

Some bowlers visualize this angle. If you do this you do not need to worry about the position of the mat

Most bowlers find their green from a point on the bank (hence keeping the angle fixed unless the mat position changed). Most ends of bowls are played with the mat between 1 and 4 metres of the T, and on the trial ends the mat will usually be in this normal range.

If the mat is less than about 5 metres from the T the change of angle is so small that it is not worth changing the bank aiming point

Where the mat is placed more than about 5 metres up the green it is easy to find your new aiming point
Before going to the mat for your first bowl stand on the line in the normal position (1-2 metres from the T)
Look at your aiming point.
Imagine a line drawn from where you are standing to your aiming point
Estimate the distance between this line and the centre of the mat
For the new mat position move your aiming point towards the centre line by that distance

Teaching advanced players how to get around or inside a bowl by using the width of the mat.

The two methods below give opposite movements. Both will work but BOTH METHODS PRESUME THAT YOU WILL BOWL WITH PERFECT GREEN AND WEIGHT. There is no point in even mentioning these methods to beginning bowlers.

Method 1
Move to the outside of the mat as far as the footfault rule allows you to go
Alter your bank aiming point by the amount you have moved across the mat (perhaps 15cms)
Your bowl should follow a path parallel to and 15 cm from the normal path.

If you bowl with perfect green and weight if will get around the short bowl and finish jack high 15 cms wide

Method 2
Move to the inside of the mat as far as the footfault rule allows you to go (perhaps 15 cm)
Bowl at your usual point on the bank
The angle taken by your bowl is slightly increased making it go wider to get around the bowl and causing it to finish wider
Since you have delivered it 15 cms narrower it should finish near the jack provided you have bowled it with perfect green and weight

This method will not work for bowlers who visualize the angle since you have to be able to increase the angle by a very small amount (perhaps from 15 degrees to 16 degrees).

Which Method Should You Use
The foot fault rule requires you to you have to have one foot completely on the mat in the set position and some part of one foot on or over the mat when the bowl is released.

If you usually bowl (as I do) with the centre of your fixed foot on the centre of the mat, the foot fault rule for a backhand allows you to move only about 10-12 cms to the outside of the mat but approximately 20-22 cms to the inside of the mat (and vice versa for a forehand) Hence you could consider that the best results may be achieved by using method 1 for a forehand and method 2 for a backhand.

However what is mostly required is confidence in your actions so that you maintain your perfect weight and green

INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE

Among bowlers opinions vary about individual practice. Here are the reasons why you should put down many more bowls in practice than you do in competition.

When you practise by yourself you put down 100 bowls per hour, and this is the only bowling activity which has prospects of improving your physical fitness! One hour of solo practice is worth more to most bowlers than three hours in a game
If you are a lead or a second almost all of your bowls are draw bowls and the more bowls you put down the better.
For thirds and skippers 90% of bowls are draw bowls because the only time you do not bowl a draw bowl is when you aim to finish in the ditch.
As a third or a skipper very often you do not see where your bowl would have finished because it hits other bowls. If you play regularly in those positions and do not make the time for individual practise the quality of your draw bowling may decline.
When practising by yourself you can keep repeating the same shot until you get it right.
Such specific shot practice is the only time when you should bowl more than 2 bowls at the same target. For example if you have practised yard on shots enough eventually when called on to play them in a game your brain tells you hown much to narrow your green and increase your weight

Many players practise by rolling up with a few mates, putting a jack at each end and bowling four bowls in turn. Some when practising by themselves set out a jack at each end and bowl four bowls without varying length and side. These types of practice are not very useful.

In almost every game of bowls you get only two bowls at the same target, which are delivered with only one bowl in between. Your practise must reflect this and you should usually only ever playing two bowls at the same target (changing hand, length and mat position) and always trying to improve with your second bowl. You only deliver more than two bowls at the same target when trying to master a specific skill

Please take this into account when working out your own practice routines. Some examples are below. For more individual activities look at the circuit routines

THIRTY MINUTE SOLO DRAW BOWLING PRACTICE

If you have only a short time for draw bowling practise use three half tennis balls as jacks, placing two at one end three metres apart and one at the other end. Walk your mat.

Starting at the end with the single jack, deliver two bowls to the longer jack on one hand, two to the shorter jack on the other hand.

