Really helpful to a beginner like me. Had so much conflicting advice. These videos are short, sharp and to the point. Love, how you break things down. Thank you
The clip of this one end of Bowls is what started me watching the game. 2:30 - this should be impossible but everything that set up this situation was what genius is made of.
Coach, how do you hold the bowl in the cradle grip without having to overturn your wrist and arm, please? With the claw, the bowl sits in the hand at a very slight angle, but with the cradle you have to turn your wrist over to get a straight line, and that can hurt after a time. Thanks
Hi Richard -- We might not be understanding the question completely. While the cradle grip isn't our recommended grip, it shouldn't cause any issues with turning your wrist unless you have something specific you are doing with your delivery. It's hard to understand your issue without visuals. It seems like the issue is that in order to straighten your arm to delivery it's the adjustment of rolling your hand upright and the forearm that's the stressor. If it is causing a lot of stress and you are unable to deliver a bowl with a straight and upright arm/palm you may need to find an adjustment where you adjust the grip to hold the bowl differently, but that would also bring in a whole host of other issues and things you need to think about. It's recommended you try the grip we have in our video so you aren't using a palm or claw grip, but something a little more natural and see if that eases the issue.
@@CanadianBowler If you look at RU-vid bowling" tips from David Bryan"t @ 7 mins 20 seconds, he too suggests how hard it is to deliver the bowl with a straight arm. This will make clear my question, sorry if I was not clear. While I prefer the Claw grip, the cradle does allow a bigger bowl and is used by many of the top World Bowlers like Nick Brett. Thanks for helping me with such informative videos.
It's definitely worth trying to follow the process you see in this video and choose some bolder colours that suit your personality and make the bowl look the way you want it to -- get creative and have some fun with it!
I have both hips replaced and can't seem to get low enough to roll. Also my hands are very small and don't know which bowl to use. Been trying to play for about 8 weeks and am very frustrated
Hi Janet, it seems like you have a series of obstacles that you are trying to overcome. Have you considered looking at a bowling aid like a bowls arm to help remove some of those obstacles and see if that really helps you enjoy the game more? They do also make sizes down to quadruple zero in many makes and models. Might be worth looking at a smaller bowl (if possible) and see if that helps you hold on and release it better. The size of the bowl doesn't matter for the game itself, it's all about finding the right bowl size for you.
Do you do all the different colours, one one side, straight after each other? Or do you let each colour dry, before applying the next colour? It looks like the former, and if so, you work very neat and tidy.. I would be blending the colours, for sure..
Probably best to let one side dry before flipping to another side to avoid the wet paint touching other things. Also doing multiple colours on one side shouldn't be an issue if you work from the centre outward and really make sure you clean and clear the excess paint before moving on.
As a sixteen year old who has been playing for coming up to 6 years now, I was always told by my dad to after you deliver, keep your head down and palm up. It has helped me so much with consistency, and one thing i want to tell people that are just starting is to not stand straight up after your bowl was delivered because it messes with your weight. But thanks for the great video. Its good that you are posting to YT cause it gets more people into the sport.
With the cradle grip, I find it difficult to straighten my arm. If I hold my arm out straight without a bowl (so it's comfortable) my arm is ever so slightly canted to the left, turning the wrist over that fraction to have the bowl dead straight is tiring. Should I slightly adjust the bowl angle with this grip, please?
Hi Richard, we've answered similar questions in other videos, please see the replies in the release video and gold ticket video. Thank you for all your questions.
With the cradle grip, should you have the bowl ever so slanted in the hand, I find it difficult to keep the wrist straight. With the claw, the hand is slightly inclined inwards on release, so this problem does not exist? Thanks. RB
We don't recommend using a cradle grip for bowls. It offers too many issues with trying to get the bowl away clean and smooth. The grip we note in our grip video is a more natural grip and doesn't sit in the palm of your hand.
Shooter stance surely means your leg is bending against the natural way and can therefore cause injury. Bowl the way you walk is the best way, I believe.
