Our Top Tips for Lean Bowls for Beginners
Are you looking for advice on bowls for beginners? Then you have come to just the right place! Here at Jack and Bowl, we love helping those new to the game get to grips with all that bowls has to offer, along with supplying them with the best bowls for beginners. So, what bowls techniques should any budding player familiarise themselves with? While you can only master them by getting out there and practising, here are some to start looking into.
Getting your stance and balance right
Before you do anything else in bowls, you need to get your stance and balance nailed down. If you aren’t stable, then your delivery is going to be all over the place. Start by standing on the mat with your feet shoulder-width apart so your weight is evenly distributed. Then, getting ready to deliver, step forward with the foot opposite to your bowling arm. Be sure to bend your knees and hips, keeping your back as straight as you can. This low centre of gravity is what is going to keep you steady.
Mastering your grip
If you are going to deliver the bowl smoothly, then you need to have a good grip. Bowls grips tend to fall into the claw or the cradle categories. A claw will see you place your fingers across the running surface with your thumb on top and your palm off the bowl. A cradle grip, on the other hand, sees you support the bowl in the palm of your hand. Take the time to see which one feels more natural to you.
Taking aim
Aiming for the jack is as simple as just bowling towards it, right? Wrong. All bowls have a bias, which leads to them moving in a curve rather than a straight line. So you never aim directly at the jack. Instead, you’ll choose an aiming point to bowl towards instead. By doing this, your bowl will curve toward the jack. Don't look at the jack as you bowl! Take a few test runs to see what aiming point best works for you, and then focus on that every time you bowl.
Types of shot
There are many types of shots that you might use during a bowls match. A draw shot sees you aim to have your bowl come to a gentle stop as close to the jack as possible. Then you have things like a trail shot, which sees you hit the jack to move it towards another one of your bowls, or an aggressive ditch weight shot that will take your bowl and the jack into the ditch. There are also defensive shots that see you simply aim to block another player. Watch and learn from others!
Take your time to learn
As you can see, there are lots of different bowls techniques for you to master. So why not head along to your local club and start practising today?
