Delivery Weight with Body Movement.

In the "Part 1" of Neville Rodda video  "Heel Toe Delivery. Neville says "When it comes to the Bio-mechanic of Lawn Bowls, if I can actually start to use my  body as a tool,...  I can use the body weight as a lever to push the bowl, rather than pushing with my shoulder; I would have a weight that I could much more repeatedly control". 

Neville says " If you actually go through the footage of some of the better players in the world right now, you will find that their weight control is quite immaculate. I think I know why it is immaculate ... as I have spotted something in the past which give these players a huge advantage, and it is a new way of playing.. a bit of a revolutionary way of controlling your body weight. 

In the past a club coach would suggest doing a longer step to play a longer jack. But Neville approaches this from the reverse approach as he says "If I was to lower my head (during my delivery) I would be taking weight off my bowl". "So by the method of placing my heel (to the green) I can control the weight of the bowl (delivery) through the rhythm of my body movement".

The photo (right) of  the England Bowler Izzie White is a screen shot of her delivery from the Champions of Champions Women's Single Final on 25 September 2025 as part of the World bowls Series competitions. ( Club Barham, New South Wales, Australia )  As a good example of what Neville  called the "Toe Heel" style of Delivery, we can actually judge from the photo the jack distance as Izzie, low head position, short step would suggest a reduced body movement and also a reduced bowl weight.

Neville says that after studing the delivery of several of the best athletics he saw this common style of delivery.  With the Youtube video "Bowling Deliveries"  by Bowls World, (6 years ago) you can study these great athletics in their delivery as the video creator show the type of delivery of most of the great athletics . As per the photo, below right, you will also see in the video the various method of holding your bowl. Recently on Youtube and World bowls TV, there has been an increase number of "Interview videos" asking winning champions to explain how they hold their bowls. Interesting interviews.

Bowls World Video 

Neville also has a series of videos on Coaching but like any thing that is free be careful as not every thing you see or read is good advice. Why? The information may be good advice but as you  are learn something new, you are using your interperation of the advice. The individual doing the blog or video actually is suggesting something for you to consider. 

 I blog and often say "Discuss it with your coach". So, although you are alone when on your club green for a practice, you are also attempting to remember what the video or blog suggested. Talk with an advance performance coach and let him/her build you a practice list of steps to achieve that point you are working toward.

 Remember, your delivery is now "Muscle Memory" performed and in changing or adding something, you are removing and adding actions to your  establised delivery.  As you now have years of practice finished and you are doing a great delivery performance, please don't try something new without serious or profession advice. Like my ankle problem mention below, it can mean a problem which will take time to correct.

Several years ago when only a few years bowling,  every time I did a couple hours of practice I was leaving the green with an ankle problem and my performance coach (level 2 or level 3) showed me my error was my long forward step for long jacks.  That summer it took me the complete bowls season of work to correct that mistake. When being coached as a beginner or skilled player your coach is expected to watch out for actions in your delivery which later will be serious. Even if the advance coaching advice is not free, the $20 for a profession hour of advice is money well spend.

My problem, at that time was that as I learned my bowls delivery, I believed that we are only allowed that one step forward during delivery. With such a delivery I was doing a "Break Stop" on that forward step ankle. And that "Break Stop" cause such pain I was ready to quit bowls completely. Probably an error in my understanding "Foot Faulting" which now looking back I know that the coach should not have been mentioning it. 

Since then I have moved to larger bowls (5 and 6) for that extra distance and my quick body movement is with in my force  of delivery. Without a coach correcting my error, I would not be now into my more than 20 years of bowls. Today, when the greens are extremely slow, and canadian greens can be at 12 seconds, I do the British Isles double or triple walking delivery step.

 I have always used Body Movement as part of my delivery and yes like Neville said you control your forward movement and you create a consistance weight.However, there is a more important lesson to learn from Neville suggestiion video. He said he studied many of the great athletics which we should all do; and also watch their body language as you can sometimes see the invisible delivery action which they are performing.

For example: If after bowled to inches in front of the jack and asking the 2nd. " how far I am from the jack" and being told "10 inches"; I know to feel my front foot pushed into the green give me that extra10 inches. Find those little mental actions which don't seem like they would make a difference. The feeling of my foot into the green forces my forward movement a small bit faster as I place my body weight over that front step foot.  A small increase in movement is extra delivery weight.

This summer, a local player doing a major competition lost their qualification for a inter provincial competition because she could not bowl to the long jacks. A great bowler, but on in age, it was not for me to tell her to do a big step. Instead I suggested she look toward the British style of delivery and their triple step delivery. Even suggested doing a fourth step if necessary for that extra distance. 

