A couple of days ago, this blog was "Toolbox, Accessories, "Walking the Mat" and I wrote I was surprise to see Tryslan in the 1st end of play use his "Walk the mat".
However,
I was impressed with his development because a lot of clubs don't
have 2nd Year Coaching which usually covers the 'Toolbox ABC".
These teachings are not tricks or different delivery or placements
but an expansion of the Bowls Basic. For example; one of the C's of
CCC is concentration which is important but can't be taught to new
bowlers in the first year. New bowlers get the Basics and bowl
for a year or two before advancing to a few ToolBox possibilities. As
on Twitter I post invitation to my Blogs and because I follow so many
great Players often the twitter insert of my next blog follows
another Bowl twitter posting. ( I am now following nearly 1,000 world
wide bowlers) A few minutes after posting I went back to my list of Twitter post and discovered that my post was deleted by twitter. Since I posted (photo left) in this blog and Twitter sees it as a reposting of a twitter post it deleted my post. Ofcourse, I had 9 visitor\views of this blog and thinking it was probably from UK, ( near time zone to Canada). However, I now think that my post was deleted because of the above photo. (9 visitor are twitter staff doing a control of content. (no Problem but mention it here as information of Censorship) HaHa...)
I will again post after deleting
the photo for the near 200 lawn bowls followers.
When teaching a new bowler entering the club we put an important of always placing your feet the same on the mat and always rolling the bowl on to the green at the "Center Line" and all the basic to get that new member out on the green and participating in Club Games.Over the years we learn to use the Toolbox's ABC more and more and now today, in reality, I have four different methods of " Walking the Mat" beside this one which Tryslan has showed. His action is a basic of Lawn bowls. The others methods of Walking the mat I call ToolBox Xcessories. For example, I was expected to skip a Club Competition for the Seasonal Play (Cash) and I was just out of the hospital after a Gall Bladder operation. I could not do the "Bend to the Green" delivery and had been for a couple of years been developing a "Double Mat" delivery. (my knees are finished). Double mat because instead of standing upright on the mat on center Line; I have one foot on the mat and I am standing spread leg with the Bowl Arm leg about 2 feet or more to the left of the mat. (as if that foot is also on a mat). This allows quite a different angle of delivery. (The two other ToolBox Xcessories method maybe I will have time this year to cover them.)
You may ask "Just out of the Hospital, why not just not play and let someone take your place" ? We all have our perks and my replacement would have been the next on the list of Qualification; a individual who is a good bowler but whom I find "Cash Cheap" and I would not encourage such a replacement. Also the organization of this Cash Competition did not pay a 3rd Place Amount to a non-playing 2nd Place person who won the game against the 3rd place. ( The replacement would win the total 2nd place money not the difference of 3rd to 2nd place or 3rd to 1st if they won first) . Anyway, the double mat Delivery takes a lot to learn and although I had perfected it as well as my "Center of the Mat" Delivery: I found a lack of control and concentration as the two and half hour game approached its end. (beaten by a few points)
There are three basic grips which should be explained to a student (Claw Grip. Cradle and Dimple ) Had to ask the Internet ChatBot the 3rd Grip as I am off the old school when bowls had dimples on them and we used the dimples for grip alignment.
Here in Canada the senior School students in high school take either "Shop" or "Home Skills" and if you do "Shop work" you must learn about how to use the tools You learn a lot of extra information like, how to grip the tool, how to best use the tool, and even how to sharpen the tool. This experience followed me into my Sports (bowls is the 3rd I have perfected and do competition at top level) and so with the ToolBox of Bowls" I took it to learn how to chose the accessories or tools
Likewise as there are various Delivery Stances which should all be explained. Actually the old "Coaching Guide" from our Federal Association (Bowls Canada) at one time required that we put a lot of history of Bowls and International information in our coaching sessions. In recent years, probably because of CoVid, our Club Coaching for new members has been trimmed to a 4 week (2 - 2hrs a week) Course. (Previously, a new members received 10 weeks and playing after 4 sessions - 2 wks).
The most important thing of learning Bowls is not the basic but how to develop your Mind Set. If you were using a Power tool you are at all times concentrating on security, proper usage to get the wanted result and never let your mind wander. This is a Mind Set of proper usage. However, in Bowls we teach new bowlers the basic and as they began to bowl they have only a 15 second Mind-set when they are on the mat doing their delivery.
