Lawn Bowls Coaching for Players and Coaches 

 Robert Huddle  M.Ed (Physical Education)    

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Expert and experienced advice from a qualified coach. 

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FAQs --  Frequently Asked Questions from emails. 

Aiming line,  

Pushing bowls, 

Left handers!, 

KPIs for bowls

Gripped versus non gripped, 

"grassing" of the bowl, 

Subject: Improving my game , 

right choice of bowl, 

Subject: walking stick ,

Subject: Pennants Statistics , 

RE:  aiming line

I am new to lawn green bowls ,i find i am really having to push my bowls to reach a long jack and it  tends to go to far is there any help for this can u help

Hi Alan

 yes plenty of things to do to add weight and momentum. It is harder to take a bit off and get some fine control but short bowls are bad!!!!   What sort of conditions and greens are you playing on? I'm sure if you were on a synthetic green >16 seconds you would not have this problem.

 WEIGHT CONTROL TECHNIQUE TIPS

   Delivery speed  - All of the technique variations will influence your weight control.  The delivery speed (velocity) of the bowl will determine the distance it will travel. Increase the delivery speed and the bowl will travel further, decrease the delivery speed and the bowl will travel less distance.

1. Elevation method.  Elevating the bowl higher in front of you will assist in getting as bigger pendulum swing and therefore increase weight.  The coordinated  swing and step will mean additional force applied to the bowl.

2. Stance  -  Try a more upright stance to get more power. The increased body movement will add extra weight.  By adopting a lower stance better weight control on shorter ends or faster greens will be achievable.

3.  Delivery step  - A longer step will mean increased body movement and forward momentum. This will, in most cases add weight. A shorter step will allow a shorter smooth delivery that will help with weight control on short ends and fast greens.

4.  Backswing –Basically the bigger the backswing the more momentum will be transferred to the bowl from the pendulum swing and the bowl will travel faster. A small, slow backswing will allow great control for short ends and fast greens.

5.  Finger tip control -   This is the most important but least understood parts of weight control. More relevant to fast greens I.e. >14 seconds.. Just prior to release the finger tips allow the bowl to run smoothly onto the green. At this point it is possible to add additional weight by flexing the fingers that will increase the rotation of the bowl and therefore add distance. This is how you develop feel and touch in your delivery.

  regards rob

Hi Robert,

I have just begun lawn bowling and am totally besotted with it! I am fortunate that my wife has also taken up the sport, so we can practice together and enjoy another aspect of our life as a twosome.

I am finding that as a novice, there is obviously so much to learn! So many people telling us so many things and trying to absorb it all, at times, can be very confusing and frustrating.

I have been told that I have a good natural style, but being left handed, I need to reverse everything I am advised.

Do you know of a book that has specifically been printed for left handed bowlers?

I have recently joined a local club (Princes Park, which is reasonably close to where I live), but as it is the off season, getting to bowl on a regular basis, as well as working my standard 50-60 hours per week, becomes a little difficult. Maybe I should re iterate that my wife is perhaps keen, but not as keen as I am!!

 Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 Kindest regards,  neil

> Hi Robert,
>               Just wondering if you could give me a few suggestions on why
> I always play narrow drives. this only happens on my backhand. The
> forehand drive or running shot is no problem but I have no confidence in
> my backhand running shots as they always swing across. My forehand is
> nearly straight up the line. Thank you for any tips.
>                                   Ian

Hello Robert ,

                     I would like to improve my game of lawn bowls using on line coaching i have been bowling 2.5yrs i am 65yrs young 135kg 185cm tall, i suffer bad from arthritis i have had one knee totally replaced ( left )at this point in time, taugh myself to play i have read ian purcell book for beginners this year an i refer to it all the time  i practice once a week and play each week when possible and i play lead most times, this year i played  lead to win the candelo triple club championship. Previously i was a cyclist for 30 yrs and athletics for 15yrs, what level would you advise that i start i would like to improve my game if you think it is possible. 

this I would say is the most common problem for bowlers,, so you are not alone.  

practice backhand only for 30-40minutes and keep adjusting until you do not cross the line

regards rob,  hope that helps

 Hi,   Do you have any examples of a range of suitable KPI's which would serve as a basis of pre-match discussion/negotiation between a development squad level player and their coach?

 I would imagine something like:

- % first bowl effectiveness

- % effective drives/run shots

- % of draw bowls within one mat length

etc   Cheers Vince

HI Vince, nice to hear fro you. What part of NZ are you from i was over their in August in the south island for a holiday. 

You are definitely on the right track about measuring some KPIs, particularly for motivated players such as in a squad. Average club players find it threatening in my experience which is disappointing but..I have attached a files that has some of the things you are looking for and you can use it or develop something similar.

let me know how you progress. I am reviewing a skills teat that is very good and putting that on the website soon and encouraging coaches, players and clubs to use it as a bench mark and I would send back an analysis etc. 

regards rob

 Hi Robert,

First off, thanks for a great web site. I've learnt heaps and I'm sure I'll learn more.

 Dear Frank

You are on the right track going up to size 4 that will be better and a very common size. I think the redline in QLD would be good but I was in QLD and bought some henslite evo recently and think they are great with a gentle curve all the way. so borrow a set and compare them.

