Somethings what is written in a blog, seem to be so foolish it appears that it is best to pass the writting aside, and laugh with a thought of "Who do they think they are kidding.. that is simply a lot of hogwash". So here is a blog which is probably one of those.."Skip it " or "Like it".
If you bowl in all weather conditions you will one day find you have a wind which is strong enough to blow your "Bowls Wipe-towel", when held out in front of you, off at rather sharp angle (45 degree). The Question is " Can such a wind move a bowl ?" and " What is the best way to play a Backhand or a Forehand wind ?" Or even a Back/Frontal Wind or a Cross Wind.
The game of Bowls is build on constants which we know, and we are always adding or substracting from that constant to achieve our goal. Weight, Line, Green defects and ofcourse Weather. Coaches teach new bowlers, to know their "Natural weight" and then add or take away from it, to achieve that draw distance. If all things are constant we bowl perfect, but Wind is not constant, and even changes from minute to minute.. So how do you adjust for it?.
First, With Wind, you must be able to measure it's effect. Either on your bowls or your opponents bowls. We can all go out and practice and go visit that club that is on the seaside or who has an open field. This way we will know the effects of wind on our bowls.
You will find that it will effect the lighter bowls more, so do you have a choice of bowls, how does it effect them differently. Also it is important to know what it does to all bowls in play. YOUR bowls and your teammate or opponent's bowls. You will know and adjust your play for the effects you believe you see, but also, is important to know how the opponents light bowls are effected.. And if the wind is at that angle which is the same as the Bias line of your bowls, will the wind pushes that draw weight through the head or even get around a good frontal bowls.
To measure wind, beside feeling it in the face or on the back of your neck; I use my wipe towel. (kitchen towel about 6" by 12 or 14") I take it off my belt and hold it at arm's length. As it drops to the green, it will be blown by the wind to a position that is not directly under your holding position. You have seen a golfer throw small pieces of grass into the air.. This is the same. From this action, I get a distance which the towel has fallen and with experience I have learned to add a factor to my weight or remove an amount of weight.
First, do not do this for every bowl, ( you will remove the advantage that you have by informing the opponents that wind is important in this game today). Yes we all learn to apply changes to our bowls, and also remember as we go up and down the green , that a back or front wind.changes with our new direction of play.
. Also, cross winds and Bias winds. A Bias wind is such an angle of wind which falls the same as our approach bias into the head. Such a wind will change your line of delivery as your bowl rolls up the green; but also being against or pushing will affect the slowing bias roll of your bowls.
Usiung a Bowls towel may be considered a heavy material, but I believe that if the wind blows that towel it will also blows your bowsl. For example. If, the displacement distance isabout 6 inches, I feel it is not important.. Wheather it drops toward my feet or away, I play the jack. the same as adjustring for the morning dew lifting off the greens.. I know to add about 4 or 5 feet to the draw weight for that hour of greens warming up in the mornings. Here, in Canada, or Inteerclubs (visitn clubs to play together), start at 9am or 9:30 and the greens will pickup as much as 6 feets on a natural delivery as the day warms up. Then again, crosswinds or Bias Wind are completely different thing to adjust and learn.
However, here are some ithoughts which I feel are important to consider.
- Bowl into a cross wind and allow a line of the few centimeters (foot in canada) or so to let the wind bring back your bowl with a normal bias point.
- Bowls bias are easier affected by the wind so try adding line on to them , rather than taking away from the bowls delivery lines ..
- Start with the added-on weight, as you start with your first bowl rather than add-on as you approach the third or forth bowls, . Game Rule of "If your down in points be up in the head" applies here too. Why ?? It is better to roll that first bowl through the head, than rolling each bowl with continually improved weight until only your last bowl is good. And back bowls are usually better than frontal bowls.
- If the wind is in the direction of the finish bias. (forehand or backhand) what I call a Bias wind, the bowl seems to run endless on a normal to fast green always bowls into the bias wind.. (A quick stop bowl is better than a running through the head bowl (back bias wind) These Back bias- winds are almost like if the green has a small hill or the greens are very fast like on late summer sun-burnt greens
- Don t play with trying to feel the wind and rolling bowls depending upon how much you feel it . You may feel nothing and the wind be there after your release. Always play consistently the same add-on or take-off factor even if the wind dies or has little effect. (Again better roll through then die in front).
- Laugh as others say, "the wind does not effect my bowls" as it is better to know how to adjust and how to read your over weight and/or short bowls, than try to explain to someone who believes they know it. Remember knowing something is not always about proving it. You are better than that, Bowl and enjoy the challenage of weather conditions on the game of Bowls.
- What ever you method of checking play for the wind... do not leave anything on the green afterward. I once saw someone using grass they picked from the lawn on the side of the green. and walk to the mat and toss it into the air. Their comment was ,,, "well golfers use grass." . I use my bowls wipe towel because as the wind stops it hangs straight. and often I don 't even need to drop it as I have learned to read it just by looking at the movement, and angle creaded as the wind has blown it.
HOGWASH.. ok.. I accept your point of view plse accept mine as a different point of view which might have something of value.
.The game of Bowls is build on constants which we know, and we are always adding or substracting from that constant to achieve our goal. Weight, Line, Green defects and ofcourse Weather. Coaches teach new bowlers, to know their "Natural weight" and then add or take away from it, to achieve that draw distance. If all things are constant we bowl perfect, but Wind is not constant, and even changes from minute to minute.. So how do you adjust for it?.
First, With Wind, you must be able to measure it's effect. Either on your bowls or your opponents bowls. We can all go out and practice and go visit that club that is on the seaside or who has an open field. This way we will know the effects of wind on our bowls.