Also it would have been dangerous  to suggest to her to do a longer step as per the style of delivery suggest by Neville's video because in Canada we often find major competition with the use of the "Protective screens". Such a fast step and longer than normal step would cause the screen to slip under foot and certainly create pain .

As the summer season has started in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, my blog readership has now increase over 100 visit/reads each day as per the day before;  and over a 1000 from the previous month. With a total of 137,000 read/visit to date, I am happy to find the interest in blogs as at 80+, my age does not allow me the  time to learn  Video building skills.  (And who would want to see another old man giving advice ha ha). Like in my blog banner title, I suggest that the reader discuss the subject of the blog with other club members and/or their club's advance performance coach.

 Because my blogs sometime are very long, to get 760 views in a single day, would mean several visitors.  Usually, a club discussion or coach  will result in visitors to the site and blog. I appreciate their interest and their searching for information by new bowlers and experience bowlers.

 This winter (in Canada) I will look toward older blogs and do a few re-makes. What has been previously presented on the subject of the Subconscious and Zen Performance will remain the same as I believe that some of my reader are experience players; but most visitors are searching for ideas on improvement to their performance. The topics and these areas of discussion are what will build the reader's experience as their fellow club members and them work on this new idea.  Enjoy .. Wish I could be with you down-under and bowl until the warmer weather arrives in April or May. 

Thankful to World Bowls and its new list of Competitions as the best bowls athletics have now been defined as qualified for the finals. The finals will match up the top 10 men and top 10 women of the World Bowls Series for their final competition which will be in December 2025 . Check out the schedule at World Bowls after the Australian Championship finish  this week to know those who will play;  and  it is sure to this game will be televised on World Bowls TV. 

Note: A Sept 2024 blog called "Good Reading of Old Bowl Books (Clean up) was just improved because of the 290 visit during the last year. This blog  suggests the reader  visiting the internet Archives which has a lot of old Lawn Bowls books. (search found 1,604)

Hong Kong Bowls Classic 2025

With Canadian Outdoor's Lawn Bowls 2025 season finished and still a lot of great International Lawn Bowls Videos, I find this opportunity to analysis two great female bowlers. South Africa's Esme Kruger and Hong Kong's Dorothy Yu start their World Bowls Single finals with bowl per bowl point exchange.

But what is amazing is the quality of shots which often are shots which an inch less precision and the shot would not have been achieved. Lets look at the first end before evaluate the skills of the players.

Jack is thrown by Esme Kruger to about 27 meters as bowlers in the last afternoon sun in their faces bowl back to the Kowloon  Bowling Green Clubhouse. Esme's first bowl, a backhand to a 3o'clock of the  jack and falls back to  within inches of  the jack.

Dorothy's Forehand is a meter heavy arriving at 1 o'clock followed by Esme's 2nd bowl as a block on center line but also a meter short. From this point you have to see it to believe it. And at 27 meters.

Dorothy's 2nd bowl  forehand pass Esme's near toucher and rolls the jack back 12 to 14 inches (@ 11 o'clock) and coming to rest within 2 or 3 inches (@ 5 o'clock).  Esme, now switches to Forehand

(which now has her 1st bowl blocking her line  to the jack). But her light overweight allows a well played tap of her bowl back the 14 inches to within inches of the jack. (@ 1 o'clock). Now with both bowls within inches of the jack the marker checks and give the point to Esme.

One would think one or two great shot in an end is the maximum but not to be as Dorothy rolls a Forehand with a slight rub on Esme previous bowl and then draws to the jack and tap the jack 4 or 5 inches(Photos) behind her bowl. Again point change.  

as the marker gives Dorothy two points.  Now, one would think, "What a shot"and "What could be better." With each player still with their last bowl of the first end to play this is why the best go to finals. 

One must remember that now World Bowls allow only 30 seconds for the delivery of your bowls so Esme steps to the mat and doing a bit over weight backhand attempts to strike the two bowls or roll the jack back. 

Dorothy on her home club green and with last bowl to play, come to the head with her bowl in arm, quickly looks at the head and after a body movement of  suggestion "one or the other" heads back up the green to deliver. Any athletic who has done this trip with the time limit know how hard it is to go back to the mat and make a great shot. (relax, know your weight, etc) Dorothy does a forehand and draws tight to the jack expecting shot except her bowl is a bit heavy and passes the group of three bowls around the jack (@ 11 o'clock).

After Esme does a double finger measure and asks the tape from the marker, the officials arrive and they do a calibator then the tape measire before give the point to Esme.

This is only the first end of play and with the quality of play it seem I will have to watch the game and then study the players and their different skills. Amazing game. A must for Single coaching.

For the new readers these are the stats as of yesterday.