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Bowls New Zealand Coaching Page

This fixture has been arranged as a social event for members (and social members) to enjoy a game of bowls and take their wives, partners and family.
If there is enough interest then the committee will consider booking a bus with the intention of having a full day out. If not it will be cars.
An availability sheet has been placed on the club main notice board. Please can all members and social members enter their names on the sheet indicating in brackets next to their names the total number in their party.
We need to make a decision on this fixture in the next couple of weeks so please enter your names on the sheet asap if interested.
Many thanks.
07/05/24.

Following weeks of wet, cold weather it was a welcome relief to have the weather set fair for this important clash with newly promoted Rhymney Royal at the Memorial Park, Rhymney.

Before we set off in our cars, stand-in Captain Chris Beale rolled back the years to his old rugby days by giving the side a rousing team talk which raised everyone’s spirits (and their blood pressure ). With the adrenaline now well and truly pumping we left in determined mood.

The game was to prove another very close encounter with the mister men starting well again, before the home side came surging back. In the end we managed to just hold “the Royals”  off and secure a narrow 79-81 victory taking 10 very valuable points.

On rink 1 Captain motivator Chris Beale, Ken McKinnon, Graham Smith and Andrew Goodwin (fully colour coordinated with a bright new yellow pair of shoes) started very well racing into an 0-8 lead before being pegged back to 8-13 on the 6th end. Andrew certainly found his feet on the green (though they were difficult to miss with those bright yellow shoes) and began “walking on water” playing some great conversion shots and drawing magnificently. By the 12th end PABC led 11-24, and despite a spirited fightback from the Royals rink of C Dearcewity, L. Edwards, D O’Brien, and N. James   the mister men ran out 21-32 winners.

On rink 3 David Bowd, Jason Webb, Richard Murphy, and Nick Harris were involved in a very tight battle with C O’Brien, L Redwood, S. Tyx, and R. Chard with the score being 9-10 to the Athletic on 11 ends, 10-13 to the mister men on the 15th end and 16-14 to Rhymney on the 18th end, but disaster struck on the 19th end with the Royals picking up a decisive count of 5 shots to eventually run out 22-15 winners despite the mister men winning 12 of the 21 ends.

On rink 5 the foursome consisting of self appointed club model Ethan Simmonds, Keith Richards, Roger Simms, and the ever dependable Roger Venn started well against the Royals rink of I. Jones, T. Diggle, H. Davies and P. White. By the 10th end the Athletic led 6-12, and leapt into a 8-19 lead on the 19th end but dropped a 3 on the 20th end which left things very tight overall. The mister men collected a single on the last to win 11-20.

On rink 6 the rink of Chris Simmonds, Sid Phillips, Andy Elias and the quiet unassuming skipper Ron Morgan had a bad day at the office against the Rhymney Royal four of D. Jenkins, C. Greaney, J. Prosser and G. Heath. By the 10th end the mister men trailed 16-4 but despite picking up a 4 on the 12th end and a 3 on the 17th end the home team won convincingly 25-14.

Final score:- Rhymney Royal 79-81 Pontymister Athletic. (points 4-10)

Our sincere thanks go to our friends at Rhymney Royal for their great hospitality and for the very nice sausage & chips meal after the match. We wish them a very enjoyable season and look forward to the return fixture at Fields Road.

PABC 58 (10 points) Newbridge 45 (2 points)

At long last the sun came out, the weather was set fair, and the green looked immaculate for our first GBL fixture of the season in defence of our title.

Today’s visitors were our friends from Newbridge who are always difficult to beat.

The game was very competitive and the green played well with club President & life member Brian Prothero remarking that he “hadn’t seen it run so well in early season for a long time”.

On rink 2, the four of Keith Davies & John Sheldon up front, and Sean and Dave Kenvyn at the back raced off to a 7-0 lead, which increased to 14-2 by the 10th end. The second half of the game saw a spirited fightback from the visitors (C. Bourne, M. Jones, R. Jones & R. Churcher) battling back to 16-11 on the 19th end before our boys held their nerve to record a 17-12 victory.

On rink 3 Richard Beaugie, Allan Elliott, Jason Bradshaw and Captain marvel Ian Collier were involved in a very tight battle with G. Willis, R. Evans, M. Fenn, & R. Thomas. The score seesawed throughout the game with the visitors leading 9-13 on 12 ends, & the mister men stubbornly fighting back to 13-13 on 14 ends, 15 all on 17 ends, 17-17 on 20 ends, with Newbridge taking a single on the last end to win an epic battle.

