Competition and Being a Lead

........ Under Development ...........

In 2015 I wrote a blog about being a good Lawn Bowls Lead

July 21 Using the Head Stats

and it has remained a very popular blog and one of the regular Viewer's reads.

This blog "Being a good Lead" which received 2782 reads over the past 4 year is more about a few videos which may still be available on the Youtube Lawn Bowls search.

With the blog's anniversity with a few days I have decided to create  a 3 part Blog series which will introduction the lead to  Competition Games bowls and special the unique needs of the  Lead's responsibility to be involved in a good head and saving time for the team..

 What is the role of the Lead ?? The rule book (World Bowls Crystal Mark 3rd Edition) defines the role of the lead as:

40.3 The lead of the team to play first in an end must:

40.3.1 place the mat as described in law 6.1.1;

40.3.2 deliver the jack and make sure that it is cented before delivering the first bowl of the end. 

40.4 Other duties Along with the duties mentioned in the previous paragraphs of law 40, players can carry out any other duties assigned to them by their skip as described in law 40.1.10.

To many competition players and skips, the "Team Lead" position is often considered the most important position. After reading this blog you may understand how the lead's bowls not only define the game strategy, but affects how the game develops from end to end.

Yes it is " The Team Skip " who controls and dictate the  total game of Lawn Bowls, but unless "The Skip" involves all his team he will find walking to the mat in "Recovery Mode" When a team has  a knowledgeable "Team Lead" , the "Skip" should have a list of responsibilities which can be called  "Good Lead Usage List" (Another blog at a later date)

In  Competition Play we may find that "The Skip" had delegated several duties to the lead (and Second in Fours). In the Lawn Bowls game of FOURS,  the "Team Lead (First) and the "Team Second" work together to make a "Two Player Lead" and here  the skip "MUST" assign different responsibilities to each player.

 In social clubs games, we often find the position of "Leads" being that new players or novice which is learning the game. But when we come to a competition game where the Rules Book must apply; the lead must leave the Mat with a successful build head or the "Second" or "Vice" must perform those duties.

It is unfortunate that in a club social games the learning stops for the Lead as he is explained the above "Rule Book Duties for the Lead : Every day on the grean should lead to more learning of the game and continue to development of this player's ability.

 In Club Coaching the first 4 lessons sessions (2 hours each) often teach a new player how to throw the jack and roll your balls and the important of having and developing the line of delivery. In helping a new player and in a club social games we often see "The Skip" standing with a pointed foot indicating  the expected delivery line. This is the Coaching which has worked it way into the "Club Social Game" however in the Lawn Bowls Rule 34  it says

  " 34 Objects on the green  - Under no circumstances, other than those described in laws 14, (bowl or toucher) 18, (Jack) 41, (Disability or blind accessories) 49, (Green boundries) and 56.5, (Green marks like a respot mark) must any object be placed on the bank, the green, in the ditch, on the jack, on a bowl or anywhere else to help a player"

In other words, unless  a natural occurance element of the game, like the boundry markers;  or the surrounding landscape; no object can be placed on the green to help the player in his delivery of his bowl. Certainly not during  a Major competitions. Too often we see the  "Team Skip" stand off center line to inidicate the delivery line. The "Team Skip" or :Team Vice" can move around the head and even give a indicated reference of his opinion of the delivery line; but when the player is on the mat doing his delivery the "Team Skip" is expected to be on center line in the head.  Yes, the Skip can indicate the expected delivery line as a reference  (wider or narrow) but can not place an object (his foot or  bowling towl) on the green. Also it is forbidden to use  placed object (bowls bag)  on the side of the bank as an indication of :Delivery Line.

If during a competition play in the following games, there will be the changing of the "Centre Line" as the new area of play is changed; then all marks from previous games such a Center Line chalk marks must be removed as they can become Line indicators in the following games. Of course natural occuring  surface damage or surface coloration is considered as a natural element of the playing surface.

