BowlsGreens

Bowls and Greens

Types of Bowls

Which is the right bowl for me? This is a common question beginners have and even experienced players
who fell the need to change. What is not well understood that some bowls better suit some conditions. Having
said that it then follows that bowlers should probably play with more than one set of bowls, probably two but
maybe even three. This is obviously only relevant to advanced players who can use the subtle differences
between bowls to their advantage. Beginners should get a set of bowls that turn quite alot and stick to them for
a few seasons.

It is a reasonably new phenomena that narrow bias bowls have become common and this raises some good
questions..

Why is this? Surely this is cheating?

Why shouldn't all bowlers play with the same equipment to make it fair?

There is some sort of assumption that bowls is played on a perfect surface this is rarely the case. In New
Zealand greens can run at ridiculously fast pace and normal classis bowls just go out too far and are virtually
unplayable. Narrower bias bowls are necessary just to have a normal game. In the U.K. and many places in
southern Australia greens are slow and bowls do not turn as much. In these conditions traditional bowls are
the most suitable. Subsequently there are many different manufacturers that have designed their own special
bowl that will make you a champion. To take that out of the game would certainly rob it of some of the mystery
and intrigue.

I am generally not a fan of narrow bowls but now use Henselilte Dreamline Size 4 bowls. Recently a friend of
mine changed to Redline bowls from Classic II Henselite bowls. He was Group singles Champion with those
bowls but has since struggled to get back to top form, particularly in Pennant fours. He trialed the bowls up
north during the winter and played like a champ. Waited for a while in Melbourne then brought them out when
the greens were still slow and rather dead. A couple of things happened that made his standard of play
deteriorate. Firstly he played too may narrow bowls with his new narrow bowls. This is bad and indicates lack
of precision with his aiming line. Secondly he would often be overweight on the narrow hand. What was
happening is that he would not have the weight control as the bowl would stay on it's running surface longer as
the soft surface would not allow the bowl to fall naturally on its bias and stay more upright. This results in less
turn and the bowl maintains more forward momentum that takes it 3 or 4 feet further than expected. A side wind
also holds the bowl up on its running surface an the same thing happens. Again when too much force is
applied at delivery, the bowl will travel straighter along it's line, not come into the head and miss merrily on
the wide side. The line initially looks good but the bowl will not turn not the head. A correction on the line and
less weight can even mean missing narrow with the next bowl!!

So this is an example of the wrong bowls for the conditions. Same player but poor results. hard to convince
the play who has paid alot for the new bowls.

So why do so many players now use narrow bowls?

I remember my first set of bowls, still have them for sentimental reasons. They were a set of Dunlop bowls that
I could draw very well with. However at a singles championship day I was using them on a dry 17 second
green with a fair cross wind. My bowls where traveling side ways over a rink and virtually impossible to judge
the line as the bowl would turn a lot and the wind extenuated the rate and size of the draw. Naturally I got a
good hiding possibly inexperience meant I didn't stick to the narrow side and had too nay unsuccessful
up-shots. I realised that the bowls and the conditions combined where my downfall that day. Not that I would
have necessarily won with other narrow bowls I would have been much more competitive on every end. This
is because the is more predictable and travels a straighter line into the head on it's last third of it's journey.
What this means is the bowl travels less distance out of the head. Poor bowls are not quite so bad as they
would have been with normal bowls. Narrow bowls stay on their running surface longer and the profile of the
bowl means there is more friction than a bowl continually falling of it's bias.

Of course great bowls can be play with conventional bowls but the most important points are;

Advantage of narrow bowls.
Reduce the amount of error on the draw shots.
Easier to draw under bowls and not travel too far out of the head.
Weighted shots can be played with less weight. Bowl is then likely to stay in head.
Still turn very well on >14second greens.
Likely to pick up the jack cleanly as the bowl travels straighter in to head. (Don't rely on this one too often! Not
many players can hit the jack on a draw shot.)

Disadvantages of narrow bowls.
As mentioned they are a poor choice on slow, dead greens.
Narrow bowls require careful weight control to avoid finishing too far through the head.
Narrow bowls with a really straight run will often go through a hole when a normal bowl will enter at a bigger
angle and get a kind "in-off" result of another bowl.
Makes it more difficult to draw around bowls. This is most important for a Third and Skip when the head maybe
blocked.

In summary

Narrow bowls reduce the margin of error resulting in more effective bowls and less wasted bowls.

Bowls manfacturers
Hensilite - Australia www.henselite.com.au/
Drakes Pride - Drakes Pride UK
Greenmaster - www.greenmaster.com.au/
Taylor - www.taylorbowls.com/

Bowling Greens
This section under development.
A to Z Greenkeeping Message Board
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Bowling Green Construction & Maintenance http://www.lawnbowlinggreens.com/