On rink 4 the fearless warriors of Martyn Watkins, the talented Malcolm Goldie, Alan Taylor and no-nonsense hard hitter Tom Guy started slowly and were 1-9 down on 6 ends before staging a spirited fightback to trail by only 2 shots at the mid way point. Newbridge (B. Mansfield, T. Harper, S. Williams & T. Guy??) increased their lead to 7-12 on 13 ends before our fearless foursome staged a remarkable fightback picking up a series of counts ending the game with a pick up of 4 shots to run out 24-15 winners!

The overall result was 58-45 with the mister men beginning their campaign with 10 points.

well done lads!

Purposeful practice is intended to improve your performance in club matches. Every position in a normal rink game is specialised. The lead has to deliver the jack accurately and consistently, and draw consistently within two feet. In addition to the draw, the second may need to play with a yard or so of extra weight or sometimes be asked to play positional bowls. The third may also have to play running shots, and take different “lines” to get around short bowls.  The Skip requires all the shots in the text book and an ability to play for example a drive with their first bowl and a draw with their second.
It follows therefore that having a practice routine which is tailored to the position you will play in a club game will be advantageous for improved performance and successful results.
We recommend the following practice routines for each position:-

LEADS

Practise 1.

Jack Rolling.

It is very important that a lead can deliver the jack to any precise length his skip requests, or indeed in any singles game he is competing in.

Requirement: – 4 jacks. Start with the mat 2m from the rear ditch, place another mat in the Centre of the rink, no less than the minimum distance required by the rules of the game. The object of this exercise is to roll all 4 jacks onto the mat, with both mats at various positions on the green including the delivery mat right up the green.

Practise 2.

Requirement: – 4 jacks, own set of woods. Centre 1 jack maximum length Centre other to minimum distance. Bowl 1 bowl in turn to each jack on a different hand, trying to draw as close as possible to the jack.

Practise 3.

Requirement: – 2 jacks, 4 spare bowls, own set of bowls. Centre the jack and place one bowl 2ft in front of the jack and one bowl 2ft behind. Practise drawing all four bowls between the 2 bowls without disturbing them or the jack. Use this practice at various jack lengths and various mat positions.

Practise 4.

Practise drawing to a jack off Centre, jacks are often moved even by leads, this exercise should be practised at all lengths and all mat positions, and bowl two bowls on each hand.

Practise 5.

Requirement: – As for practise 3. Centre a jack, place 4 bowls 3ft from the jack to from a square.Practise drawing on each hand to either the jack or a nominated bowl, when a good degree of accuracy is achieved move all the bowls 6 ins nearer to the jack, keep moving the woods this distance until they are quite close to the jack. To save time, after all four bowls have been played and before walking up the green Centre the second jack and then deliver 4 bowls, 2 on each hand to this jack from the other end, don’t break up the practise head.

​This session should be practised on all lengths and all mat positions.

Practise 6.

Requirement: – 1 set bowls. Deliver all 4 bowls as close as possible to each other, this is good practise to establish a consistent grooved delivery action. Because this exercise is designed to provide a grooved delivery it is not important to deliver the bowls to the Centre of the rink.

SECONDS:-

Practise as for lead, including jack rolling. With the addition of the following.

Practise 1.

Requirements: – jack and spare set of bowls. Practise yard on shots to different bowls and the jack in the box practice.

Practise 2. Place a bowl 1ft either side of the jack at jack high, practice the wrest shot. Practise playing yard on shots, practice a drive shot, practise a jack trail of 2ft then practice trailing the jack 1yd. Practise all these exercises at various lengths also with the head off centre.

Practise 3. Centre jack, practise drawing all 4 bowls to 1.5yds behind the jack spaced in an arc.

Practise 4. Place a jack near the front ditch practise both drawing to it and also trailing it into the ditch. Practise this shot with the jack off centre at various positions.

All the above exercises should be practised on both hands.

THIRDS:-

Practise all the above for leads and 2s.

Also practise driving at jacks placed in various positions on the green including jacks off centre.

Practise playing blockers, practise playing the opposite hand to where the blocker is required.

Practise measuring.

Keep up to date with all the rules of the game.

SKIPS.

Practise all the above, in particular to driving and playing controlled weight.

Practise 1.

