🟢 On the Jack – Blog #23“The First Bowl – Setting the Tone”There is something slightly intimidating about being told:“You’re first.” Everyone is watching.The jack is sitting out there looking innocent. The green looks perfectly flat.Your teammates suddenly become extremely...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #22“The Block – The Unsung Hero of the Head”There are bowls that get applause. There are bowls that produce a cheer.There are bowls that make the skip turn around with a satisfied nod and the opposition mutter something that cannot possibly be repeated in a...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #21“When the Bowl Has Other Ideas”You choose your line. You judge your weight. You take your stance. You deliver smoothly.Everything looks perfect. Then the bowl starts travelling……and suddenly you realise it has apparently received completely different...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #20“The Big Shot – Keeping Your Nerve”There is a particular moment in bowls that every player knows.The match is close. The head is crowded. The opposition has the shot.Your skip looks at you. You look at the head.Then comes the instruction: “We need this...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #19“The Jack – Small Target, Big Responsibility”It may be only a few inches across.It does not move very quickly. It does not complain when someone bowls past it.And yet, without it, lawn bowls would be rather difficult.Ladies and gentlemen, meet the jack.Small in...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #18“It’s a Team Game – Even When You’re Bowling Alone”There are moments in lawn bowls when you are standing on the mat, bowl in hand, and it feels as though the entire match depends on you.Everyone is watching. The jack is waiting. The head is looking...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #17“The Head – Where the Real Game Happens”To someone watching lawn bowls for the first time, it can look rather simple.A bowler steps onto the mat. They deliver a bowl. It rolls down the green.And everyone waits. But then something interesting happens.The players...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #16 (New Season)“The Skip – The Person with the Plan”There is always someone on a bowls rink who knows exactly what is going on.They stand behind the head. They study the bowls. They look at the jack.They glance at the opposition. Then they quietly say:“I think...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #15 (New Season)“It’s All in the Weight”Ask any experienced bowler for the secret to a good shot and you will hear a familiar answer:“The weight was right.”Not the strength. Not the speed. The weight.It is one of those wonderfully unique bowling expressions that...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #14 (New Season)“Reading the Green – Bowls’ Greatest Puzzle”If you ask a newcomer what they are aiming at, the answer is usually quite straightforward.“The jack.” thenAsk an experienced bowler, and the answer might be quite different.“About two feet outside...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #13 (New Season)“The Perfect Draw”Ask ten bowlers to describe the perfect draw and you’ll probably receive ten different answers.Some will tell you it’s all about the line.Others will insist it’s the weight.A few will quietly whisper, “A little bit of luck never...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #12 (New Season)“The Bowler’s Toolbox”Ask a carpenter to show you their toolbox and you will find hammers, chisels, and saws.Ask a mechanic, and you will discover spanners, sockets, and screwdrivers.Ask a lawn bowler…and you’ll be shown a polishing cloth, a...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #11 (New Season)“One More End!”There are few phrases in lawn bowls more familiar than:“Just one more end…”It usually arrives just as players are beginning to gather their bowls, the evening sun is sinking lower in the sky, and thoughts are turning towards a...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #10 (New Season)“The Measure of a Good Sport”“The tape measures the bowls - Good sportsmanship measures the player.”There comes a moment in many bowls matches when every player instinctively leans forward.The bowls have all been delivered.The head is complete.The...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #9 (New Season)The Last Bowl of the EndThere’s a special kind of silence that falls over a bowls green when the last bowl of the end is about to be delivered.Conversations stop.Supporters teacups pause halfway to mouths.Even the seagulls seem to pay attention.Because the...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #8 (New Season)“The Tea Break: Bowls’ Most Important End?”Ask any newcomer what lawn bowls is all about and they will mention skill, precision, concentration, and sportsmanship.Ask a long-standing member and they will often reply:“The tea break.”Now, before anyone...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #7 (New Season)“The Bowl That Almost Was”Every bowler has one.A shot so magnificent, so beautifully judged, so perfectly weighted that it deserved to be remembered for generations.Unfortunately, it missed by about a sixteenth of an inch.Welcome to the world of “The...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #6 (New Season)“The Jack Has a Mind of Its Own”There’s an old saying in bowls that if you can follow the jack, you’ll win more matches.The trouble is, nobody has ever told the jack.For a small white/yellow ball, it has an astonishing ability to find trouble. One...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #5 (New Season)“Bowls Weather: Four Seasons in One End”There are many skills required to become a successful bowler: touch, patience, concentration, and tactical awareness. But perhaps the most underrated skill of all is the ability to survive the British weather while...
🟢 On the Jack – Blog #4 (New Season)“The Characters of the Club”Every bowls club has them. In fact, no club would feel complete without them. The greens may be immaculate, the clubhouse polished, and the tea hot enough to remove wallpaper but it is the characters who truly bring a bowls...