Lawn Bowls Skills - "Open" or "Close"

Where some sports require a physical development of the body in Lawn Bowls the "Perfection of the delivery technique" is the major  skill that you will spend your career to develop and prefect. WHY ?

Skills that best develop
under the club Coach

   There is very little physical force which is need to roll your Bowls to its desired placement on a fast green, so your most physical commitment will be the walking to the head. This 12 trips up the 30 meter green is probably why many seniors are so involved in Lawn Bowls at the Social level. 
 What of that smooth and well developed  move ment as you do your delivery. This continual fine performance of the same action during each visit to the mat, is it not physical ? No it is a mental perfection and development.

Where, in other sports, the athletes and coaches perceive  the needed skills as a perfection and development of a physical ability, in Lawn Bowls all our efforts are directed toward the psychological skills needed to   "develop " and "perfect" a consistence bowl delivery.  Of course, physical development and ability is a major aspect of your development of a good delivery but it means good balance and coordination of movements.

As in sports requiring a Physical skill we find that the Psychological skill can be either a "Open Skill " or "Closed Skill". Lawn bowls, like the sports of golf, archery and shooting requires that you develop a closed psychological skill.  What this means is that when you are totally committed, fully involved and active in your delivery, your mind (conscious and subconscious) are totally closed to everything happening around you.

For each sport we play, one will be occupied in the development of different psychological skill. In sports like Hockey, Football or Basketball the athletic may be busy developing and perfecting open skills. Always aware of fellow players and their location in preparation for a possible coming pass or  physical contact. Playing the game with an " Open" ability in both physical and Intellectually developed skills.

However, when one is concentrating or using closed skills they are "busy developing their subconscious abilities". In a precision  sports such as    archery or rifle shooting, (and even Lawn Bowls), this sport is called a "Closed Psychological Skill Sport ", because of the closed mental activity. If you allow your mind to wander your performance will indicate this interruption and provide a bad result.

An " open skill " Sport like baseball, basketball, football requires an "open" mental awareness of your surroundings, environment and distractions. Your success and best performance is according to the data or feedback received from players and the surroundings during your actions.

In Lawn Bowls, your psychological development of concentration and having a mental control is important. In  a "Open" sport  like basketball you are open to immediate physical and environment changes (the opponent player's contact) which you will than alter your physical actions.
 Running with the football with a tackle  coming up behind you, mentally you will perform physical and mental actions and suddenly change direction to the left or right. Or, for a basketball player to hear footsteps or see an opponent to their left, his physical and mental skills will require his actions be modified. Not just physically change but mentally also perceive the basketball throw and actions of a good delivery.

If in Lawn Bowls, and in the middle of your delivery you hear someone talking behind you, which of course they shouldn't be doing, you must be able to close your mind to that distraction. You should have developed a "closed mental awareness" towards these distractions and changes. This increased concentration is a trick of hearing and closing the listening aspect of your mind until it has been completely ignored.  (Some coaches develop this in their athletics by having intended distractions created as they practice.

However, if you have not developed  this “Closed Psychological Skills” your mind instead of closing up, now thinks of that distraction and maybe several other things like the players on the neighbouring green and your bowl will be delivered badly.

Yes, in Lawn Bowls the environment is important . A strong wind blows across your green while you're doing your delivery is an environment  change. No it will not affect your bowl as it rolls but the distraction is important. Do you feel the lost of balance as you move forward to lay down the bowl?

Having this Psychological skill and the action and awareness which you can apply to the unexpected changes in sound, environment or thought  is what is important.

 In a "Closed Psychological Skill" you are not going to change your routine or mental abilities because these skills have been developed. That reaction to a bad delivery will change your reaction and next delivery if a skill to buried that thought did not become part of your developed psychological ability.

 Your mental delivery routine (Pre-mat, during delivery, followup) all stayed the same throughout the game, but these undeveloped and uncontrolled distractions skills will show in your performance.

Maybe in the week following that game which was so important and you chocked in the finally delivery; you and coach do an evaluation and physical and psychological feedback study.
You don t need to think about making a change to your routine but working on a better developed mental skills. Exercises for this skill development may be applied in off-the-green activities like walking on a busy street. Did that speaking, that car horn, that bang.. catch your attention.  Did you closed it as it began to appear in your path.

 I do not use the term  "Delivery Routine" because your routine may be everything from the arrival at the competition until the final bowl is rolled. How does the greeting of friends and teammates involve in your game.

  Your Delivery Routine is probably  psychological  and physically “closed” from the Pre-mat to the Post delivery Analysis phases. However how is your development of  the distraction “Closed psychological skill”. If your coach asked you about your recently job change at work it is because he is always  concern about distractions.

Probably, you have developed the ability that for an distraction or interruption, your delivery routine is such that you  step off the mat and re-do your Bowl's  pre-mat delivery  routine. Putting your mind and Psychological abilities back in its proper resting place.

When do you consider modifying your line of delivery, bias or delivery? When ?? In your regular routine and your delivery there is part of your performance where this is done.  And only at that place of your Closed Skill. (physical and Psychological)

When you have developed a "closed Psychological skill"  it will be part of your delivery routine. You will still need to be aware of all the other environment changes, but each in their proper place.  Whether, Dew in the morning  when you arrive and as you play with the green changing speed as the dew is burned off by the sun.

Or as the skips request  the forehand line, these are all conditions or changes you will feed into your mental routine and each as part of your closed state of performance.

Management of your psychological development in a "closed skilled" sport is the responsibility of your coach and they know how much of it is still based upon the need for a personal overall management model of
 1) assessment or Evaluation,

 2) goal setting or planning and

 3) development or implementation.

Developed during practice and implementation during competition.

 If you have produced short bowls. Thinking, maybe they will be useful as a blocks, and  even evaluate their involvement during the final bowls of the end, are all positive approaches to a closed psychological attitude where "Positive thinking"  is a closed skill tool and also these types of reason is a False self-evaluation. (Instead of  the feedback evaluate of "why short" ?)

A positive mental attitude is part of the need to maintain a good psychological health. (thoughts that are foods such positive thinking) . The bowls, you tell yourself, will be delivered correctly at the completion of your delivery routine; is also your ability to creating a self-conversation which is always part of the delivery feedback. It is also building your mental reinforcement of the closed skill because you are occupied 100 percent and it will help.

In a " Closed skill " psychological development you have trained to keep your concentration and close your mind to distractions that affect your performance.  Practice on days of distractions or even plan as mental training to take a game with that loud ,never stop talking, club member.

There are many methods to improving psychological skills.

    During your regular practice, you have practiced in many changed  game situation's or condition of play and chosen to even practice in different environment. (Rain, Wind and Heavy Greens)’ there by creating different psychological models.

Talk to your coach about the Open or “Closed psychological skill” and how to develop them. Ask your skip what are his tricks or his developed routines and how he sees “Closed psychological skill.