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.
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 replaciement. 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)
When a new club member becomes a Coached Lawn Bowl student there is a lot to learns. The Basics such as " How to delivery the bowl", and ofcourse the teacher should show the many basics even if they don't use them.
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.