You will find that it will effect the lighter bowls more, so do you have a choice of bowls, how does it effect them differently. Also it is important to know what it does to all bowls in play. YOUR bowls and your teammate or opponent's bowls. You will know and adjust your play for the effects you believe you see, but also, is important to know how the opponents light bowls are effected.. And if the wind is at that angle which is the same as the Bias line of your bowls, will the wind pushes that draw weight through the head or even get around a good frontal bowls.
To measure wind, beside feeling it in the face or on the back of your neck; I use my wipe towel. (kitchen towel about 6" by 12 or 14") I take it off my belt and hold it at arm's length. As it drops to the green, it will be blown by the wind to a position that is not directly under your holding position. You have seen a golfer throw small pieces of grass into the air.. This is the same. From this action, I get a distance which the towel has fallen and with experience I have learned to add a factor to my weight or remove an amount of weight.
First, do not do this for every bowl, ( you will remove the advantage that you have by informing the opponents that wind is important in this game today). Yes we all learn to apply changes to our bowls, and also remember as we go up and down the green , that a back or front wind.changes with our new direction of play.
. Also, cross winds and Bias winds. A Bias wind is such an angle of wind which falls the same as our approach bias into the head. Such a wind will change your line of delivery as your bowl rolls up the green; but also being against or pushing will affect the slowing bias roll of your bowls.
Usiung a Bowls towel may be considered a heavy material, but I believe that if the wind blows that towel it will also blows your bowsl. For example. If, the displacement distance isabout 6 inches, I feel it is not important.. Wheather it drops toward my feet or away, I play the jack. the same as adjustring for the morning dew lifting off the greens.. I know to add about 4 or 5 feet to the draw weight for that hour of greens warming up in the mornings. Here, in Canada, or Inteerclubs (visitn clubs to play together), start at 9am or 9:30 and the greens will pickup as much as 6 feets on a natural delivery as the day warms up. Then again, crosswinds or Bias Wind are completely different thing to adjust and learn.
However, here are some ithoughts which I feel are important to consider.
- Bowl into a cross wind and allow a line of the few centimeters (foot in canada) or so to let the wind bring back your bowl with a normal bias point.
- Bowls bias are easier affected by the wind so try adding line on to them , rather than taking away from the bowls delivery lines ..
- Start with the added-on weight, as you start with your first bowl rather than add-on as you approach the third or forth bowls, . Game Rule of "If your down in points be up in the head" applies here too. Why ?? It is better to roll that first bowl through the head, than rolling each bowl with continually improved weight until only your last bowl is good. And back bowls are usually better than frontal bowls.
- If the wind is in the direction of the finish bias. (forehand or backhand) what I call a Bias wind, the bowl seems to run endless on a normal to fast green always bowls into the bias wind.. (A quick stop bowl is better than a running through the head bowl (back bias wind) These Back bias- winds are almost like if the green has a small hill or the greens are very fast like on late summer sun-burnt greens
- Don t play with trying to feel the wind and rolling bowls depending upon how much you feel it . You may feel nothing and the wind be there after your release. Always play consistently the same add-on or take-off factor even if the wind dies or has little effect. (Again better roll through then die in front).
- Laugh as others say, "the wind does not effect my bowls" as it is better to know how to adjust and how to read your over weight and/or short bowls, than try to explain to someone who believes they know it. Remember knowing something is not always about proving it. You are better than that, Bowl and enjoy the challenage of weather conditions on the game of Bowls.
- What ever you method of checking play for the wind... do not leave anything on the green afterward. I once saw someone using grass they picked from the lawn on the side of the green. and walk to the mat and toss it into the air. Their comment was ,,, "well golfers use grass." . I use my bowls wipe towel because as the wind stops it hangs straight. and often I don 't even need to drop it as I have learned to read it just by looking at the movement, and angle creaded as the wind has blown it.
HOGWASH.. ok.. I accept your point of view plse accept mine as a different point of view which might have something of value.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYes Clark, I see the confusion. A lot will say the wind has little effect, so I mention to play the lighter wind conditions like the changing green speeds as outdoor greens go from cold, dew covered greens to un-dew to drier green and then heat up to it normal speed. We all have adjusting delivery we make on changing speed greens.
ReplyDeleteI wrote here (10 years ago) " what I call a Bias wind, the bowl seems to run endless on a normal to fast green always bowls into the bias wind."where we call it a bias wind if - "the wind is in the direction of the finish(ing) bias. (forehand or backhand)". On a frontal wind we see more weight needed and a back of us wind need less weight or delivery. However, as I wrote earlier some of the extra distance we find when the wind is behind us is caused by the wind causing us to apply more body (forward) movement as we delivery our bowl. Like wind pushing us when on a bicycle.
However, I was suggesting " (A quick stop(ing) bowl is better than a running through the head bowl (back bias wind). Here is the confusion... The wind is in the same direction (right or left to the matline or bowl bias. but as the bowls passes over the bias shoulder and is going toward the jack, the wind is more like a back or frontal wind and either stops you bowl quickly or pushes it endlessly through the head. So, I suggest for best results, to bowl narrow into the wind blowing from the bias side of your bowl; as it will stop quickly as it swings into the wind when finishing it bias (like a slow green finish with little or no finish). Hope that help.. Remember a cross wind will become a 45 degree behind (your bowl) wind (or frontal wind) as the bowls finishes it bias at the jack.
It is 2:30 am and I am up tomorrow at 6am.. my error.. "(right or left to the matline or bowl bias" should read "right or left to the Center line or bowl's bias as you delivery to the jack"
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