Put your mat in front of the shorter jack and deliver two bowls to the single jack, then move it to the back jack and send down two bowls on the other hand.

Do this up and back four times and in less than more than 30 minutes you will have given yourself some excellent draw bowling practice.

SOLO PRACTICE ROUTINES

These routines all are for about 100 bowls and should take about one hour. You may decide to concentrate on one skill for a longer part of your practice

LEAD
Take out three jacks and some markers

First end: bowl full length to no jack, and then take off two metres with each of the next three bowls. Do this in each direction (8 bowls).
AIM: four equally spaced bowls on the centre line, finding green and establishing control of weight

Roll a jack then a bowl using the same weight as you used for the jack (you should use the same delivery for the jack as you do for the bowl). Do this three times, long medium short. Compare the finishing positions of the bowls and jacks and so work out how to alter your delivery between bowl and jack. Draw with your other bowl to the longest jack Do this in each direction (8 bowls).
AIM - jack roll practice The jack roll may also help you get the correct weight for your first bowl

Place a jack at one end and a marker about 2 metres shorter and a jack at the other end. Place the mat and bowl twice at the long jack and then twice at the shorter jack staying on same side of green. Change ends, place the mat in front of the shorter jack and bowl twice at the single jack on same side. Then move the mat back to the longer jack and bowl twice, staying on the same side of the rink. Repeat (16 bowls). Vary the placement of the mat each time. Change to the other side of the rink and repeat (16 bowls) Continue but keep swapping sides. For example two forehands to long jack , two backhands to short jack two backhands with mat up two forehands with mat back (32 bowls)
AIM two bowl draw practice, second bowl should beat first bowl!

SECOND
Take out two jacks and four markers or rebound jacks and markers

First End: bowl full length to no jack, and then take off two metres with each of the next three bowls. Do this in each direction (8 bowls).
AIM:four equally spaced bowls on the centre line, finding green and establishing control of weight.

Place a jack near the six foot spot and a marker at one end at least three metres apart and one jack at the other end. Place the mat and bowl twice at the long jack and then twice at the short marker. Change ends, place the mat in front of the shorter marker and bowl twice at the single jack. Then move the mat back to the longer jack and bowl twice. Repeat three times, varying the mat position .(32 bowls). Initially bowl both bowls on the same side, later bowl one bowl on each hand.
AIM: two bowl draw practice to develop control of green. The second bowl should be better than the first

Using four rebound bowls (or flat plastic markers with a spare bowl sitting on top). At each end place the markers or bowls about 1 metre and 2 metres short of the jack so that they are comfortably inside (20 to 30 cm) the line which you would expect your bowl to take when drawing on that hand. Draw to a target area behind the jack within 1 metre. Bowl all four on the same hand. Do this three times each way (24 bowls)
Aim : getting around a bowl without adding weight. When most bowlers are faced faced with this position, 60% of bowls are narrow and 30% heavy even when the short bowl is well clear of the needed path

At each end of the rink place one marker or rebound bowl 30cm from the jack in a jack high position, and another marker 1 metre back and 50 cm narrow. With your first bowl on each end try to draw within 30cm. If you are not satisfied with your first bowl try again. With subsequent bowls try to achieve a yard on bowl through the gap or turning out your first bowl by slightly increasing the weight and reducing the green. This is best done by making the back marker your jack (depending on the width of your bowls): repeat three times (24 bowls).
Aim:to play a yard on, turning out an opposition bowl while keeping your bowl in the head

Place kitties and markers off centre and draw to them. (8 bowls)

THIRD & SKIPPER
Take out two jacks and four markers or rebound jacks and markers and some half tennis balls

First End: bowl full length to no jack, and then take off two metres with each of the next three bowls. Do this in each direction (8 bowls).
AIM: four equally spaced bowls on the centre line, finding green and establishing control of weight

At one end place a jack near the six foot spot and a marker three metres away and one jack at the other end. Place the mat and bowl twice at the longer jack and then twice at the shorter marker WITHOUT CROSSING THE CENTRE LINE. Change ends, place the mat in front of the marker and bowl twice at the single jack. Then move the mat back to the longer jack and bowl twice. Repeat three times.(32 bowls). Initially bowl both bowls on same side, later bowl one bowl on each hand.
AIM: two bowl draw practice, developing control of green and learning not to cross the head when holding

