Rules Of The Very Popular Game Of Lawn Bowling

By Author: Vikram Kumar
Total Articles: 9478
Comment this article

Lawn bowling has been around since the 13th century as is suggested by the writings of that time. This is a highly competitive and tactical sport which is played with utmost concentration and skill. While the general feeling is that this sport is meant for the older people, this is not really the truth. Most of the players average around 30s, playing a complete bowling game often takes 3 to 4 hours of bending and stretching along with about 2 to 3 miles of walking. Not really something that most old people would call a cake walk.

The game was originally played on grass turf, however these days artificial surfaces are increasingly being used especially in the drier climates. Indoor greens are also being created to ensure that the game is not interrupted due to inclement weather conditions. The objective of lawn bowling is to get bigger biased balls as close as possible to a smaller ball termed ‘jack’. The bias was introduced using weights in the olden days, this is not allowed anymore. Bias can be introduced by flattening any one side of the ball to ensure that the trajectory followed is a curved one.

The greens ...
... are divided into a number of parallel rinks. While a biased ball can curve out of the rink the ball should finally come to rest inside the rink for it to remain alive in the game. There are several flavours to the game with it being played singularly or by teams. When teams are involved the game becomes much more tactical as players aim not only to reach the jack but also to block their opponent’s balls.

It is possible that a biased ball may touch the jack and then go further forward; such a ball is termed as a ‘toucher’. Deliberate touchers are played by professionals to drag the jack away from the opponent’s balls. Such a deliberate shot meant to distance the jack is called as ‘The Yard On’. A ‘drive’ is a shot that is played with great force in an attempt remove the opponent’s head or even shoot the jack out of the rink.

As the rules suggest the formal game requires a lot of skill and practice. Barefoot bowls Melbourne is an informal variant of the regular sport. This is played by amateurs and though still competitive the objective of the game is to enjoy to the fullest. A number of bowling clubs have embraced this new form of the game as well and have opened their doors to the general public. The sport has become an entertaining and engaging way for families to spend time and bond with each other. As the name suggests barefoot bowls Melbourne is supposed to be played without any shoes on.

It is important to play this game in the right kind of turf. The turf can be either plane called as the flat green bowls or be convex in shape called as the crown green bowls.

Resource box:

Brighton bowling club is a great place to enjoy professional Lawn bowling as it hosts a number of competitive tournaments. Barefoot bowls Melbourne can also be enjoyed in this club.