Lawn
Bowls Bowls
(also known as Lawn Bowls or Lawn Bowling) is a precision
sport where the goal is to roll slightly radially asymmetrical
balls (called bowls) closer to a smaller white ball (the "jack" or "kitty")
than one's opponent is able to do. It is related to bocce
and pétanque. This game is most popular in Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and in other Commonwealth
nations.
History
It has been traced certainly to the 13th, and conjecturally to the 12th century.
William Fitzstephen (d. about 1190), in his biography of Thomas Becket, gives
a graphic sketch of the London of his day and, writing of the summer amusements
of the young men, says that on holidays they were "exercised in Leaping,
Shooting, Wrestling, Casting of Stones [in jactu lapidum], and Throwing of Javelins
fitted with Loops for the Purpose, which they strive to fling before the Mark;
they also use Bucklers, like fighting Men." It is commonly supposed that
by jactus lapidum Fitzstephen meant the game of bowls, but though it is possible
that round stones may sometimes have been employed in an early variety of the
game - and there is a record of iron bowls being used, though at a much later
date, on festive occasions at Nairn, - nevertheless the inference seems unwarranted.
The jactus lapidum of which he speaks was probably more akin to the modern "putting
the weight," once even called "putting the stone." It is beyond
dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a rudimentary form, was played
in the 13th century. A MS. of that period in the royal library, Windsor (No.
20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone
instead of an earthenware ball or jack.
Another
MS. of the same century has a picture - crude, but spirited
- which brings us into close touch with the existing game.
Three figures are introduced and a jack. The first player's
bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second
has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one
of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern
greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive
gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short
of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act
of delivering his bowl. A 14th century MS. Book of Prayers
in the Francis Douce collection in the Bodleian library
at Oxford contains a drawing in which two persons are shown,
but they bowl to no mark. Strutt (Sports and Pastimes)
suggests that the first player's bowl may have been regarded
by the second player as a species of jack; but in that
case it is not clear what was the first player's target.
In these three earliest illustrations of the pastime it
is worth noting that each player has one bowl only, and
that the attitude in delivering it was as various five
or six hundred years ago as it is to-day. In the third
he stands almost upright; in the first he kneels; in the
second he stoops, halfway between the upright and the kneeling
position.
As the
game grew in popularity it came under the ban of king and
parliament, both fearing it might jeopardize the practice
of archery, then so important in battle; and statutes forbidding
it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of Edward
III, Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, on the invention
of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse
as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued. The
discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established
in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive
legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with
taverns frequented by the dissolute and gamesters. The
word "bowls" occurs for the first time in the
statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous
enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of
1541 - which was not repealed until 1845 - artificers,
labourers, apprentices, servants and the like were forbidden
to play bowls at any time save Christmas, and then only
in their master's house and presence. It was further enjoined
that any one playing bowls outside of his own garden or
orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d., while those
possessed of lands of the yearly value of £100 might
obtain licenses to play on their own private greens.
Game
Bowls is usually played on a large, rectangular, precisely leveled and manicured
grass or synthetic surface known as a bowling green which is divided into parallel
playing strips called rinks. An indoor variation on carpet is also played.
In the simplest competition, singles, one of the two opponents flips a coin
to see who wins the "mat" and begins a segment of the competition
(in bowling parlance, an "end"), by placing the mat and rolling the
jack to the other end of the green to serve as a target. Once it has come to
rest, the jack is aligned to the center of the rink and the players take turns
to roll their bowls from the mat towards the jack and thereby build up the "head".
A bowl is allowed to curve outside the rink boundary on its path, but must
come to rest within the rink boundary to remain in play. Bowls reaching the
ditch are dead and removed from play, except in the event when one has "touched" the
jack on its way. "Touchers" are marked with chalk and remain alive
in play even though they are in the ditch. Similarly if the jack is knocked
into the ditch it is still alive unless it is out of bounds to the side resulting
in a "dead" end which is replayed though according to international
rules the jack is "respotted" to the center of the rink and the end
is continued. After each competitor has delivered all of their bowls (four
each in singles), the distance of the closest bowls to the jack is determined
(the jack may have been displaced) and points, called "shots", are
awarded for each bowl which a competitor has closer than the opponent's nearest
to the jack. For instance, if a competitor has bowled two bowls closer to the
jack than their competitor's nearest, they are awarded two shots. The exercise
is then repeated for the next end, a game of bowls typically being of twenty
one ends.
Scoring
Scoring systems vary from competition to competition, with some being the first
to a specified number of points, say 21, or the highest scorer after say, 21
ends. Some competitions use a "set" scoring system, with the first
to seven points awarded a set in a best-of-five set match. As well as singles
competition, there can be pairs, triples and four-player teams. In these, teams
take turns to bowl, with each player within a team bowling all their bowls,
then handing over to the next player. The team captain or "skip" always
plays last and is instrumental in directing his team's shots and tactics.
The current
way of scoring in the professional tour is again sets.
Each set consists of 7 ends (9 ends in a final), the player
with the most shots at the end of a set is awarded the
set, if the score is tied the set would be halfed. 2 sets
are played. If the score is 1 set each then 3 tie breaker
ends are played to determine a winner.
Bias
of bowls
Bowls are designed to travel a curved path, referred to as bias, and was originally
produced by inserting weights to one side of the bowl. This is no longer permitted
by the rules and bias is now produced entirely by the shape of the bowl. A
bowler can recognize the bias direction of the bowl in his hand by a dimple
or symbol on one side. Regulations determine the minimum bias allowed, and
the range of diameters (11.6 to 13.1 cm), but within these rules bowlers can
and do choose bowls to suit their own preference. They were originally made
from lignum vitae, a dense wood giving rise to the term "woods" for
bowls, but are now more typically made of a hard plastic composite material.
Usually coloured black, bowls are now available in a variety of colours including
a range of fluorescent colours. They have unique symbol markings to identify
competitors' bowls.
When
bowling there are several types of delivery. "Draw" shots
are those where the bowl is rolled to a specific location
without causing too much disturbance of bowls already in
the head. For a right-handed bowler, "forehand draw" is
initially aimed to the right of the jack, and curves in
to the left. The same bowler can deliver a "backhand
draw" by turning the bowl over in his hand and curving
it the opposite way, from left to right. In both cases,
the bowl is rolled as close to the jack as possible, unless
tactics demand otherwise. A "drive" or "fire" involves
bowling with considerable force with the aim of knocking
either the jack or a specific bowl out of play - and with
the drive's speed, there is virtually no noticeable curve
on the shot. An "upshot" or "yard on" shot
involves delivering the bowl with an extra degree of weight,
enough to displace the jack or disturb other bowls in the
head without killing the end. The challenge in all these
shots is to be able to adjust line and length accordingly,
the faster the delivery, the narrower the line or "grass".
Variations of play
Particularly in team competition there can be a large number of bowls on the
green towards the conclusion of the end, and this gives rise to complex tactics.
Teams "holding shot" with the closest bowl will often make their
subsequent shots not with the goal of placing the bowl near the jack, but in
positions to make it difficult for opponents to get their bowls into the head,
or to places where the jack might be deflected to if the opponent attempts
to disturb the head.
Popularity
Bowls is popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and
parts of the United States. Because of its relaxed pace and comparatively light
physical demands, it is a popular participant sport, particularly for the elderly.
However, there is a considerable professional competition dominated by younger
men and women. Since the early 2000s, the sport has developed in Denmark as
well.
Bowls. (2007, January 3). In Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:16, January 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bowls&oldid=98184280
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