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    Getagame Gazette
    volume 3 no 3 September 2018
    Articles In This Edition
  • Could Laser Measuring be Used For Bowls
  • Ultimate Bowls Championship Fun Fast and Fresh with $500000 prizemoney
  • The Modern Etiquette of Bowls
    •

    Could Laser Measuring be Used For Bowls

    A few weeks ago I talked to my son about a device the same size as a bowls measure used by a real estate agent to measure a room. His comment was ”Why don’t they use lasers to measure in bowls”, a common opinion amongst non bowlers.

    I made my usual reply "Laser measures are not in the rules and if they worked it would take 20 years to get them approved.” But I also added that it would be interesting to see if they could work. Father’s day arrived and with it a laser measure.

    Here is what I found out     		dewalt


    dewalt The device is a DeWALT 9m laser distance measurer sold by Bunnings for $31.90. It is much smaller than a bowls measure

    First of all I tried it using indoor carpet bowls. Measuring is tricky in that game because the jack can not be touched without moving it. With the laser you can measure from bowl to jack, which means there is no need to touch the jack and once leaning bowls are chocked there is no risk of moving the bowl

    To use the measure you need to lift it so that you can measure from the closest part of the bowl. I used a piece of high density foam cut to slide under the bowl. Foam is needed to move the laser spot up or down to hit the centre point of the jack. I placed the foam in front of the bowl, put the measure on top and moved it back so it was touching the bowls.
    Slight finger pressure moved the spot until it was in the centre of the jack.

    With a little bit of practice I managed to quickly measure the distance.

    I then measured full sized bowls on carpet, having cut a suitably shaped piece of foam. Again an excellent result with measurements done faster than would be possible with a tape. of lawn bowls.

    When trying it outside on grass I had problems because the grass did not have a surface to reflect the laser beam. It took too long to locate the spot on the jack. To get it to work on grass on that day I needed a piece of plastic or a bowls cloth between jack and bowl to line up the spot.

    On another day this problem was not there and I obtained good readings.     		dewalt
    The problems

  • Accuracy – the laser measures to 1 mm This is as good as you can do with an ordinary tape, but I believe that with proper measuring equipment an umpire can make a decision to an accuracy better than 1mm

  • Ensuring that the red spot was on the jack at the moment the button was pushed. To activate the laser you click a button and when you are ready you click again to set the distance. As you click do you move the spot off the center? Some work would need to be done. I think the best support would be a shaped block of wood with 1cm of high density foam stuck to it

  • The laser has a minimum distance of 16cm.Callipers are needed for closer measurements

    Conclusions
  • The laser works well for players measuring on carpet but is probably not accurate enough for umpires.

  • On grass and in bright sunlight the spot may not be reliably visible - perhaps a better laser is needed

  • This measure could certainly be used for player measurements in indoor bowls



    • Ultimate Bowls Championship

    Fun Fast and Fresh with $500000 Prizemoney

    The Ultimate Bowls Championship (UBC) is a new, fast format, high stakes, competitive, engaging and innovative way to play and enjoy the gamert of lawn bowls. It has been designed to respect, showcase and grow the game we love

    The Concept
  • There will be 3 events played at Warilla, Deer Park and Moama
  • Each event will have two pools of twleve teams playing a round robin, with the top four from each pool qualifying for the quarter finals and earning prizemoney
  • There will be $150k prize pool per event with $50k bonus for overall 3 event winner
    • The Game
  • Five ends of 3 bowl pairs with a 15 second shot clock (30 at changeover)
  • Scoring 24 points on each end with 10 points for closest, 5 points for 2nd closest and 3 points for 3rd closest
  • There are also 3 points to the team who holds shot after the leads’ bowls have been played and an extra 3 points per toucher.

    • Entry
  • Players – entry through a draft or as a direct selection by a team
  • $100 fee for registration for the draft
  • The competition should fill up in the near future
    • Franchise
  • Normal cost is registration is as little as $35000 for the first year.
  • The team nominates one player and selects two others from the draft

    • Television Cover
    Extensive cover on Channel Seven and Fox Sports

    For full information and to print a brochure click here




    The Modern Etiquette of Bowls



    Recently I found a discussion on face book about the etiquette of bowls.

    Many of the contributors were scathing about some of the long time traditions of the game. Sometimes they had a case.

    When I played my first pennant game in 1995 I was told that in a home game after 5 or 6 ends I had to offer to buy my opponent a drink, and my opponent would buy me a drink after about 15 ends ( afternoon tea in between)

    Happily this tradition has disappeared with everyone providing water points near the green.
    One matter which was discussed on face book was about changeover

    I was taught and still believe that the players other then the third who delivered the bowl should stay behind that player until the delivered bowl come to a rest.

    This is annoying if the third does not move off the mat – I think it should also be etiquette for that player to move off slowly and follow the bowl and that other players should stay behind     		bowlers
    You can find many pages of information about etiquette with a simple web search Here are two of the better web links. Surprisingly I could not find a good You Tube video on the subject - perhaps a project for a young bowler

  • A clear layout guide with pictures Catalogue & Club Bowls & Sports Warehouse
  • From New Zealand Browns Bay Bowling Club
  • From a USA club (17 rules) Santa Clara Lawn Bowls Club

    In the excellent catalogue sports link there is one item I had not seen and disagree with. They say that bowlers should step on the mat from the left side and leave it from the right side.