This blog will be divided into three parts as I will look at three aspects of "Lawn Bowls" competition play

1. - Most competition games are timed  games and all team players should know how to complete the total number of  14 or 16 ends of play without too much difficulty. (This Blog)

2.  Although the role of the lead is the place the Mat, throw the Jack, and play the first set of bowls; there may be other aspects of competition Play and the game which now has become the responsibility of the lead  and vice as they attempt to stay within the boundries of the Time Limit. (Blog "Vice and "Lead as a Team")

3.  Defining a Lawn Bowls Competition requires the Organizing committee  and the Skip to know the expectation of both as the "Vice or "Second" works to help  the  skip finishes all ends of play. This harmony of team players and expectation of the Officials may mean the understanding of "Being Placed on a StopWatch" Appendix 5 as a control of the playeers. Also it may mean how the Organizing committee defines the time indicators and end of play. Without knowledge of these a team may lose several minutes per end of play and result in not getting that last jack into play before the end of the time limit. (Blog "Timed Competition and StopWatch Rule"

In recent weeks I have had watched  a five consecutive days of qualifying play as the regional teams attempted to qualify for the Atlantic Championships.  These Playdowns have been a total of 10 teams ( five women and five  Man) playing at the different Lawn Bowling Clubs around Montreal over five days to win the honour of the two teams which will represent our province Quebec.

 When building a team to represent the province or participate at national or  international games the decision of who will be the "Team Lead" is usually the most important choice in building the team. Not only should the individual have the skill to perform as a Competition Lead but should have the knowledge of who to assist the team toward it win.  The skip must know and analysis  the individuals ability and Knowledge. .

Being A Competitive Lead -  A recent conversation with20 year veteran who has respresented our Province several time on the Canadian International scene; I heard him say
 “I regret that I did not stay "Team Lead" long enough when I started Lawn Bowls  at the club."
"They were meeding  a "Team Second" and asked me, next thing I knew I was always dictated as "Team Skip".
 "I wish that I had had five or 10 more years as lead before becoming Vice or Skip".
This is an all normal reference which skips make to their own development.

If the lead has the experience and moves into the position of second or vice they not only know what is expected of their lead but they also help their lead to develop into a good team leader game lead. 

So the lead becomes vice and the vase becomes skip if you want to win at a national or international level. That would mean 7 to 10 years lead 7 to 10 years vice and skips have 15 to 20 years experience.

What is the best place to put my balls as lead. The lead should always have his balls on around the Jack however  several things affect his ability to do this. 

1. The jack distance should be the distance that the "lead"" is capable of doing a "Natural delivery"

2. The decision to go "Forehand" or "Backhand" should be based upon the leads performance and inability..

3. The  skip should understand that by dictating a "Forehand" oor "Backhand" may not get the best performance from his "Lead" However if the skip has analyzes his leads ability, he may choose to go the opposite hand because the lead like everyone has  longer or shorter "Backhand" or "Forehand.". It is centain the strategy put demands upon all the team, including the lead.

First "What to learn or do in each of 3 section of "Game play". The game can be broken into three parts of four ends each. First 4 ends are " a learning or study" ends where we read the green (line and speed) and study the opponents' strength and weakness. Also this is the time to develop our ability to work as a team. There is no "I" in team/

Next we have "4 ends of strategy" where we attempt to gather the big point ends (or find we lost big ends and we are trailing) as we attempt to apply the previously learned information. Each player should learn unique facts which allow themself to do their job and position. Lead should know how to draw tight to jack or out-bowl  the opponent lead. Vice should be shifting from lead support to skip support. (Lead support is when lead does not get the tight head and vice (or second) must do the job.) Skip support may be anything from balancing of the head to blocks or jack-trails to create big point end. Hopefully when at the end of eight end the Vice and Skip know their abilities and are leading by 4 or 5 points or more. Bit everyone has bad ends and this Vice-Skip support allows for 6 bowls (in triples) to do the job needed.

The third end should be "Offensive or Deffensive" as you attempt to prevent losing the points by which you are leading or regain the points lost and now trailing.Remember by now most players have their line and weight so a off-centre jack may be the best gift from the "lead" or "Vice".Sometimes we find the last ends giving a big point win but it may be based upon a change of strategy (Sometimes I find an advantage (bad area to play) and wait to use it.).  

