How to judge Jack Distance 4/5

When planning a series of Blogs on a topic, it is best to approach the topic with what most of the blog readers know. Since most of my readers are great bowlers their method of delivery of their bowl to the Jack is probably of a "Instinctive" feeling as they evaluate the jack distance and then deliver their bowl.  If you want to now developed a method of "Delivery" which will involve "Being in the Zone" you must know when you are Not in the Zone".

A good Club Coach, teaching new members would never tell their new members that you just have to keep practicing and one day you will have developed the instinctive ability to roll the ball to the Jack based upon a feeling of  the distance of the Jack. You suggest a few tricks for evaluating the jack distance and how to apply it to the new member`s "Natural Delivery Distance".

All new members, are first taught the proper style and techniques of delivery and if the club offers the following year a follow-up "Second Year Coaching";  you then teach them how to add on distance and take off distance from their "Natural Distance" which they have worked to develop the previous year. What has this to do with the Zone ?. Each year as we develop our personal style our subconscious is collecting and developing a storage of information. When you stand at the mat and looking up the green toward the jack and think " Jack is about 26 meters, because.. because.. (example of thinking ... the mat is out 3 meters and jack is just beyond half way between minimun distance and the back ditch); your subconscious is now developing this trick of distance evaluation. After time, the subconscious will know that for that distance you must take off 2 or 3 meters from your "Natural Distance" of  28 meters.

When we are teaching a new student, we want to develop consistency in their delivery; so we explain how  the pendulum swing, the body movement and even balance; all contribute to the "Natural Distance", We then instructed  the students on  how they can put on distance with increase body movement or roll a shorter jack distance by shortening the pendulum swing. (I use a clock method as if the arm and pendulum swing is going back to 7 o`clock)  Yes over time the mind combines all these modification with the evaluated of distance to give a  delivery which is more and more Instinctive.

If Lawn Bowls was like the Canadian Ice Sport of Curling we would find the jack always place at the same distance, 23 Meters, and all Novice bowler  need only to develop is a style and weight of delivery for that one Jack Distance.

Curling Rink

 In Curling the center of the "House" (which is like the jack in Bowls with several rings) is always at the same distance; 23 Meters from  the "Release Hog Line" (where the player must finish their slide and delivery); to the "Center Ring of the House"  This is the same as a "Short Jack" in Lawn Bowls. Curling was probably developed in an effort to do winter Lawn Bowls on ice. But more easlier as the distance is fixed.

Back to the topic...In "Golf", The golfer arrives at the tee (or his ball in the fairway) and  looks up the fairway and decide the distance to the green (or his layup location) and decides how he will arrive at that distance. Like the Lawn bowler, the golfer knows that he has a consistent swing which conveys always

Golf Clubs for
difference Distances

 the same amount of energy to his swing (delivery. In Lawn Bowls). In Lawn Bowls, this delivery energy which the bowlers has developed give him a "Natural Distance" when performed correctly as delivery of his Bowl. However,  the Golfer has several Clubs and know each club distance his consistance swing will give as a distance. The novice Lawn Bowler, however when stepping up to the mat, after evaluating how far the Jack is from the front of the mat; and must also modify his delivery for that distance. His "Longer Forward Step" or "Faster body movement" are like clubs in the golfers bag. We often call these tricks of delivery modifications as our  Toolbox of How To modify our delivery to get that distance.

With most Lawn Bowling Greens about 33 meters ( a normal square green) and the minumin distance of a "23 meters Jack" (25 from the front ditch) is only 8 meters from the "Back Ditch" which is 31 meters. When the mat is brought forward and the jack is on the "Respot Mark"; which is at 2 meters from the "Back Ditch" the Lawn Bowlers only has to adjust 6 meters, (Less than 20 feet).

