Lawn bowls is a game with a lovely rhythm to it, but terminology can be a lot to get to grips with. Here are all the basics you need to know when it comes to lawn bowls shots and terminology.
If you’re new to lawn bowls, the names given to different shots can sound confusing at first. A draw, drive, trail or wick all describe different ways of playing a bowl, and each has a particular purpose. Understanding these lawn bowls shots can make it easier to follow a match, and also decide which option to use yourself.
What is a Draw Shot?
With this shot, the aim is to deliver the bowl with enough weight to reach the jack whilst following a suitable line around any bowls in the way. Rather than trying to move other bowls, the focus is on placing your own bowl as close to the jack as possible. Having a reliable draw is a great starting point if you’re learning the game.
The Weighted Shots, From Lightest to Heaviest
Here are several other shots you may hear players discuss:
- A drive (also called firing) is played with more weight, with the intention of hitting the jack or another bowl with enough force to move it. It can be useful when there is a difficult head to break up, although it needs to be accurate and controlled. The important part for a newer player: at that speed the bias barely takes effect, so the bowl runs almost straight and you aim much tighter than you would on a draw.
- A yard-on shot has slightly more weight than a draw. The bowl is meant to reach the jack and continue beyond it roughly by a yard, to move another bowl or change its position.
- A running shot is played with additional weight so the bowl travels further than a conventional draw. Depending on the situation, it may be used to disturb bowls or reach a specific area of the head.
- A trail involves contacting the jack and moving it to a new position, ideally leaving your bowl in a useful place.
- A wick is impacting another bowl at an angle, using that bowl to alter the path of your own.
- A rest involves using another bowl to stop your delivery, often leaving your bowl in a good position, closer to the jack.
- A wrest shot (pronounced the same as the above!), as you might suspect, is very similar to a “rest” shot, however, it involves a touch more speed, aiming to replace the target bowl rather than simply resting against it.
- A block shot, unsurprisingly given the name, is a strategic placement of a bowl to protect the jack and make the opponent’s next shot less straightforward.
- A plant is a controlled bowl in which your bowl knocks your target bowl into another, potentially displacing an opponent’s bowl while adding two of your own closer.
Draw, drive, trail and wick are standard everywhere. A few shots have regional nicknames, such as the wrest being known as a 'tap and lie' in some clubs, and a drive a 'fire' in others, but the vocabulary is more settled than it first sounds.
When Should Each Shot Be Used?
Every situation is different, and you’ll always need to look at the position of the jack, the other bowls and the available line before deciding what to play. If there's a clear path to the jack, draw. If there isn't, because the front of the head is blocked, or because you need the jack somewhere else, that's when weight comes into it.
Understanding Weight, Line and the Head
Weight is all about how hard the bowl is delivered, and line refers to the direction in which it’s sent. The head is everything in play at the far end: the jack and all the bowls that have come to rest around it.
Shot selection comes down to reading those three things, as well as the green speed, the weather and an honest assessment of what you can actually land.
If You're Just Starting Out
Work on the draw until it's boring, then work on it some more. Consistency of weight is what separates players, and it's the one thing you can practise on your own. Before each delivery, look at the head and answer a single question: what am I trying to achieve here? Save a shot, take the shot, or change the end. Once you're finishing near the jack more often than not, start adding weight gradually, a yard-on long before a drive.
How Your Bowls Affect What You Can Play
Equipment comes into this sooner than most people expect, and the thing that matters is bias: how far the bowl bends on its way down. A narrow-bias bowl holds a straighter line and suits indoor carpet and quick outdoor greens. A wide-bias bowl arcs further and draws around a crowded head more easily, but it needs a slower, heavier green and a settled delivery to be worth it.
The usual advice for a first set is to stay mid-bias. A wide bowl makes line and weight much harder to learn at the same time, and you can always move wider once your technique has bedded in.
All three of our brands of lawn bowls for sale run from narrow to wide, so the choice is about the model rather than the badge:
- Drakes Pride Bowls: Liverpool-made, and the bowls you'll see most often on English club greens. The range covers models of varying sizes suited for all players.
- Taylor Bowls: Scottish-made, with the largest model range in the UK. Narrow models like the Vector VS are built for indoor carpet; the Ace sits mid-bias and is about as safe an all-round first choice as exists; the heavier-drawing models suit slow outdoor greens.
- Henselite Bowls: Australian, and one of the oldest names in the sport. The Tiger family spans narrow indoor through to wider outdoor models, and the mid-bias options turn up on club greens all over the country.
If you're buying a first set, our graded pre-loved bowls from any of the three will teach you more than a cheap new one, and there are junior sets for younger players. Come and see a few for yourself at our shop in Eye or in Chelmsford.
Build Your Knowledge of Lawn Bowls
Test yourself! Watch an end from behind the head and try to name each shot as it's played. Learning the names of different shots is just the start; soon your confidence will grow, and you can build on your range of shots.
Are you ready to find your next set of bowls? Browse Jack and Bowl’s lawn bowls collection and discover bowls equipment to suit your playing style.