Using four rebound bowls and two rebound jacks (or four bowls sitting on markers and two jacks), coloured markers to show target area. At each end place markers or bowls about 1 metre and 2 metres short of the jack so that they are comfortably inside (20 to 30 cm) the line which you would expect your bowl to take when drawing on that hand. Draw to a target area behind the jack within ½ metre. Bowl all four on the same hand, trying to go around the rebound bowls and finish inside the target area. Do this three times each way (24 bowls)
Aim: get around a bowl without adding weight. When faced with this position most bowlers play 60% of bowls narrow and 30% heavy even when the short bowl is well clear of the needed path

At each end place a rebound bowls or half tennis ball 30cm from the jack (or rebound jack) in a jack high position. Mark a target area 70 cm square with a half tennis ball in the middle. With your first bowl on each end try to draw within 30cm. If you are not satisfied with your first bowl try again. With subsequent bowls try to draw to the target square by slightly increasing the weight and reducing the green (making the half tennis ball in the middle of the square your jack). With practice try to increase the speed of the shot by one metre with each bowl on each end, but none of these bowls should finish in the ditch. Repeat three or more times (24 bowls)
Aim: to develop skill in yard on bowls and running through the head without losing your bowl

Place one jack or rebound jack on the centre line and a half tennis ball on each side of the rink, one close to the ditch. Drive twice at the single jack. Then draw to each marker outside in. Repeat one or more times if your have the energy, varying the mat position (16 bowls)
AIM: to develop driving skill and to be able to immediately return to the draw

CLUB PRACTICE
CIRCUITS

When you have a side or club practice a circuit is the ideal way for each bowler to warm up.
The coaches can do the circuit themselves and stay around to help the players with the skills required on that day.
Bowlers use the circuit as individuals because groups of two or three slow down proceedings. They start as soon as they arrive and some who arrive early may want to do the circuit more than once
You can use 2 or 4 bowls, but four is better because most of the circuit will be testing specific skills.

Circuits take a lot of space for the number of players using them, but you can get around that problem by using half rinks.
For example on a North South green every bowl is put down on the Western side .
Each activity is repeated so that every bowler delivers four bowls on each hand at each activity.
The best number of activities is four or five. As each is repeated the warm up will have consisted of 32 or 40 bowls and should take each bowler 25 to 35 minutes
The first activities in a circuit should be to enable players to warm up, getting green and weight, middle ones should teach and test particular skills and the last activity should be a draw bowling test (such as getting your score on a target mat)
A library of circuit activities is shown here Many of these activities are suitable for individual practice

TWO BOWL PAIRS

When your team gets together to practise the best game to play is two bowl pairs. There are three advantages in doing this over playing against another four

Everybody gets to put down twice as many bowls in the time available.
The lead and second aget plenty of draw bowling practice
The third and skipper have the opportunity to dicuss the bowls they are playing and become more confortable with the bowling ability and tactics of the team

Sometimes play two bowl pairs drawing to a zone (see below)

CLUB SKILLS TRAINING

Schedule a club practice for four Saturday mornings prior to the start of pennnant trials

Set out circuit type skills on 16 rinks.
Provide players with instructions and scoring cards. Allot four players to each rink, playing four bowls. Two play and two score and then they swap.
Players are scored on each of the skills and keep their record, and then move to the next rink.
Coaches are allocated to certain rinks and provide help and instruction.
Watch this space for details of the cirtcuit activities used, score cards and a recording spread sheet

DRAWING TO THE SCORING ZONE GAME

Put a mat at each end and mark out a "scoring zone" ie a 1 metre square with two flat plastic markers at the front and two other markers at the back, with a half tennis ball as the jack at the centre of the square.
Play a competitive game in which the score for each end is the normal bowls score plus one for each bowl which finishes with any part inside the square
This can be played as two bowl pairs, three bowl pairs of two bowl triples

ONE WAY THIRDS & SKIPPERS PRACTICE(thanks to Jeff Aworth)

Four players per rink.
One mat one jack, two bowls from each player stay at the head.
Take turns to be director of the head. The director sets up an end using the jack and the eight bowls, and gives direction to the other three bowlers who get two chances to play the required shot.
The director them rolls the 6 bowls back and changes the head and gives new instructions.
This is a very vigorous activity which provides the club coach with great opportunities to observe the skills of the players (and players the chance to impress the coach!)