Twitter as Blog Membership

There is so much to be said about a sport like Lawn Bowls without appearing like a overcharged expert.  However, when I started blogging, I was afraid that my little knowledge would be of little or not use to great players.
The level of play of those i see as followers are always impressive; as some very well known and great bowlers have decided to follow this blog and continue to follow at this time (July 2017).  Also, the participation from around the world is unbelievable for a sport that is active only 6 months of the year.  Of course, when North America is with greens under snow, Australia and S.Africa players are in full swing.

One week blog views March 07 to 14th

This photo of blogger stats shows me it is worth my efforts with the hits and the participation of viewers from all countries. I use Twitter to identify my new blog entries and the small 80 regular followers must be telling their friends.

The Internet can be great for sport news and following what is happening but sometimes it gives only so few pieces of the puzzle. Using Twitter and followers who take the time to spread the news, can be faster than trying regular site updates of news. 

Actual hits or views over last two weeks

 On the left we see stas over one week with several hits per day and some hits resulting in  as many as 10 pages being viewed.
 Remember, these hits have to be new hits as older readers or twitter followers have already scanned the pages and read the previous blogs.

Interesting from the distribution map on left is beside the strong Lawn Bowls Countries like Canada, USA, UK and Australia , one can be surprised to see countries like Brazil India and China views.  Last fall when The United States Open of Lawn Bowls  was under way, this type of viewer volume might be normal, however, now in March it is unique and reflects on new interest in Lawn bowls  Results of the US Open was posted on US 2013 Open Web page (Hosted by Southwest Division of Bowls USA) at the time of play.

Blog Articles being read over 2 week period

 Interesting is the titles being viewed. From Last years (March 11, 2013) blog on Measuring of a Bowl to the most recent (March 7th)  When in 2012, I did blogs on the Subconscious Mind and the Zone and Visualization, I never thought they would be so popular and continue to draw viewers.

Thank you all who follow or pass on the information or ideas, from these pages, to other Lawn Bowlers.  At 69, I find my love of Lawn Bowls now to the net and the appreciation of viewers like you.

And then as important as the views is the

Winning Bowls with Positive Thinking

The growing popularity of Lawn Bowls is that it is a game for everyone.  As a social game, it can gather friends and club members out onto the green for a friendly game.  No special dress, just a fun time.
(photo Teeswater Lawn Bowling 2012 , Photobucket,)

               These games can be fun and educational.  Some clubs insist that there is ¨No Coaching¨ to remove the seriousness. However, sometimes, we want to learn and perfect our abilities.     Here, in right photo, we find a serious played game where the rules all being applied and the athletics being clearly doing their best, wheather they are at the local club level, at a inter state (or province level in Canada) or at a international meet.

The difference is clearly seen as dress becomes parts of the presentation.  This blog is about the ability to enter into such a challenge and be proud of your performance.
    Often people refuse to develop into this level of the sport , but when we do enter into such a challenge, we sometimes feel that our game is beyond our present level of skill. In such games we don't have the choice of our opponent, and sometimes we are matched to what the club calles ¨their champion¨. Or we tell ourself that this opponent is beyond our skill level.   We often are beaten before we have rolled the first bowl.

             This negative and destrictive thought that the opponent is too good for us to WIN, leads us to enter into a acceptance of LOSE before we even start the actual game.
   The following story tells of one such occation where I was unaware of the strenght of my opponent and although he was the best of that competition group; I entered into my best performance and before long had had won that game.  The Positive belief that I surpassed his ability and with a preoccupation of a time limit; resulted in a "'Great Performance"


Petanque, the french game of lawn Bowls require pointers to
approach a jack (cochon) and all closer balls count. But
the playing surface is 10 meters and not 30 m as in lawn bowls

 I had entered a "Head-to-head" or "One-on-one" Petanque competition.  Where in Bowls the roll to the jack is always a questionable expectation of results;  In Petanque, the close to the Jack point may be removed with a "takeout" shot. Therefore, where Bowls is a Draw game, Petanque is a Takeout game and the successful takeout is a Carre (when the shooting ball remains at the point of Takeout contact)  Where in Lawn Bowls a takeout is a overweight type shot, in Petanque, the  throwing through the air ball, creates a different takeout strategy. (Shooting Competition on Youtube) In this video the ability to continually remove the ball is counted until the first miss.

  This game was with a Time limit of 20 minutes per game, so I was not aware of how tight this time limit would caused the game to advance;  I therefore, quickly stepped up to the pointing circle and quickly did my pointing shot or takeout shot.
 No strategy thinking or self confidence building pep-talk. I have learned that my experience of Petanque is good for Lawn Bowls perfection, because it develops a overall game strategy. As example, once,in Bowls, I discovered that the 4th point position was the opponents only bowl in the head, and if removed from play it gave me 6 points, Who, in Lawn Bowls, would bother to try a takeout of a far left of the head bowl.  We must always evaluate the options, and not just do the shot which seems so obvious. So often 3 or 4 point end is enough... but when it comes to the end of the game.. all the extra points count.
 Back to the game.  Routine was.. My turn,  Position myself,  Do the decision of shot,  Do the shot, and exit the Pointing circle. However, seem every shot I did was a perfect or near perfect execution of what was attempted. By the time the game was within a points of the finish, 13 points was game;  I discovered that only half of the time limit had been used.  No pressure was needed and I relaxed.  If I had known.. plenty of time for a good game. The game ended 13 - 2 with plenty of time.
     As the Competition continued through the other 5 players I realized that my opponent was one of the best. As the final games of the day approached, it was clear  he had won all of his games and I had to play him again because I was the only one who had beaten him. At this point he was not a stranger but a reconized good player... Pressure or just relax and go for the win


Same pointing system but balls thrown and
often played in sand or gravel

    Of course he won that 2nd game because I now knew of his great potential and skill, But in the first game, I had gone into the game thinking he was just another player and I could easily win the game. I knew most of the best players in the Petanque Elite group of the Montreal Petanque Scene. However, I had been out of the circuit for several yearts, during which time,.  Carl had made an impressive climb in the Elite circle. To me he was a no-body. If I had been playing Thomas, or Bruno whom I had seen in many international competitions, I would have doubted my abilities to give them a good game.
    I had created Positive expectation in the first game and I just performed without any baggage of how great my opponent was, had been, or could be. Memories of previous games, or other negative thoughts I would never have performed as well as I had.
   Going into a match with a Positive attitude means a lot toward the winning of that match. Terry Orlick in his book "In pusuit of Excellence" writes of a mental readiness.
    " Develop an action plan and a way of think that brings you to an ideal state of readiness is essential for... consistance high level of performance." 
  Also about the memories of your opponents or your abilities in generating Positive mental attitude is important as  Orlick writes.
   "The world's best performances ... depend upon positive memories and recall the feeling of previous success"  As a continual writer about the "Being in the Zone" Terry Orlick ideas are of interest.

Other blogs this week... Stewardship of Greens