In reality an athletic should be total "Mind Set" all the time except when walking up the green which become a break from the continual Concentration. Example of Delivery .. Finished . off mat... Post Mat analysis, Study opponent Delivery, Pre-mat Analysis, Pre-mat Routine (as Opponent leaves mat.) Skip Communication. Pre-Mat Routine finish. To mat, Line Position, Delivery Routine, Post Delivery Routine, Bowl roll Analysis, Result and off the mat.. only to again repeat the complete cycle. (Cycle a "C" of "CCC" of the Tool Box ABCs)
How many times have you done this complete 4 or 5 minute Cycle in total thought and Analysis? Yes, maybe once during a 4 bowls end of Play... Even two time this cycle is tiresome. I actually had a Skip whom I mention something as we passed in Mid-Green and he later told me "Don't talk to me when passing on the green, you break my thought"
I question if he had an "Analysis Cycle" (as mention above) because he would know the value of something to think about as one walks up the green from the mat . Also some Skips start their "Mat Cycle" as they are walking to the mat from the Head, but the problem is that then you have two Mat Cycles.. one for the first Bowl and another for the other Bowls. Ofcourse, maybe he was tell me he had his next shot already decided and my suggestion only confused him. Communication is another "C" of the Toolbox ABC (AAA BBB CCC) both of the Skip with his team and the players with the Skip or Vice.
I'm sorry to see no other replies, as the article is excellent. I find sadly, few skips really know how to build a head, let alone how to explain it to others. Fact is, most skips start in that position far too early, without the basics themselves. I lead all the time now, as its a position I've made my own within our little club. One of the things in my head that goes around al the time is "Why on earth did he play that shot" Thanks for the great blog. RB
ReplyDeleteBuilding a head is unique to each individual skip. Where Bowls is a "Draw,Draw,Draw" game the skips tend to become "Take what I get" head building skips. Accepting that their "Lead" (and Second) are doing their best to draw close to the jack and as skip coming to the mat; my task is to protect the points the teams bowls have created or to regain the lost point. One must be prepared for a great opponents bowl.
ReplyDeleteIn a team which plays a lot together the communication (a C of CCC) is not the in-game Skip's communication of "A bowl here" or "This Bias"; but the "Team Training Instruction" and Liberties to perform as a Team member. As an example, the Lead may have been told to "Balance the Head" as a performance responsibility. The skip may have a hand signal or such sign to remaind the lead of this responsibility. So the lead is thinking, "The point is ours with a 2 inch bowl, so place a bowl Back near the opponent's Behind the jack bowl". Match their bowl unless in front. Use "free bowls" to collect another point. (A free bowl in balancing the head is when the opponent missed their delivery and one can play where the skip wants or what is best as another Point)
This summer I played the Final, money winning game against a Mixed pairs team where he was on the National Team for several years and she was an international Team Lead from an Southern Hem Country. She saw in the first end of play I was left handed and often her bowls protected their head with a 12 to 18 inch (leftish) bowl (at 4 o'clock or 8 o'clock). She had responsibilities which were only changed when her skip asked for something else.
If the forehand (right handers) delivery is the true delivery side of the green, she made sure it was hard for my lead to use it after she had captured the point. Sending my lead to the Backhand which was a less perfect side often showed something surprising green charactistics. Her head was balanced and protected with bowls placed so when her skip came to the mat, he had a clear objective to finish the head. The game was a "Skip - Skip" game as both he and myself did clean -up, tight draw, or an extra point draw.
In the first 6 ends the points were single points and score was 4 - 3. Until he did a small 1/4 inch jack touch to send the jack 10 inches across green behind his 2nd,3rd and 4th and collected 4 points. Not a jack roll but "jack near miss slide". As much as I tried with my lead to regain the lead it was never more than a point if I had last bowl.
As skip and as a team which played always together and with knowledge from international level, he allow her to build the head.
Glad to hear you say "I lead all the time", as I do the same but I often advise the opponent skip that "I skip from the mat". My partner is in the head because he bowls the last 4 bowls of our pairs. But as skip I am in the head at the end of the game and I build the head with the first 4 bowls. But not all teams have this sort of arrangement.