While we agree that the natural walking step is ideal and what we often teach through this channel, the shooter stance has been viable for a number of people and helped with their balance and stability. Use what works and always be careful not to do anything that could cause injury.
Hi there, totally agree on the importance of nailing that 1st bowl whether in a singles or a team game. From the Fiji Islands and enjoying the videos and also learning a lot from it.
You won't be able to paint the whole bowl if you plan on playing with it. We've only seen a full painted bowl that is used purely for decoration. Usually only paint is for the decorative engraved areas on either side of the bowl. Applying anything to the running surface could affect the way a bowl rolls/reacts.
great video, thanks. You obviously use lots of different paints. May I suggest anyone wanting to spruce up their own bowls could buy one or two oil based paints for models etc. (revell etc).
Absolutely -- this video was to refresh an entire collection of bowls at one bowls club. If you are doing it personally, you only need a couple of your favourite colours and you are set!
As far as the shooter stance or straight footed stance…look at how you walk. Some people naturally walk with their feet pointing straight, some people walk with their feet pointing outwards. What is natural is what’s likely best.
Hi thankyou for your helpful vidio , I was in a game when we got heavily beaten and I had been bowling for about a year , my game deteriorated over the next couple of games. My question is on mental strength during a game and have you any hints or ideas how to mentally adjust from one game to another, I hope this makes sense.
Hi @nigelseviour4281 -- this really is a tough subject on any sport. How do you recover from a loss, especially a big or devastating loss to rally the next game or get back on track for a series of games. It's a big topic, but briefly it comes down to having and developing mental tools to deal with the negative feelings from a loss, getting to the learning part of what happened and how can you avoid that moving forward and finally focusing on the positive in your game and getting back to what makes you or your team successful. Some of the tools i'm referring to: Debrief - either solo or with the team -- what went well, what didn't and what are we going to do to improve for the next. (being honest, open and willing to take on criticism is key) Gameplan - do you have one? Is it followed? Is it flawed? -- game plans are the foundation that you can fall back to when things go off the rails. Routines - do you have routines to get yourself prepped for the game, after a game, between games? Sometimes it's quiet reflection and music, sometimes it's going for a walk -- whatever gives you time to reset and get pumped for the game coming up -- food, water, etc. all are part of it. Hope that helps a little bit and we hope to put some videos together for these topics on the future.
Thank you for another great video you have crossed all the bad issues ive been struggling with in my game now going to put all three teachings into practice to im prove my game thank you once again.
This is all helpful information. It would be vastly more impactful if you could impart the education in a more visual way. Showing clips of people who get too wrapped up in the frustrations of the moment and struggle/fail to clear their heads and reset to a more positive image of their play. Testimonials from players, relaying how mental imaging has worked, and maybe not worked, for them would also be impactful. I get too much powerpoint at work ... It's not useless. But it's not at all the most impactful, helpful education I've experienced.
Hi. I’m new at the game but love what I’ve learned so far and play reasonably well but my consistency is sadly lacking. I get my feet in the wrong position for forehand shots against backhand shots. Is what you’re showing here for just forehand and the feet reversed position for backhand? Thanks a lot.
Typically yes -- the video will show one angle and usually a single side of delivery. This would mean you'd want to adjust if you are bowling the other hand. You want your feet lined up to the target you are rolling towards. Then line the rest of your body on that same line.