In some championship games we see 16 or 18 ends and here we are working on the ability of the team to outperform the opponents when after having played for 2 1/2 hours at which time everyone is tired. In these games a "Fourth Section" exist where strategy and ability is tested or found to fail the team. Some teams will fall apart after the end of 2 and 1/2 of play while others are just be getting started and are at their prime.

Most serious Competitions are "Timed Games" and in the rule book there is a whole  sections of rules

  5A = Players must play without undue delay and in a way which does not prevent their opponents from being able to complete the required number of ends within the time limit decided by the Controlling Body 

Ofcourse;  the Rule 33 "Leaving the green during the course of play"  only applies  in a non-timed game.

 33 33.1 No player must delay play by leaving the rink of play or their team unless their opponent agrees, and then only for no more than 10 minutes.

Therefore If a skip or Coach  feels this is not being respected they can complain and if the "Game Umpire" believes a team is causing unnecessary delay;( will also happen if the Controlling Body appeals as a result of its own observation) they can put that team on a "timed delivery" where all bowls must be played in 4 minutes. Which is checked by a timing umpire. The team may be allowed two time-outs as well as any delays by the umpire (measure) is also controlled. So the two teams should be able to complete the ends in 8 minutes or there about.

 In the rule book there is a whole section on this and the use of a timing official to check the team guilty of delaying the game.  Allowed two time outs this team loses their bowls if they do not delivery all their bowls in 4 minutes. An end is therefore expected to be completed in 8 minutes.

At this point = the umpire will tell the offending team that they are being ‘put on the stopwatch’ when any end in progress has been completed. (This (may)  also happen if the Controlling Body appeals as a result of its own observation.)

 Once the offending team has been put on the stopwatch, they will be required to deliver all their bowls in each of the remaining ends within a four-minute period (timed by an official specifically allocated for that purpose).

2) In each end, timing will start as soon as the jack has been properly delivered and centred (if the offending team is the first to play in an end) or as soon as the nonoffending team’s first bowl has come to rest 

3)Timing will then continue whenever the offending team is in possession of the rink, and will stop when the offending team’s last bowl of the end has been delivered.

4) Timing will stop during any interventions by the umpire (for example, to check a short jack or a line bowl) or any interventions by a coach.

 5) A skip can call for a maximum of two time-outs during the period in which timing is being carried out. 

 6) The timing official will tell the offending team when the time remaining in any end reaches one minute. 7)  At the end of the four-minute period (five-minute or six-minute period if time-outs have been called) the offending team will forfeit any bowls remaining to be delivered in that end.  (However, the non-offending team will deliver their remaining bowls to complete the end.)

Giving an example.. This weekend I watch a timed Playdown lawn Bowls game which was 14 end in 2.1/4 hours. The club, where the game was to be played; has requested the Organizing Committee to use protective screen. In order to get the best possible game, the skips of this particular game had decided to pickup the screens after delivery rather than has Screens in the Head during play.
However, when theend was finished and the  point declared it was the winning team "Lead" who took the jack, went and got the "protective screen" and after placing  it on the green' would return to placed the mat and throw the jack. Strange but the Vice did not hlep this Lead and the opponent lead and skip went about their tasks.
A clear indication of lack of co-operations between the teams and a complete waste of more than a minute to two per end ( over 30 minutes)
 Also one of the skips had a habit of staying in the head while his opponent skip rolled his bowl (another minute wasted) and this same skip had an occational  habit to go to the head before his last bowl. (another minute or two wasted)
 Of course the teans ran out of time and never played all the 14th end. Because the score was tired they played an extra end. This game, which was the final game of 5 was to define the  2nd team to respresent the regional at the Eastern Canada Competition.
  Nothing was said by the other skip..  You can be SURE that I would have been the first skip to communicate to the umpire of  the need to  ‘put on the stopwatch’  the ofending team in order ot allow both teams to finish all the ends of the game.  My belief is that "If the organizing committee decides to have a timed game they have to be prepared for a skip to apply the rules and ask for the use of the rules and time the team causing the delay.

In the beginning the offending team was leading 6 to 1 and although they did not win the honor to respresent the  region; the incident shows how important it is to have knowledge of how a Timed Competition Lawn Bowls Game is played.  In respect of the rules and in actions of all the involved players..  

