We all have our Pre-game Preparation and sometimes, with a very important competitionl our preparation starts several weeks before the competition. Normally for local competitions the preparation is nothing more than an hour before the game is to start. Photo below of West Toronto Lawn Bowling Club in Canada
The most common seen pre-game preparation is the players on the green rolling bowls in the opposite direction of game play to learn about the "green speed", I am sure that they wish there was a meter which one simply pointed and then able to read the green speed. Well I now have my "Tina Meter" which is the lastest mental tool as part of Post-mat Routine. Better to know if I did a bad delivery or to be able too verify if my error in delivery weight is because there has been. a green speeds change. Also now when starting a new direction of play I check for the green speed as part of my Pre-mat Routine for my first bowl if I am lead or second player.
The "Tina Meter", my latest mental skill to be placed into my Lawn Bowls toolbox allow me to follow the changing speed of the green during game play by simply watching the bowl roll of others.
A couple of weeks ago I was discourage as I watched a Provincial Qualification Singles Competition at our club with the best of our Montreal lawn Bowlers. After 6 ends of play it was obvious that no-one had yet adapted to the green speed. Why ? Because in that hour the greens had changed speed three different times and all the players were either very heavy or too light in their delivery. My club is under the Airport Flight Path and most heads looked like the bowls had just fallen out of some overhead passing airplane, rather than tight competition heads.
The day of the competition had been a hot day of about 30 degrees and there was no activity on the club greens until 6 o'clock when green"s committee members began preparing for the 7 p.m. competition. About 10 minutes before game time a few players began rolling bowls north-south to learn the green speed as the rinks for the competiton which were setup to be played east-west direction..
The previous week I had given to a club member my "Single 201" hour long course on several things needed to learn about your opponent before the start of your Single game. (This course is for 3rd or 4th bowlers who are preparing for a Single Competition). In explaining how green speed changes and giving my course in mid-afternoon at an empty club; I had had rhe student roll her natural distance bowls toward "east" and then rolled another natural distance toward "west". She discovered her natural distance at 26 meters (EAST) and 25 meter (WEST) although her normal Natural distance on the club greens is 25.5 meters.
I explained that the sun in the east during most of the morning, had caused the grass to bend eastward, Showing with a bend finger hand how the grass bent even though rather short I explained that her 25.5 meter natural distance was now 18 inches (1/2 meter) more because of less resistance on the bent grass. Likewise, going west, her bowl had to rolled against bend-over grass which was offering more resistance thus losing 18 inches.(1/2meter of her natural 25.5 meter)
This envirorment effect on the green speed and the different direction; which occurs every day and differently for different weather conditions; are an important aspect of "Delivery Weight". Every game you play has a different envirorment conditions wheather it is the sun, mild or heavy rain or just a temperature changes during the game. And all serious lawn bowler know this as part of their Pre-game preparation. A unique situration occured last weekend as the Provincial Pairs was played in the rain. During the end of the 2nd game of three the rain stop and the sun came out as bright as a hot summer day. Within 30 to 45 minutes as the 3rd game was started it was discovered that the grass has began bending toward the setting sun (in the west) and green speed had increased.
Earlier in the day in that competion as I watched in a fairly heavy down pour of rain i saw that when the players changed direction of play amd the rain stopped; that with the two or three minutes as the teams scored their end of play, cleared the bowls from the green and set up the protective screens and the mat for the next end of play the greens had quickly consumed the rain. But because no players had a Pre-mat routine which expected them to analysis the new conditions of play; when the players came to play their first bowl they were all two and three meters behind the jack. Maybe a good back bowl but not a good lead bowl. The leads were still rolling their bowls for the weight they had needed in the previous end of play with the fairly heavy rain and of 14 lead bowlers ( 7 games of pair competition) only 2 players had a near jack bowl. The pre-mat routine, if it existed would have asked "Has anything changed since last bowling this direction?" and the answer would be "No more rain" and expect the player to adjust delivery weight in accordance for this condition.
As mention earlier about a competition where the Greens had change speed three times in the first hour of play, one might ask "How can that be ?" This seem a bit too much to believe; however in knowing and explaining this situration it will help the reader to understand how the envirorment and conditions of play as they change will effect our game and performance.
First, the day of the competition the greens were fast because of the heat of the day. As players went to start their competition on an eastly direction rink they had a 18 inches or more distance weight for their bowl roll. But because the game was at 7 pm and the sun setting, now the water surrounding Montreal which is within only a half a kilometer south of the clubhouse.
Of course it is still a early june with a cold air arrived off the water toward our club's green.. Players in the 3rd end of play began finding water on their bowls. (condensation of cold air and the hot day greens) which increased the speed of the green even more.(dew as a minor wetness which increases green speed) But as bowls rolled the green in line to the jack and players walked up the center of the green these water droplets became broken and dropped into the green creating a return to normal 'Dew green speed" for the next 3 ends of play. So now halfway through the tournment the greens had returned to the speed of when the players had had started their competition.
You may say, "A lot to think about" but a serious bowler know this and expects these speed difference due to the envirorment. Hot days or Rain or Morning Dew are all apart of the game and we know to expect it. My pre-mat thinking for the first bowls to deliver as a lead would be (east +18, west - 18) as I think how the green speed effect of my delivery weight. Ofcours, I would not be considering the month as June and how the St-Laurance is still cold water temperature and until I saw my bowls wet with concentration I certainly would not think to add a another 12 or 18 inches delivery weight.. But experience tells me that after three or 4 ends the speed would return to their original speed of the green.
All players should practice at different part of the day because competitions can be morning, afternoon or evening games. Especially in early morning games where in Canada, the cold night leave a dew on the green and the green slowly gains speed as the day advances. So now I have my "Tina Meter" and I can watch any opponent bowls, or my team mates and make adjustment for the changes in green speed. Yes it is a reference, but it suggest to me corrections to my weight. Ofcourse, if we see all of the bowls in front or behind the jack it is also likely a green speed has occured as not everyone on two team is going to make the same mistakes of over weight or under weight deliveries.
As they roll their bowl, I begin counting (1,2,3,4,...22,23,24..) as their bowl leave their hand and is touching the green. My count is my fast school kid count and it only matters because I know my delivery weight per my count. At 20 I have my club green spead and a "Natural Distance" delivery needs nothing added.
Today, whe I see the opponent bowls behind the head and think that the opponent has a difficulty playing that distance; I now count the delivery and see if there is a change in green speed. How ? On my home club green I know the speed as I have played enough to feel the speed as fast or slow.. My bowl took a count fo 20 before stopping. This is my "Tina Meter" and if I watch a bowl now on another club's green as it roll and start counting on the contact to the green and stop counting when the bowl has stopped I know how this club"s green speed is in relation to my club green and my Natural distance delivery.
Went out to a competition at Westmount this week and the greens had several two wheel cart marks up and down the green. We discovered that they had recently fertilized the green as our bowl now slowed down as it became covered with fertilizer.
With the "Tina Meter" I was able to evaluate how much to adjust my delivery weight. Where previously I might have wasted a bowl or two to discover the needed change in weight I started heavy by two meters. Also I was able to discover if it was better to not clean my bowls after each end of play. My thought was that the bowl can only pick up so much fertilizer and then roll would be consistance. This was not true as more and more fertilizer was possible to be added to the bowls. It builded upon the previous fertilizer on the bowl. Actually the opponent skip had assigned to the lead to wipe and wash his bowls while she waited for the 2nd player to bowl.