I have always really enjoyed your videos and have a question, the answer to which I have tried in vain for years to resolve. I am an experienced bowler and have reached a good standard over many years however I am finding it increasingly difficult as the years progress to reach the head on outdoor greens. I have tried everything (stance, backswing, forward step adjustment, you name it I’ve tried it!) and yet the problem persists which is so frustrating as I see bowlers of all abilities step up to the mat and regardless of their standard seem effortlessly able to reach long jacks. There must certainly be a significant flaw in my delivery which I am unable to resolve. Is there any single tip you could offer that would help me overcome this? I have an inkling that it might be related to the point of release which means I am either bumping the bowls ever so slightly into the green or otherwise letting it go too late. Is there an obvious fix? I am 74 but strong, athletic, fit, and healthy so this is nothing to do with advancing years as, frustratingly, I watch other bowlers , many of whom are quite frail reach the head with ease. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Issues like this are hard to work through, especially on your own. Before we get into any tips on what you can do for correcting it my suggestion is to try and have someone at your club or even a coach video you delivering a series of bowls on both forehand and backhand -- do a few to a shorter distance and then some to a full length. Take a look and see if you can notice any differences in the two deliveries and if either are more/less accurate and smooth than the other. Our suggestion is to work on two items. Make sure you are getting a clean and smooth release. It can be difficult -- any drop or bounce does take off momentum and it can alter your line if it jumps or wobbles as a result. The larger the drop of loft, the worse the effect on the weight and line. Work on generating and maintaining momentum. Sometimes we can really hinder our flow and delivery by how we step, move, release and follow-through. Make sure you aren't putting any stops in that whole process and that the energy you are putting in at the beginning and your body weight are all carrying through to the release and the bowl. Don't be afraid to walk off the mat as it may help you keep that fluid motion moving in the right direction. Sometimes we stop our movement and rely on all arm power or other means to get the bowl moving. Get everything in sync and it should help generate that power for long ends you have been looking for. Hope this helps.
@@CanadianBowler Many thanks for such a comprehensive response which gives me plenty of food forethought and some very welcome specifics to work on. Getting everything in sync and using body weight and forward momentum sound like good starting points but thanks again!
Very good video. I'm adapting this to bocce which is much shorter. One question, why does you ball always break left? Is it the field or something you've done in the spin. I would hope it's the field. Also you talked about bias being one side of the ball or the other. Since I thought you wanted to only roll the ball in the direction of the line, there shouldn't be any rotation to one side or other of the ball. Thanks again!
Lawn Bowls are "biased" -- meaning they are not complete sphere's and are shaped so there are two sides to a bowl -- one is flatter and the other is more rounded. The idea is that as a bowl slows down it tilts to the rounded side and curls as a result towards that side. So you can roll to curl left or curl right. In my examples the camera is typically on one side so you always see me roll my right side with it curling left. You really do nothing to influence the turn, you roll straight towards an intended target and allow the bowl to curl naturally and while a natural grass surface does play a part (uneven grass, lumpiness, etc.) on a true flat surface the bowl does all the work.
I came here expecting a documentary of some heft - as the headline (still as of this typing) says that it was presented by John Rhys-Davies. John Rhys-Davies is ABSOLUTELY NOT AT ALL INVOLVED IN THIS VIDEO. Instead, we have two guys, including one named Davis Rhys-Jones (ahem ... HILARIOUS), who share a great deal of admittedly historic background for the game of bowls. However, the vast majority of the footage were video clips of international matches played over the past sixty years or so. Not surprisingly, the two "documentarians" were featured liberally in the lengthy clips (90 minutes of the two hour piece. There is NO thoughtful historic analysis - beyond a very superficial (maybe 2 minutes) listing of the ancient pathways to the modern game. There is no analysis of the changing demographics of the game, where the game is popular, where it's not, and the directions where we might see the game go. No discussion of changing technology/materials. Just a bunch of home movies, for the most part, that it seems these two guys - as prominent in the game as they were in their day - glommed together over a couple of Pimm's. I've viewed a number of other videos on this channel - they're fine. No idea how this one squeaked through quality control. DON'T BOTHER.
Thank you for the comment and thoughts on the video. We are sorry you didn't enjoy it and appreciate your review of it. Also thank you for catching the mistake in title and thumbnail!
Thank you so much for this. I have never liked the claw grip, so I tried your more relaxed grip, and the results were spectacular. Suddenly the release was much better and I had much more feel for the weight of delivery. I had the most consistent game for a long while and we won the match! Thanks again.