Natural distance Bowls & the Wind (AMem)

Clean-up Feb 2026

"Natural distance" in Lawn Bowls refers to the distance which the bowl travels when we do everything with the same effort for all four bowls and once a beginner has a good delivery they will find their bowls at the same distance..

This blog will show how with knowing your "Natural Delivery Distance" you can measure variables of the Lawn Bowls Environment such as the "Effect of Wind on your Delivery or the change  in the speed of the bowl roll on the green as the Morning Dew lifts off the green and the green speeds up with heat from the early morning sun.

As we have for several years perform the same delivery movements; we now find our body has a "Muscle Memory" of how to delivery a bowl. Now to to keep this instinctive performance we do not change anything on our developed style of delivery; 

 If we can just relax and  just roll our bowl with our "Natural" movement, we will find that we have the same "Bowl roll distance: Of course, every game you, the bowler, will need to make some adjustments for those new conditions of play such as the green speed or  the environment like wind, rain, or dew.

The greatest bowlers were in the Australian Open this week and some heads looked like the Bowls had been dropped from a passing airplane because the wind was unbelievable.  But still great bowls was had as these players accept this as normal.

The stats of the blog readership is interesting as the visitors at this time of the year are USA , Canada and United Kingdom. As the season starts in Australia, their season is finishing and thankful to the internet we read blogs and watch games.

Stats several minutes later

Because I posted the blog to twitter, and had a large follower of athletes; I was not surprise to see almost immediately readers from these regions. This weeks stats  showed a concern for the conditions of play and especially  Wind and Rain (damage to the greens). I felt the need to do a blog on Wind and how we can measure its effect on our Delivery.  We often forget how much the environment affect or makes a difference to our bowls; whether affecting us the bowler in our delivery or the actual bowl roll because of these conditions of play.        (Edit Feb/2026) Google Blogger in 2019 show stats of views differently.

"Muscle Memory" happens in sports because after several months or years of practice your body and mind knows how to coordination the muscles and the bowl is now delivered to a  "Natural Delivery Distance", After many years of Bowls,  I have developed three  different natural distances. This happens when we have removed or changed something in our delivery and the difference of a new bowl roll distance is created, So having a "Short Jack", "Medium Jack "and "Long Jack" Natural Distance allows for a Style of Delivery where I do something different knowlngly. Most great athletes have taught them self an instinctive Style of Delivery for certain conditions of play. (Jack Distance, Green Speed, or Wind and Rain)

. When as a new bowler and the coach has instructed all the aspects of a proper delivery; you have learn  that  the distance of bowl rolls depends upon the arm swing movement (pendulum) and the Body movement as you do a  step forward into the line of delivery.

 Today, when  I am doing a delivery without any body movement  my bowls goes to 22 or 23 meters (in Canada the minimum distance is 21 meters) and  with the natural "Step into the line of Delivery" my bowl goes to 25 or 26 meters. The third delivery "Natural Distance" is my rather heavy Pendulum swing delivery which is always near  the maximum distance and about 28 to 29 meters.

 Coming to the mat, I evaluate the jack distance and depending upon that distance I use my first bowl  at the closest "Natural Distance", I than add or remove the necessary weight to the bowl as needed for the adjustment to the jack ..

No Wind

When building a house you must build a good foundation and then construct on top of it. Lawn bowls is similar and  the foundation of Lawn Bowls is the natural distance. With the natural distance you can then develop the ability to add on a little weight or take off a little weight, depending upon the jack distance.

Your Natural Delivery can also be use to evaluate the playing conditions of your rink. At the beginning of the game we are given one or two Trial ends where we can roll a few bowls and see how our natural distance has changed with the condition of the green or the effect of some of the natural conditions such as dew on green, wind, or even the direction of the cut of the green)

In a later blog I will discuss how important the jack roll is to a player who knows their "National Distance". But also important is being able to evaluate all the elements of a bowl delivery which are affected by changing environment such as weather conditions.

 We can use  the "National Distance as a measure tape of consistence movement in our delivery and  what we expect as a result and Delivery distance; if conditions are the same. Here I will use an example of how the Natural Delivery Distance can be use to evaluate how a windy day will affect your bowl delivery.