Hi Mr. Huddle,

My name is Michael. I am studying for Level 1 coaching qualifications. One of the points to address is the "grassing" of the bowl. It looks at the consequence of letting go of the bowl before and after the desired release position. I am assuming that letting go to early will result in a "dumping" with a resulting loss of weight and control of line. Letting go after I assume would result in lobbing of the bowl with a similar loss in control over line and probable weight. I would appreciate it if you could confirm or correct my understanding.

 Thanks,

Michael

Hi Michael

good to hear you are doing your level 1.

The important thing here is the outcome i.e. is the bowl delivered smoothly and on its running surface, no wobble, or bounce etc.

Yes what you have said I would agree with. certainly many players drop the bowl, even just a small amount. but if it is more than an 1/2 " then there is a problem that needs some work. bouncing will definitely take weight off and an irregular pathway as well because it needs to settle on its running surface before it will take its designed path.

Good evening,

                        I play at a club where there is not any coach. Both I and my wife want to improve our games. We have been playing for 5 years but please bear in mind it is only a small country club. While there are some good players, they are really not qualified to coach any one. Sure they will past on their experience, however we both believe there is more to the game than that.

 Please advise how we should join your online coaching. It looks to be what we are looking for. Cost of program also. 

Really looking forward to your reply!  Are you Australian based?

 Yours in bowling

Bevan & Phyllis

 Nice to hear from you.

 If you want to continue that sort of assistance then I will send you a level from the 10 level skill development program to complete each week/or two to return for analysis. the cost for that is $15 per person. After completion of the beginner level module (3 levels) you complete a skill test then move onto the next level (experienced level) and so on.

You can deposit the payments into a bank account number I will give you or send a chq to cover the each module we will follow. Of course you can stop whoever you want.

 regards Robert

-----  

Hi Robert,

Hope you are well, out of interest,in the last BOWLS NSW magazine, on the inside of cover, Henselite advertised their new ABT-EVO bowl, the line is in between the narrow Impact, and the Dreamline that I currently use, I mentioned this as I was aware that you use the older ABT size 5  your quote below. 

The greens I currently play on at the Blacktown RSL Diggers, probably runs between 12-14, and the dreamlines cope well, the even banana draw suits my vision of line taking, having said that, from what I have seen in the Henselite adds, there is very little difference between the Dreamline and the ABT that you are using? mine are slightly straighter at the finish. but I must say that whilst I am most likely to stick with my Dreamlines, I must confess that I am curious as to how the new ABT EVO will handle.

 Hello Mark

   The interesting thing about my Taylor bowls is that they are Size 6 and medium weight, so they are the same weight as my ABT 5 heavy. they feel good and perform well on most surfaces. If it is windy they can run too far on the draw and this is difficult but usually manageable, i.e. play the other hand or take more grass!!

Hi Robert,  

Henselite Dreamlines, currently using these and recieving compliments, they are the most comfortable in the hand size 3xh, but because they are a slimmer profile, I seem to release the Taylor Ace smoother. 

nice to hear from you.  well you certainly have tried out a few sets and that is good but probably confusing now.

I have a weakened left leg because of childhood polio.  Every second or third bowl I lose my balance , making me tip to one side or the other.  I have started experimenting with a walking stick for balance, similar to Kelvin Kirkow.  It really seems to help,.  I can stay down on shots, hence my accuracy seems to be improving, plus I do not lose my balance at all.

    Regards, Peter

peter,

definitely use this aid to improve your balance. This will increase your performance and decrease poor or wasted bowls. as bowls is  percentage game where small things all add up towards the end this will help enormously.

 let me know how you progress

Robert,

     Thanks for answering my question a about narrow and wide hand which I sent to you recently. I am a beginner bowler and I will be involved with pennants this year as a player in the low grade. I am also interested in assisting our club coach with some statistics for each of our 5 pennant teams. I can have access to our scorecards for each of the 15 games played each week. As you know the scorecards have the names of players, final scores, ends won etc. Do you have any experience in analysing such things or any suggestions about what may be relevant for assessing players or team results. I found that last year after a few rounds of pennants the only information that was recorded at club level was the position of each team in the competition on a weekly basis and no record was kept of each seperate fours sides performance on a weekly basis as far as I know.

     I would be pleased to hear from you if you have any suggestions, I will be keeping the stats in excel format

 Hello Andy,

 I like to keep track of each players effort by dividing the result of each weeks result for the team they were in by 4 and keeping a progressive total eg a 10 shot win would give each player 2.5 for that week for that Division. 4 shot loss would = -1 each etc.  

Credit of 5 points for a win is added to reflect the importance of getting over the line even by only 1 shot. 2.5 points for a draw. A 2 shot win would mean each player gets .5 plus 5=5.5 points for that week.

 Better data is the position of the team after the lead and second have played. this can be record on the card by the second. so they may be holding 2 shots (+2) after the seconds play and end up -1 shot, this will give a good indication of the front end of the four performance and the ability of the third and skip to work together to convert or add. In this eg the lead and 2nd get +2 for the end and the 3rd and skip get -3 shots for the end.

 i would like to see some results if you do the analysis

Is it because the opposition is playing very well? If so then expect that this will not last the whole game and you will get a chance to turn the game around. 

Is it because you have some sort of  technique problem? If so then quickly assess the basics of your delivery. Check your stance, step, grip, follow through. 

Is it because they have been lucky? If so this will change and the game will turn. 

Is it because of the conditions or playing the wrong hand? If so make a change, you have little to risk in doing that. Try short ends, try the wide hand.

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