(Being Builded ) In the previous Blog I wrote "The most important thing of learning Bowls is not the basic but how to develop your Mind Set." and explained the continual thinking when playing Singles or Pairs where you are doing 3 or 4 bowl Delivery immediately after each time that the opponent has just finish one of theirs. The ABC of Mind-Set is Attitude, Betterment and Concentration. These 3 mental exercises should be the foundation of Mind-set as your Attitude is always positive and any Basic skill can always have a better success percentage. Concentration is a matter of keeping the objective of your game front and center of your thoughts. and seeking the very best performance.
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Where in Single and Pairs, we seem to be in a continual cycle of mental preparativeness, we often find therefore that in Triples and Fours play we are spending time waiting for 2 or 3 other players to do a delivery. Yes, you can't be in full power mode all those long minutes waiting, because unlike in Singles where you just get finished analysis and thinking of the past delivery and are immediately planning your next visit to the mat. We really don't have time to analysis the opponent's last bowl or the raison for your skips requested Delivery. Well this is where "Team Work" becomes a part of the larger game. Each member of the team should be helping you better read or understand the game.
Often we hear comments like "The forehand is wider" or Green seems to have increased in speed" which are intended to remaind us of change we may not have noticed. But as Mind-set of a team advances we hear more comments on game analysis like "skip is attempting to have the opponent go to the Backhand" or "That was a good bowl, we needed a Back Bowl". All comments in maintaining a Team Harmony. Positive remark may be that turn-key a member need to forgot that bad bowl and go on to make a beautiful "near Perfect" shot.
In Game Strategy we say the 12 or 14 ends of play are divided into three parts. First 4 ends to analysis the greens, the opponent and your team harmony. The middle 4 ends are to use that information to gain as many points and as large a lead as possible and the Last 4 ends are to go defensive (if leading) and offensive (if trailing in points). But the big mistake made by a lot of teams of Triples or Fours is thinking it is the Skip who does the think and Game Strategy.
The skip is busy studing a lot of what happens in those three sections of Game Strategy but without his team doing a "Detail Study" in this first section of play; and collecting the data needed, the decisions he makes will be from the information he is getting only his observations. Communication of all the team players should mean that they are allocate different roles of opponent study or actions, depending upon each position of play before the teamhas even hits the green for play.
How often when you get finished at the other End of the Rink and back, having returned to the beginning (1st) end of play to start the 3rd end, have you forgotten your previous play in that direction?. And it has been just one end of play past. Actually, from those beginning days of learning the basic of how to bowl, players are expecting that the Skip will remaind them of their line or their previously delivered bowls.. You should have two basic Mind Sets.. "Your Delivery" and the Skips allocation of need information or Study; and be total thought to the collection of that Information.
In the first 4 ends of Play , The "Study Period" time of the Team Play the Lead and other front end players should each have a task of learning and communicating that information to the Vice. Why do you think a lot of winning teams has the Skip and Vice in the head for the last half of the game. The vice is the "Recorder" and "Data collector" for the Skip. A common question from the Skip to Vice is "what happen there?" and being in the head with the skip during the 2nd and 3rd part of game Division (ends 5 to12) it is important that the Vice can explain it. This will help the skip make a wise decisions or foresee any necessary Strategy changes.
The Mind Set is maybe defined as.. "your concentration of play or performance during your game".
During the beginning of delivery of your bowls; your time should be 100 percent on preparing to go to the mat (Pre-Mat), doing a Perfect Delivery. and then some serious Analysis your performance (Post-Mat). A complete agenda of thinking to be done before the opponent has finished doing their Delivery.
Your information collected and the Analysis of their performance is a 2nd part of your Mind-set. But this data is "Collected and Dropped" as you must again go to the mat and do your Delivery Routine. (Pre-Mat, Delivery and Post-Mat). But never lost because when the time come to share that data it is fresh in your mind.
Previously, in an earlier Blog I wrote. " Example of (your) Delivery .. Finished your delivery. off mat... Post Mat analysis.., Study opponent's Delivery.., Pre-mat Analysis.. of your ressults.., Pre-mat Routine as preparing for next bowl to be delivered (as Opponent leaves mat.) Your Skip Communication. Pre-Mat Routine finish (as per Skip request)... To mat.., Line Position.., Delivery Routine.., Post Delivery Routine.., Bowl roll Analysis.., Resul..t and off the mat.. only to again repeat the complete cycle. (Cycle a C of CCC of the Tool Box ABC)" and this is a lot of thinking which will take years to do more than once or twice a game. Certainly not just the few seconds between stepping to the mat and rolling the bowl from your hand to the green. as per those first years of learn to Bowl.