  NO, the wind will not push your bowl the distance you see in the photo at the end of this Blog.  Yes your delivery distance will change the amount and you will say "Unbelievable" but by having a method of measure  " a constant Delivery distance" we can evaluate the reality.

 Each time you go out to the club green to practice you can now check and feel comfortable with the results even if you simply want to know if the Green speed has changed this morning  as the morning dew lifts off the green. A few hours later you can check if again and see that the green now is more dry because of a warm sun and note how your distance will change.. Go out in the rain and learn.

In the photo (above right) we see the bowl cleaning towel being used to check the wind. With the absence of any wind the cloth hang straight down and if dropped, the bowl towel would arrive at the foot of the player beside the mat.

Normal delivery and
changing wind.

. As the wind increases and especially in this exercise, where it is coming from behind the player we will see that as it had become a strong wind (photo 2)  if  the towel is dropped would probably be  blown a few feet in front of the player. Myself,  I use this distance of the towel movement as dropped as an indication of how much the bowls will arrive at the new distance. (2 feet is about 2 meters )

Setting up my study or testing distance.--- Because I know my  Maximum Distance "Natural" delivery is 27 meters; I therefore arranged two mat with a distance of 27 meters between them.. I decided that I would bowl from mat to mat with the wind behind me and  then in my face as I returned up the green.

 We will see in the photos  below that the result of the bowls rolling. when there was no wind or a occasional little wind  (photo  left) was with very little or a  small effect of the wind on the bowls  This is more what to expect under a  normal delivery.

  Noted that there is some distance of that bowl in front and closest to the camera because of the wind force had changed to a stronger wind at the time of that bowl  was being rolled.  However, with the other three bowls we find that the small partial difference is a normal wind changing conditions difference in the bowls.

 In Day 2 and 3 of this years Australian Open Bowls we find the best bowlers in the world still having bowls 2 or 3 mat length from the jack as their bowl and bowl delivery is affected by the rather strong wind..

Earlier, I wrote. "NO the wind will not affect the bowl that much" because there is more to a wind blowing during your delivery than its effect on the rolling bowl. Have you been out walking in a strong wind and remember how very hard it was to walk and force yourself forward  into the wind.  Or the wind behind you seem to push you along the minute you lift your foot to walk.  If you are a bicycle enthusiast you will know the effect of the wind when you are on the highway. With the wind behind you no effort is needed  to advance and then again with the wind in front of you it is like going up a hill and your probably will use a gear change to help you.

You as a bowler have a body movement which is mainly your step forward and some body movement because of your delivery swing. In the three photos below, we see the wind was strong and in the face of the player/ (photo 2)

Now it is important to describe the clubhouse as to the green because in one direction (into the wind) the clubhouse blocks the changing direction of the wind and so it only blows down the green toward the bowler. Here we discover how the bowls fall short when the player bowls into the wind. WHY ?? We are stepping into the line of delivery and the wind is stopping our forward movement as we force to step into the wind.  Therefore the bowl is effected as it rolls but more important; our natural delivery movement has been decreased as we stepped out and the final result is the shorter bowls.

A frontal wind
Photo 2

Depending upon the strength of the wind and the type of bowls that we are using; there is a different effect on our delivery and where the bowl will finally arrive.  However by using the "Natural Distance" as a constant  delivery distance, we can now see how much  the wind has an effect on our bowls and our delivery movements.

We will than know how to adjust for the wind and roll up to the jack.  Same with rain and a wet green.  Use your Natural Distance measure and get out there on the green and do some tests to understand a wet green or light rain effect on your bowl delivery..

In the photo 2a) and 2b) of the three photos  below; we see that  the wind is coming from behind the bowler and pushed the delivery body movement of our step forward to a faster pace as we hurry to catch our balance and thereby giving a increase bowl roll.

In Photo 2b? we see one bowl quite far off to the side of the other bowls.  WHY ??

The wind is not blocked by the clubhouse at that end of the green when I was on the mat. (our clubhouse is shorter than the 33 meters long   bowling greens and being  shorter and to the right of the green there is always a cross wind at that end of the green)  The cross wind or sudden change in direction at the time of my delivery has cause that bowl to roll  extremely to the left.  No, a side wind does not effect the bowl that much but the wind does affect my delivery.

