Bowls Explained for Dummies: Useful Information on Traditional British Game

Bowls is a traditional English sports game that is extremely popular in the countries of the British Commonwealth. Its main objective is to roll asymmetric balls as close as possible to the small white ball that is also known as jack or kitty. Although it is not an official sport, there are a few peculiarities that govern the given activity, and it is extremely important to know all of them to become a real bowls professional.

It is extremely easy to understand the general principles of the given game. So, there is a white ball named jack, and players should deliver their own balls of different colors as close to the kitty as possible. The main difficulty is represented by the fact that these personal balls are of an asymmetric shape. Among others, this means that players should have decent skills to make these balls travel into a point they want. As for beginners, it is a common thing for them to see as their balls show irregular trajectory. Thus, reaching the jack is almost an impossible task for beginners.

It should be mentioned at once that it is not necessary to be young or to have perfect physical skills to succeed in bowls. Any successful results can be achieved by those players who are self-restrained, patient, and with keen eyes. There is a perfect case that supports the statement above. Thus, Willy Wood, a gentleman from Scotland, won world championships title when he was 69 years old. As for Scotland itself, players from the given country have managed to win 8 titles, which supports an undisputable advantage of this British nation over all the opponents.

Usually, groups of three or four players participate in bowls competitions. With this, there are also individual events and doubles competitions. The number of players also influences the number of balls used in an event. Thus, individual players and pairs deal with four balls. Three-man teams try to beat their opponents with three balls, while four-man teams deal with only two balls.

These balls are called woods because people used to make them from hardwoods (oak or European aspen). Nowadays, however, these balls or made of solid rubber or other multi-layer synthetical materials. Every ball is manufactured so that one of its sides is more canting than the other one, which contributes to a displaced center of gravity of the ball. If a ball is sent correctly, this displaced center of gravity makes the ball roll along a bit curved trajectory. As it has previously been mentioned, it is this displaced center of gravity that makes it impossible for beginners to send the ball properly from the first try.

Bowls Variations

Nowadays, there are three variations of bows:

1. Lawn bowls – these competitions take place at the green court with dimensions of 30.18 meters wide and 40.23 meters long.
2. Indoor bowls – this competition follows the same general principles with the only exception that the balls are sent alongside mats covered with artificial materials.
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3. Short mat bowls – this competition is held at shorter mats. To be more exact, their dimensions are 12.2-13.75 meters long and 1.83-1.9 meters wide. With this, the standard balls are used. In the center of the field, there is a special block that divides the field into two parts. It is this block that prevents players from directly reaching the jack. This block can be bent round thanks to the displaced center of gravitation. Of course, it is possible if the ball is sent correctly.

Each of these variations has its own peculiarities, which is similar to tennis competitions played on different courts. Thus, players should get accustomed to the peculiarities of the playing surface and its length. So, it is not a surprise that different players manage to succeed in a different bowls variation.

History

Historians tend to believe that the given game emerged in Ancient Egypt. People played it using small stones. This fact was revealed thanks to archeological findings that showed the setting of around the 5th century B.C.

The oldest bowls court that is currently in use is located in Southampton, England. According to a generally accepted belief, this court dates back to 1299 A.D.

Like many other kinds of sport, bowls became an extremely widespread activity in all the British colonies in the early 17th century. The first lawn bowls competition took place in the United States of America in the 17th century. According to historical evidence, President George Washington also used to play bowls. As for Canada, the first event happened in 1730. 1844 saw the first bowls competition take place in Australia. It took 30 more years for New Zealand to get accustomed to the given game. In 1903, a corresponding association to govern this very sport was created. It was this body that was responsible for creating and standardizing bowls rules across the whole world. Another task of the organization is to popularize the game across the globe.

Paying attention to the fact that it is not necessary to have perfect physical skills to win in bowls competitions, this game is extremely popular among aged people. At the same time, it does not mean that young people are not interested in bowls.

To tell the truth, this game gave rise to many other games with balls that are popular in different world countries, with bowling being the most popular one among them. So, let us tell a few words about this very game.