As you stand on the mat and calculate with your thought of  "So with the mat, 2 meters from front ditch, the  "Minumin" marker is at 23 meters, and a "Mid-Field (halfway between "Minumin and "Respot")  Jack" is 27 meters (23 + 4). Then we can divide the "Jack distance green" into a "1/4 length jack" ( 2 meters beyond the short Jack) and even see a  "3/4 Maximun"  is 29 meters; with "Maximun Jack" or "Respoted Jack" at 31 meters.  Eventually you will say to your self "27 meters" and after time you will not even calculate because your subconscious will have evaluated the distance.  But you must have developed this habit over time as well as checking how far the mat is out from the "Mat Line"

Have you ever watched a Blind Lawn Bowling competition.  In our club we have a "Blind Lawn Bowler" who is winning gold international. Before losing his sight he was a international Lawn Bowler and for many years before his vision began to deterate his subconscious mind calculated his "Jack Distance" . So where he had his Instinctive feel of delivery to the jack at a distance, he just need to know the actual distance from the front of the mat to the jack and his bowl is on the jack. How does a "Born Blind" Lawn Bowler know or evaluate his Jack Distance? It is simple, he does not.. the Jack placement umpire announce the distance of the Jack from a the "Mat Line". Likewise, a Blind Bowlers as he walks to the mat for his first bowl has developed his experience of knowing how far the mat is out from the ditch and then will add on and take off their weight for the differents. Of course, a Blind Bowler has a "Coach" or "Assistance" who will tell him about the placement of the mat.  Likewise, the subconscious receives instruction from you as you think about the mat. (like the coach telling his Blind Bowler) 

In an earlier Blog about evaluating the jack distance it was said that the Baseball player in left field when throwing the baseball to home plate for a runner; automaticly has his subconscious evaluate the distance while he is throwing the ball.  This evaluation is experience over years of bowls and many  experienced lawn Bowlers will argue that this Baseball-method of Distance Evaluation is the method is what  everybody does. I agree, but to tell the new "Novice"  bowler that he will gets to a instinctively feeling  of distance after years of experience; is not good  coaching. However, as all baseball fields are about the same distance to home plate from left field, and all lawn bowls greens are the same size; we canl began our Novice bowler by explaining each new jack position must be followed by a evaluation of the distance and that we then delivery of our bowl with modified delivery to reach that distance.  As a coach, when I start my new bowlers, I place the jack at their Natural distance and discuss different jack distance in the 3rd or 4th lesson. Ofcourse, every new bowler has a different "Natural Distance" so the first 3 lessons are a "one on one" coaching. With the 4th lesson being 2 or 3 new bowlers we now began finding different jack distances.

Sometime, a "Short Jack" Delivery might have a different "style" of delivery; and  also one would say that the "style"  has change for a long (maximum) distance Jack. One "short jack "style might remove the  body movement part of the delivery while the Longer Jack style might do a larger step which creates a faster body movement.  Looking like two different style of delivery they are just modification to the Natural Distance Delivery. 

As we become more consistance and on the jack; we may think we have advance beyond this method of Evaluation of  Jack Distance and Delivery of our Bowl; but if we feel we can drop this modified style method:  we get the feeling of the jack distance. Do we still need all our  tools or tricks in our Tool Box?  No !! we must remember that the trick that helps us also require we learn to quickly fix our errors, One such error is putting more confidence in our feeling the distance.  The sister (Blog 5) of this method will show tricks to understand our evaluation of  the Jack Distance. 

.Blogger.com helps the blogger to know and evaluate his audiance with stats like the one on the right. the following two charts show the participation after I posted the new blog on twitter.

May 19th Blog Stats only a day after publishing
of the 2nd Blog on Jack Distance.

The 2nd part of this blog of 5 parts was published only a day earlier than writing this. The stats on the right show the volume of readers who follow me on twitter and received the  announcement of the blog. 

Each line on the graft show one reader and how many blogs they viewed.  Like advertising, one blog brings a reader and they stay to look at other blogs. The Map (Lower right) show the area of the world  where the blog viewer accessed my blog.  Because I am in North Americia and posted midday here, the mat shows a lot more Canadian and Americian bowlers visiting the blog. 

Blog Stats taken 6:29 am 21 May
showing the australian blog readers

The Stats on the right shows 2 days later when I did this blog. Of course the readers seem from the same area although the blogs they read differ.  Two days allow for local club discussion and suggestion to other club members to go look at the blog.  Stats are not always go as sometime they give false information.  I saw a lot of participation from Russia and thought that they were interest in Lawn bowls.. Actually now Russia is always showing as a small participation because once I wrote "Would you invite Donald Trump to your Club ? " and since then, their BOTS are  always checking my blog for TRUMP news. No I don't think Lawn Bowls is being developed in Russia or similar areas.

Update, Today June 15, 2022, I have cleaned up this blog and published it under a new title..How to Judging Jack Distance. The Old blog "Golf Like look at Jack Distance" which was  deleted.  Enjoy actual date should be June 2022..

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