But why so much?  Well this is the difference between a young bowler and a senior bowler.. I am 74 and my balance is less ridged and therefore feeling the wind I lost my balance as I step forward and made quite a bad delivery of the bowl.
 The photo shows how  I delivered the bowl way of line by the lost of my balance and my quick step to prevent myself from falling as I stepped forward. If I had felt the change in wind direction I would not have been surprise and probably made an adjustment before my bowl was almost ready to be released.

Effect of Wind behind and in Front of  the lawn Bowler

So the wind's affect is more than just its influence on the bowl as it rolls.  It affect your balance as you step into your intended "line of delivery" and even your mental concentration. Who of us would  be doing a delivery and not think of the sound we just heard behind  as we are doing the delivery.  Here, in the photo,

 I was trying to do a Natural Delivery and when I felt the wind; I thought "Oh that is strong" and  wonder how  it would affect my bowl delivery to the jack.  But it did more than I thought because I did not consider that my age made me lose my balance and a delivery very much off line.

New Technology today allows an iPhone camera to capture  the strength of the wind and the  effect it has on the distance of the rolling  bowl,  Ask some one to video you as your roll and study your movement is a good use of today's technology. We can see and understand more than just the  effect of  the wind  on the bowl if we take the time to understand our sport and its requirement of us.

Thinking of this new information (how the wind affect our Bowl Delivery) we can make conclusions which will help our game. Like remove the body movement from a long Jack delivery.  When playing a game in a rather strong wind, Is a short Jack or Long Jack easier to play?  Well we see from the above information that to do a long jack Bowl Delivery we will use a lot of forward body movement; so a long jack will be harder to play as the wind varies and the bowls delivery is affected by the wind.

Stats of Blog 2019 on Feb/2026 with 1143 reads/views and 6 Comments.

Edit Feb 22, 2026 - Clark. who has comments following here also has a blog site called "The Greenbowler" which also offers interesting views on Lawn Bowls.

Muscle Memory Managing Part 3

 This Blog is hard to compose because it is important to consider the audience which is mostly Lawn Bowler Elite or athletics and the incident shown here come from a similar sport. Petanque, the french "Lawn Bowls" game.

This blog which deals a bit with management of our "Void" or "Zone" (empty thought) entry and exit is more a warning than instructions.  Although. most of us will  only be in the "Zone" for a few microseconds and the return to the conscious mind will be uneventful. This absence of thought or mind, even for a few microseconds, can cause  anxiety. Why? Because you were awaken from this mindlessness state bysomething or by a method of which you have not developed an awareness or become accustom. Let say that your return to conscious mind was caused  by a surprising  noise.  One would say that having developed a good concentration would not allow that noise to interfere. But remember that if  we are not consciously in control of our reactions or feelings, (while being in the Zone) this interruption can take the form of a danger.

This human body and its creation is amazing when we.

 think we are totally in control of our actions. But are we ?? In an earlier Blogs I discussed the Conscious and Subconscious mind and how it works together for each of our actions. We learn that, we first "think it", AND, we then  "do it"  and how we allow the mind to remember the muscle actions.

In an earlier blog of this series we saw how Muscle memory is important to the Alley Bowler and for this reason I study the Blogs stats to understand what followers are reading,

A subject like Muscle Memory or being "In the Zone" as explained in a December 2012 blog. This idea may be new to many lawn bowls athletics and these topics of how to use and develop Concentration . We often think Concentration means strong thinking of what you are doing so that other thoughts or sounds do not interfere. But we continue to see that beside have a mind clear of distraction during a Bowls delivery we are sometimes fighting to make our actions the best they can be while under our control.

 Only now we are be told that you must stop thinking and go into an emptiness or "void of thought" (The Zone) and let your Subconscious mind perform that work. In the above  December blog on "In the Zone,  I wrote  "Things like Performance arousal or performance anxiety should be understood as a conflict with letting the subconscious mind take control and attempting to maintain control (by conscious mind)".  Now I will attempt to show how this happens and maybe later attempt to show how we must work to prepare our self for the false information we might receive during our time coming out of this mindless state void.