But, now is Triples and Fours you are standing back watching others do their delivery. And doing a lot of thinking as requested by the Skip. Here I will attempt to remember what was my Fours Instructioon to me as a players in a winning Inter-Provincal Major competition as given by a skip who was on a UK international team. The truth is a lot of Game Play and you meet a lot of people with good advice.
The Lead - Your job is to build the game head. Like in Chess the first moves define how the rest of the game will go. A difficult task in each of the three Division of Game Play; which with always require concentration and the same self-centered goal. Communication between the skip and Lead should be not just while the lead is on the mat but when practice and discussion of preparing for the game. In fours, the Lead and Second is like a team of 4 bowls in a Pairs competition. The second will have to pickup where the lead misses the Game building which the Skip was requesting. And the skip will also have to forgot his disappointment with his lead and move on to letting the second do this important building. In triples the 3 bowls of the Lead must do the building "Game Head". as the Second (Vice) will also be helping the Skip with shots which are probably more often by a skip. Game is still a Draw game.
What is the lead doing in his own Mind-set during these first 4 ends of play when the other team members are taking their turn on the mat. First, because the lead must be able to draw to where the Skip wants the bowl; their major study is of the Green. ( Speed, Unique performance or difficulties), and even how the speed changes as the game progress. (Speed changes with bowls rolled, Sun warmth or lack of it, and even the sun direction). The Lead is also playing a "Opponent Single Game" as they study their opponent. Often this view of the opponent will mean personal decision to achieve the request shot that the Skip has requested.
Example: Skip asks for a ForeHand to the Jack ( A "draw") but the opponent's bowl seems in your line. Did you watch how the bowl rolled to it present location ?. Do you have confidence in your skip's decision that it is not in your line of delivery. Maybe it is only a "Mental Blocking Bowl" and not a "Real Block". Maybe you did not notice the opponent lead was left handed or has a delivery with an error and that your "Bowl Roll" or "Bowl Bias" is not the same. All these things are what the Lead is studing about the opponent Lead because they are just one bowl away from the same head configuration.
All these study of performance of the opponent Lead and the Green is a full Mind-set for the Lead and a part of the Vice's responsible is to see how his Lead and the Opponent lead compares with the Jack Length of that end. No better critic of a Lead than another team player. Never critize the lead. Yes there will be bad bowls, but study why or know what to do yourself to not have that same problem. Usually it is not the lead's performance but something else.
The Second - If the game is Fours then the Second is a partner with the Lead in getting a good head for the start of that end. Yes when the lead is on the mat the Second is busy (Mind-set occupied) collecting data from the lead's bowls, the green and the opponent's bowls. The second should in fours keep this data for the skip (by way of the vice) or for after game study or training to help the team and lead better perform
If in Triples the Second is of two roles. A Pick-up Player to finish what the Lead should have done and a Vice which has many task from Jack lenght study or legal to the change in strategy of the team or the Opponent. Many seconds are previous Skips because the Vice is always there to help the skip. Often the bowls of the Vice would be that over draw or take-out which normally they would do as a Skip. When in Pairs the Lead has 4 bowls and can use one to verify line or green speed; in Triples Second now needs to have all the information as with 3 bowls there is not "Trial Bowl".
Where the Lead was busy building the head and studing the opponent Lead, the Second is more interested in repairing hole in the Strategy. Balance the Head is a Bowl for Bowl so the worst is a 1 point lost for that end. Remember if there is no Back ball to balance the opponent's several bowls then maybe the Skip has to use one of his (valueable) bowls or gamble that nothing happens. A vice on the mat may also be more incline to question the Skip but I would suggest that this be a non-verbal question. Too much verbal ask of game strategy will destroy the Vice-Skip communication.. the "I ask you explain why not Chat" from the mat to the head is never good.
All this has been just about the task of the team mate during the first 4 ends of play. But without the information and data of what is happening it is a roll of the dice to wait and see what happens. We are either prepared and doing a game Strategy which is a foundation toward an end of Winning or we are being pushed into the opponent's Game Strategy. Yes various bad luck roll of the bowls will cause a point change hand but only a point and only with the occational end of play.. All good and we go back to the Team Harmony.
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