Welcome to the Green – Where Life Curves Like a Bowl. So, here we are. The mat is down, the jack’s been rolled, and we are lining up for the first delivery of On the Jack — your weekly dose of stories, strategy, and sideways glances at the beautiful, bias-bound game of lawn bowls.

Why Start a Lawn Bowls Blog? Simple: someone had to.

Lawn bowls is a game of quiet precision, slow-burning tension, and the occasional shout of “Wrong bias!” echoing tragically across the green.
It is a sport that welcomes everyone — from the fiercely competitive to the “just here for the chat” crowd — and it deserves a place to be talked about with the same reverence we give to football, cricket, and trying to program the TV remote.

This blog is for bowlers of all stripes:

• The seasoned skip with a thousand-yard stare.

• The nervous lead is trying to remember which mat to use.

• The club legend who swears they once played against David Bryant (and has the signed towel to prove it).

Every week, we will deliver:

• Tales from the Green – True(ish) stories of brilliant shots, embarrassing ends, and what happens when a squirrel makes off with the jack.

• Bowls Wisdom – Tactics, tips, and the occasional heated discussion about whether to play yard-on or just “cover the spot.”

• Your Questions Answered – Want to know how to read a rink? Choose the right bowl? Decode the cryptic language of your skip’s hand signals? Just ask.

• Rink-side Humour – Because if you cannot laugh when your bowl stops a millimetre short, you are in the wrong game.

“Opening Ends and Opening Up”
We kicked off our season last weekend with a classic spring roll-up. The weather, suspiciously sunny. Spirits: high. Greens: slightly faster than expected, judging by the bowl's ending on rink five (we were playing on rink six).
There is something lovely about that first match of the year. Everyone is a little rusty. Someone forgets their measure. Someone else brings sweets that get devoured before the third end. It is the sound of bowls hitting bowls, the gentle muttering overhead positions, the feeling that — yes — we are back.

Your Questions Answered.

Q: “I am new. What’s the biggest mistake beginners make?” –

A: Apart from choosing bowls that are older than their car. It is rushing.
Take your time. Watch the head. Listen to your skip (even if they look like they have not slept since the 1998 County Final). And learn from each end.

Q: “Is it acceptable to play in sandals?” –

A: Only if you want to be politely asked to leave the green forever. Flat-soled shoes, always. This is bowls, not Benidorm.

So that is the first bowl delivered. Maybe a little wide, maybe a touch heavy — but it is out there, and we are away. “On the Jack” is here to celebrate lawn bowls in all its glorious, frustrating, tea-soaked splendour. Thank you for joining in.

If you have a question, a story, or just a cracking photo of a perfect head, send it our way. We would love to feature you in an upcoming edition.

Until next week, Norman Deegan. MBE.

Keep it smooth, keep it steady, and keep it “On the Jack”.