In a December 2012 blog, called Previsalization and instinctive I explain how I tricked a student into thinking something had happen which did not really happen.  To understand this we must look at a youtube video of a Petanque player practicing his takeout shot. In this 2008 video Mark Vildeboer is shows his previsalization with his tell.  Watch his left toe as he visualizes his shot several times before actually throwing the ball.

The Paint photo at left has the jack (Yellow ball) placed as it would have been when Alex was working at shooting what is called " a hidden jack" (behind the ball hidden from view, as in this photo) While he was walking back to the shooting circle to do his practice of "Hit the jack" shot,  I tricked him ( and his mind) by removing the jack as he walked away toward the shooting circle (mat of Petanque) and would attempting to do the shot. Done properly, his thrown ball would have gone over the ball on the ground and hit the jack. .On the second attempt, he made the  expected shot and  would have hit the jack  if it had been there, (Most important, he had  thought he had hit the jack and the subconscious had filled in all the necessary images needed to see what happen)  But remember I had removed the jack from the original place but his subconscious and mind did not know that the jack was not there). 

Because he had seen it fly out from behind  the Petanque balls many times before when he had done this shot  in the past, he thought that he now saw the jack fly this time too.  He told me where it had gone and we both went there looking for it..After a few minutes of serious looking I showed him the jack was in my hand and   I explained that all the time the jack had been in my hand and that the mind had substituted a memory to create this false reality."

The purpose of this training exercise was to show the strength of the subconscious mind and not to show the false information. At the 8 meters shooting distance, the mind had detected not only that the shot was done with proper precision, but also that it was just a bit to the right of the center of the jack.(Yes the subconscious was able at 8 meters approx 25 feet detect a difference of a few millimeters or 1/16 of an inch) So the mind shows an image of the jack flying to the left as if hit. We went to look for the jack where Alex and seen it go (to the left as Alex had seen the image in his mind) This feedback ability of such precision is important in understanding the subconscious mind and this was Alex's lesson. Alex at those years was doing his sport at World Competitions and this understanding was important.

We find, as we understand Muscle Memory that with experience,the mind has remembered previous actions done many times and performing them  with you only needing to think of the expected result. ("the bowl delivery there to the left" )  We discover how hard it is to switch from "Conscious thinking Mode" to "Subconscious mind Mode". We learn that being in control (consciously doing the action) only creates an interferance with the  "Auto-performance Mode" call Muscle Memory.

 This weeks stats show a heavy following from all over the world of the earlier blogs on this topic and therefore I will use this opportunity to show how an experience of last month can create a health danger when  the subconscious mind simply " lose it" when switching back to the Conscious mind..

May 2019 Stats 

In a precious blog,   I showed that the subconscious mind  had insert  its own conclusions into its (the minds) evaluation of  the occurring events  and in the subconscious effort to fill in the gaps of missing information has provided false information. In the following incident I was switched into panic and anxiety mode as I exited "the zone" and my blood pressure took 15 to 20 minutes to return to normal..

A study of the speed of our eyes ability show that our television and earlier movie Camera work at a speed of 60 Hz or 60 frames per second. So a 60 hz monitor give an image which is perfectly steady for our viewing. This is half of the 150 fps (frames per second) which studies show that the eye can detect. Above this 150 fps the eyes provides information so that what the eye don t see it assumed that it sees or has happen. Like the mind assumes that there is a continuation of action.( in the same direction) will give that result expected. . Here I should mention there are two other aspects of vision which help us see our world. First, the eye can retain an image on the retina for a small time after seeing it and we can even analysis that image. Look at the window in front of you and then close your eyes and see the burnt image on the retina. Analysis the image to see how much of curtains, winder frame or even outside images you still can see. Secondly we have a subconscious mind which fills in information not seen or analysis ed. This subconscious mind remembers from previous experience what happen and will attempt to defines the results of a sudden unexpected event. This is what happen in the above Petanque story.


Sometimes this subconscious creation of events which did not occur but which becomes a problem. Especially in Crimes where witness may have memories of things they did not actually witness. The following event created a false event which put me into a panic and anxiety mode and required at least 15 to 20 minutes for blood pressure to return to normal.. That is why, In this Blog I will attempt to show this danger.