Bowling

It is not necessary to know all those rules by heart to play bowling and enjoy it. The fact here is that it is necessary to hit as many pins as possible. To tell the truth, it is the most important rule that governs all the bowling tournaments and competitions. Although there are some official events, bowling is more often considered as a hobby or a way to spend spare time on weekends. Despite the information mentioned above, bowling still can offer some peculiar and interesting moments, and you should keep reading the article if you want to know all the details and moments that govern such a game as bowling.

An insight into bowling and its basics is reasonable to begin with learning the most popular terms used by professional bowling players. If you know the terminology, you will greater enjoy playing bowling. So, the most popular bowling variant is a 10-pin playing system. According to this system, each player is given 10 tries that are known as frames. For every frame, a player is able to make two throws except for the last frame, which will be discussed further.

If a player manages to strike all 10 pins with his/her first attempt, this frame is said to be over. The given situation is called a strike. If it happens that at least one pin managed to stay, the player should perform the second throw of the frame. If the pin was struck after the second attempt, a spare is announced. When it happens that a player fails to strike all the pins even in two attempts, this frame is still open unless only the pins staying after the first attempt create a split. This term is used to denote such positions of the pins when the first pin has fallen while there were left two or more pins that did not stay close to one another. If a player manages to make two or more consecutive strikes, it is called a double and treble, correspondingly. When a player manages to make a strike or a spare in the 10th frame, he/she gets the right to throw three balls.

In bowling, a particular scoring system is used. A player gets a certain number of points in every frame, and this number consists of struck pins and prize points, if any. If a frame is open (i.e. not all pins were struck), a player gets the number of points that is equal to the number of pins struck. Prize points appear when a player manages to make a strike or a spare. A single strike is worth 10 points plus the prize points that are equal to the number of pins struck by this very player after the following two attempts. A spare, in its turn, gives 10 points plus the number of points that is equal to the number of pins struck by this very player in the following attempt.

To tell the truth, the times when it was necessary to count these points by hand are gone, which means it is not obligatory to know all these scoring peculiarities by heart. The fact is that there is special software that calculates your points automatically. Every site where you can play bowling is equipped with this system; it is necessary only to know what those symbols on screens denote. Fortunately, it is not difficult to remember the following:

• X denotes a strike;
• / means a spare;
• – is placed if neither a strike nor a spare occurred;
• O is used to denote a split.

Thus, it is possible to earn a maximum of 30 points in a single frame (if a strike is followed by two more strikes). In addition, the highest number of points that can be earned in a single game amounts to 300. Of course, such a result can be achieved by the most skillful players only. If it happens, the term perfect game is used to describe the situation. This situation is far away from ordinary players who usually manage to score a bit more than 100 points. If a player earns 200 and more points, it means he/she has decent bowling skills because this result is possible only if two or more consecutive strikes are performed.

Of course, a ball is the most important element in bowling. Nowadays, there are a lot of types of balls that are suitable for different players. According to the general rules, a ball’s weight should be 1/10 of the player’s weight. With this, the balls are allowed to have a maximum perimeter of a circle of 686 mm and a weight of 7.25 kilos. So, it is up to every player which ball he/she will choose. For this, each ball bears a number that tells its weight. To be more exact, a number denotes how many pounds the given ball weigh. Thus, balls with 9 are suitable for children and teenagers. Women should choose balls 10-12, while men can deal with balls 13-16. In general, the heavier a ball is, the easier it is to control it. That is why, professional players tend to deal with the heaviest balls.

However, it is necessary to remember that too heavy balls can be dangerous for unprepared players. There can happen injuries both immediately during a game (wrenches, ricks, and even ligament ruptures) and the next day (problems with back and hand muscles). It is necessary to use a thumb, middle and ring fingers to take a standard ball with three holes.

As a rule, every player is obliged to wear special shoes to be allowed to play bowling in corresponding clubs. Professional players have their own shoes, while occasional players can hire corresponding shoes. They are comfortable because the soles are leather, which contributes to perfect sliding, while a rubber heel is responsible for brakes that are extremely popular while performing a throw.