Requirement:- 4 jacks. Place 4 jacks 2ft from the front ditch at equal distances apart across the rink, practice drawing to each jack in turn,on each hand, practice trailing each jack into the ditch.

Keep up to date with all the rules of the game.

NH 04/05/24

PRACTICE FOR DRAW BOWLING

The draw shot is the bread and butter shot and all the top bowlers will tell you that is the draw shot that wins games, after all if you don’t get near the jack on a regular basis you won’t score many shots. Practice is all-important if you want to improve your game. The length of the practice sessions depends on the individual, their concentration, delivery, technique, and their ability, but as a guide the minimum time period should be 45 minutes and maximum should be around two hours. Aim to practice at least two times per week, three if possible. If you are a novice player, remember that drawing to the jack will be your sole function for some time to come. Bowling the jack is also important to leads and anyone playing a singles competition, you should devote part of your practice session to that end.

You can also practice getting into a routine at the same time. We suggest building the following into one of your practice sessions:-

1 Jack Rolling. Requirement 3 or 4 jacks. Hold the jack in the fingers with the thumb resting on top. By placing the thumb on top it reduces the chance of spraying the jack about. Centre your mat then centre another mat at the other end no less than minimum distance. Concentrate on bowling the first jack using the same delivery action as you do with a bowl, then make adjustments with the other jacks, once you can bowl either on to the mat or very close to it, then alter the length. This exercise should be practised with the delivery mat at various positions, and most important fully up the green with the target mat placed at 2 meters from the far ditch.

2 Grooved delivery. Requirement one set of bowls. Deliver one bowl. It does not matter where it finishes, but watch it all the way. Follow this with the other bowls as if the first bowl was the jack. The object is to put down four identical bowls, so that they finish in a cluster, as close as possible to each other. When you can do this, it shows that there is consistency in your delivery and pace. This is good practice to establish a consistent grooved delivery action. This exercise should be practiced on both hands.

3 Using two jacks. Deliver one jack and centre it. Then deliver your four bowls on, say, the forehand using the last three for adjustment. Centre the second jack before going down the green. On the next end do the same except that you play the backhand i.e. the same side of the rink you played on the first end. Repeat this for, say six ends. Then concentrate on using the other side of the rink, playing forehand one way, backhand the other. On the last three or four ends, do not centre the jack. It is good practise to play to a jack off centre because the jack is often displaced by you or your opponent and you have to make green adjustments. Vary the length of heads and vary the mat positions so that you can practise change of pace.

4 Using two jacks and four spare bowls. Centre the jack and place one bowl 3ft in front of the jack and one bowl 3ft behind.Practice drawing all four bowls between the two bowls without disturbing them or the jack. Aim to avoid jack level bowls. Again practice this exercise at various lengths and various mat positions. Once you can get all four four bowls between the two target bowls then reduce the distance of the bowls from the jack by say 6” and keep doing this until there is a 18” distance of bowl to jack.

5 Using four jacks. Centre two jacks at some distance apart. Draw to an alternative jack on a different hand with each bowl. Once you have got the pace of the green and can achieve a good degree of accuracy, bowl to the jacks off centre and at various lengths. Again vary the position of the mat. If four jacks are not available and since you are only drawing you can use say a mat instead.

​6 Using two jacks, one spare set of bowls. Centre one jack and place the spare bowls three feet from the jack to form a square. The purpose of this exercise is to get all four bowls within this square, bowling a different hand with each bowl. Once you can do this, move the spare bowls six inches closer to the jack and start again, keep reducing this distance, until the bowls are 18” from the jack. To save time don’t break up the head, place the mat in front of the head and bowl to a jack or mat at the other end of the green. Once again don’t just practise with the mat and head in the same continuous positions. This is also good practice to nominate any of the four bowls or the jack to draw to, you can also practise drawing to a different target with each bowl and also on an alternative hand. This exercise is one of the best practise sessions any bowler could wish to have. With a little imagination almost every shot in the book can be practised here.

The above are just a few examples on which to practice without getting bored. But please remember good practice makes good bowlers. Good leads win games. Good draw bowling wins competitions.

Remember that whilst everyone enjoys a roll up with friends, you will get better results by practicing on your own.

NH 04/05/24

please see link to the current club constitution. Please note this constitution is currently being reviewed by the club general committee & a sub-committee are working on a number of amendments which will be tabled for the next AGM,

PABC Constitution 26.03.23 copy copy