@robertTrautwein not wrong as your bowl does need more width in line the farther down the green you go, but the degree to how it happens does depends on a number of things - the surface you are playing on and all the other environmental factors happening. A fast and true surface you will note that a minor change in line will make a significant difference in where it finally lands (ex. adjust an few in release point and it's couple feet on the final draw line). Some surfaces will have major differences due to the inconsistency of the surface short to medium to long (ex. lush green grass to burnt out patch to perfectly manicured grass).
@robertTrautwein When you first lay them down it's a "educated guess" based on green, speeds and your bowls. We always suggest doing this during your warm up as you'll get an idea of how the green is running. You make adjustments on the first couple runs to line them up properly and for the shot you are trying to understand/visualize. Not perfect, but if you do this while warming up you should be all set once you are ready to train.
Rules 30.1 & 30.2 apply from the Laws where an umpire must decide if a jack is too damaged and must be replaced. Then if replaced the end is declared dead and you jump to law 20 which deals with areas around dead ends. In this case WBT and the umpires instead counted it as a jack out of play, replaced the damaged jack and respotted it.
Take some time and focus only on your forehand delivery. Do it outside of a match/game and don't worry about trying to deliver to a jack. Set some targets a few feet/meter in front of you on your forehand and work on rolling over top of them and put some energy and focus on your follow-through. By removing all the other distractions of a "normal" delivery you can isolate your issue and focus on what you can do when it's done properly. Really focus on having your release and follow-through with your arm go straight out towards your target (the one right in front of you). Put in some repetition and once you are confident you can deliver without crossing your body, then try a full-length delivery. You may find the need to put some thought and focus on it for a while as things become "natural", but with enough reps and time you'll eventually get rid of it and not have to think about it. The key is taking out all the other stuff before and after the issue and really drilling into it and repeating the preferred motion -- eventually, it will become the norm. It's not a quick fix, but do this during a few practice sessions and keep doing it until you find it's your new normal. Hope this helps! If you have someone who can help as a coach and watch what you do, that will help even more.
Try taking some time to focus solely on the delivery and even take the focus of jack/target out of the equation. Set some targets a few feet/meter in front of you and work on rolling over top of them and put your focus on not twisting your hand/wrist while hitting that target. By removing all the other distractions of a "normal" delivery you can isolate that part and do repetition on a non-twist version. When you are confident you can deliver without the twist, then try a full length delivery. You may find the need to put some thought and focus on no doing the twist, but with enough reps and time you'll eventually get rid of it and not have to think about it. Hope this helps! If you have someone who can help as a coach and watch what you do, that will help even more.
One mat length for an effective first bowl, does that mean it can be a short shot or Jack-high shot? As I have the tendency to bowl short within one mat length.
To start the idea is that a mat length in any direction would be effective. So in front, to the sides or behind is ok. Once you really start locking that in and need to challenge yourself then you can alter your parameters for success and I'd go with a mat width anywhere in front and a mat length behind. The fact is that 95% of the time the jack is going to move backwards during the end, so front bowls get further and further away and therefore become less effective over time. For a lot of people mat length is a hard enough challenge, so I always start there and then increase difficulty as the skills improve.
Thanks for the feedback. We've removed any background music from future videos, but the ones already posted will have that. Hope you still got a lot from the information presented!
Sometimes the size of the bowl we play with is the last item we look at when we are having delivery issues, but it can be the easiest to correct! You'll likely notice that dropping from a 3 to a 2 will not be a huge difference, but enough that you can play and grip the bowl better. Hope it works for you!
Problem I have is I’m at the age where injuries and general wear and tear restrict my movement so I’ve had to find a delivery that works for me. We have blokes with chronic arthritis in their hands but they still love to play.
It's a game that you can play forever, but age/injuries/ailments all play a part in HOW we play the game. Making adjustments to equipment (smaller bowls perhaps?), the way you set up and deliver a bowl (sometimes static delivery works) can help keep you bowling at a higher level. Take a look at some of our other videos like this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E92aYQKxE5g.html where we offer some tips.