    Good coaches teach you to step onto the mat along the line you intend to bowl You wait behind the mat to receive the skipper's signal, step to the opposite side and line up your shot

    In the modern game where all bowlers stand on the green at all times I think the distance behind the mat should always be two metres. Not in the etiquette!


    GET A GAME OF BOWLS INFORMATION

    Each time you receive this newsletter would you

  • Check that all your weekly social games are listed and make sure that the information shown is still accurate. Where social games change with the season it is best to edit them when they change

  • Make sure that any tournaments planned by your club have been listed.

  • You can list your weekly social games as tournaments each week. This will give them better exposure in your state. When doing this you can show your prizemoney and sponsor if you have one. Once you have listed the first game you can list subsequent weeks with only 3 clicks. You can do this and have the games listed both as weekly social and in the list of tournaments.


    • Editing and Partial Listing of Tournaments

  • You can now edit tournaments by going to the bottom of the entry page where it gives you a list of all tournaments previously entered by your club. You can change any of the details except the date.

  • If you know the date, the type of tournament and the expected prizemoney (eg Fours Men (2 day) 21st March 2018 $3000. you could partially list the game and put put something like Please reserve the dates, more details later in the special conditions box

  • If you also know the sponsors name and the tournament deserves state or nation featuring (usually state $2000 or more, national $5000 or more your choice) you could do this at the incomplete stage and give your sponsor much more exposure in the state and national featured lists


    • Add 'Find a Club' to your Favourites

    The 'find a club' section of get a game provides your quickest possible means of finding the phone number and location of any club in Australia - it is well worthwhile to have that link in your favorites

    It also provides links to 995 clubs with web sites and 187 clubs which have a facebook page and no web site




    PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF GGGAZETTE

    If you were not on the mailing list for previous newsletters you can see them from these links


    July 2018
  • Update *|CLUB|* ’s listings on Getagame
  • Advertise *|CLUB|* Bowling Club or its major sponsor
  • The Bowls Clubhouse for Videos on the Game
  • Commonwealth Games Shirt Auction
  • South Australian Super League Prompts Media Interest


    • March 2018
  • How Many Bowlers are there in Australia
  • Promote Bowls with This Short Video
  • The Bowls Clubhouse for Videos on the Game
  • Lawn Bowls Lunacy - a 10 question trivia quiz
  • All systems go as teams confirmed for BPL07
  • More Bowls on SBS in 2018

    • December 2017
  • Do bowling arms provide too much help?
  • Playing the Positions (The skipper)
  • Titles used when describing Tournaments

    • August 2017
  • Bowls in the Coff Harbour Region
  • Playing the Positions (The third)
  • Beating the Big Driver
  • Advertising your club or sponsor on your pages

    • May 2017
  • Singles Tournaments at Clubs
  • Playing the Positions (The Second)
  • Bowls Show Has Returned Bigger and Better

    • March 2017
  • Quest for "Olympic Dream" draws closer
  • Queensland Bowler Sets World Record
  • Playing Fours :The Lead
  • Australian Open Entries closing 3rd April

    • December 2016
  • Would You Like to Play Bowls in China?
  • How Do You Get The Weight?
  • The Lawn Bowls Movies
  • Entering Pennant Results Accurately

    • August 2016
  • The Great Lawn Bowls Instructional Books
  • How Do You Get The Green
  • Five games like lawnbowls you could try this summer
  • Whch is the Most Important Shot in Lawn Bowls

    • July 2016
  • Law Change Discourages Oldest and Newest Pennant Players
  • The Australian Open - A Fabulous Event
  • The rise of the South Australian men
  • A snapshot of the sport of bowls in Australia
  • The History of Lawn Bowls and its equipment

    • April 2016
  • Tiger Tour : Tiger Bowls in Hong Kong and China Open in Shenzhen
  • On Line Bowls Magazines
  • The Role of Skipper: articles by Cameron Curtis and Tony Alcock
  • Tournament Software which does the draw and prints the cards
  • YouTube Coaching Directory Updated

    • February2016
  • Bushfire disaster hits two clubss
  • The Shooter Stance - great for many bowlers and a helpful for dumpers
  • An IMG report can show who has qualified for finals
  • A monthly television show on bowls

    • December 2015
  • Mainstream Media Under-rates Lawn Bowls
  • The New Order in Lawn Bowls
  • Six new Games for Team Practise
  • How to Put the Stickers on Your Bowls
  • The Mathematics Of Narrow Bowls

    • October 2015
  • 2015 Rule Change Altered Two Shots
  • Gambling Spreads to Lawn Bowls
  • Injuries from Lawn Bowls
  • Profitable Singles Tournaments
  • When did bowlers start running down the green?

    • August 2015
  • A Politician's View of Lawn Bowls
  • How do you use the width of the mat to get around a bowl
  • Lawn Bowls and YouTube - 30 coaching videos indexed

    • June 2015
  • What is a Skins Tournament
  • The health benefits of Bowls
  • Did Crackerjack Change the Bias of Australians About Lawn Bowls?