 Being in "The Zone" which allows the subconscious to take control of muscles may be different in different sports. In golf it will perform a perfect swing and return to conscious to show you the flight of the golf ball as you exit "The Zone". However if your conscious mind is returned  to consciousness with what it thinks  was danger and events that had happen during previous practice or events; it will follow thoughts you had  before going into the subconscious void or "the Zone"

. As an example, We have the automatic response to brake the car during danger ;like an accident,  however if  the individual in their return to reality has a delay following the accident; as sometimes happening.and awake somewhere else like in an hospital bed; they will need time to accept and adapt to the new reality of events.

. This is a unique experience which must be lived to be understood but until reality does clicks into prospective we will relive those  fears and anxiety of the moments which we missed..  In  some Sports and especially Combat action sports; to have an automatic response or subconscious action at a time of danger can creates emotional baggage of the empty mind "In the Zone" action.   In such cases, the missed reality which occurs when the mind become aware and conscious  control  returned from the subconscious; can become unsettling or hard to handle.

. We will see that it can be a game changer because afterward you will be afraid to return to "The Zone" or allow Muscle Memory performance for fear of it happening again.. Management of these reactions to allowing and using the subconscious mind  must become a developed skill of expectation and calm which will allows you to pass quickly through the  anxiety.

After many years of sports and coaching, I find blogging an exciting study of thoughts as I attempt to continue my interest in the topic of the Zone in Sports. At 74, I am doing less club coaching and although still actively participating in competition; I no longer work with students which need the teaching of this  topic. Blogging about Muscle Memory or Performance from within the :Zone" are aspects of my own personal experience.

Muscle memory is best defined as " a continual repetition of our practice and performance movement which eventually creates a memory of how that muscle works with other muscles"while we are involved with this action or task. Eventually after much practice, we unaware of our actions allow the subconscious (mind) to perform these muscle movements either by danger or intentional tand without interferance of thought we create a perfect  action.

Or in Lawn Bowls a Perfect Delivery of weight and line. and thereby rolling a bowl to a certain distance. In the previous blog about changing the muscle memory we saw an alley bowler video and how hard it is to change the various areas of movement and muscles that you use in your perfect performance. Eventually we are so developed of this action that we have now allowed the subconscious to perform those actions when we trigger the transfer of mind to the subconscious..

 In my last social game I discovered what I call a panic or anxiety due to the void created by allowing the subconscious could take control of your actions. In previous blogs concerning muscle memory I explain that it was necessary to allow the body to perform the action that it had been trying to. 

However when you are allowing the subconscious to perform your movement and the muscle memory you are placing your mind (concentration) in a void or zone. In a previous blog we had a video where the great golfer Tiger Wood said that when in this Void or "The Zone" He does not have any awareness of what he has done. How he is not aware of anything for several micro seconds and his swing and hitting the ball is just a "Doing it".

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Previsiization and Instinctive

This blog is a republish of a December 2012 blog because of a recent interest in this subject.\

December 12, 2012  -  During the following weeks I will do several blogs, which willl di-mystic the ability to use previsializing as part of Lawn Bowls Performance. How a Blind individual can Lawn Bowl,  How we defind the variables of delivery and control them in our action.  And what the instinctive ability of Lawn Bowls is in relation to Previalization. There are extremely good coaches who know and teach this, so my blogs will be food for thought. As an training atlethic what actions you can fine tune to create better visualization and even develop the ability of performing instinctive
 This blog could be about concentration,  about yoga, about anything else.. but it is going to be about your mind visualizing or you telling your mind what you want by a visual image given to it.
 How a Blind individual can Lawn Bowl,  How we define the variables of delivery and control them in our action.


Certain sports can offer an insight into Lawn Bowls mental performance. Lawn Bowls requires Bowl delivery weight variables for distance.. but in Archery, the bow sends the arrow with the same force every time and only requires actually aiming to the expected spot.  In Petanque, doing a takeout shot requires not only mental ability or concentration ( because the ball going to the jack is travelling through the air and not affected by  conditions of the playing surface).

An example from Petanque the yellow ball (jack) is hidden in the video of this jack takeout shot.

 Alex was working at shooting  a hidden jack (behind a ball from the camera view in the video) While he was walking back to the shooting circle to do the "Hit the jack" shot,  I tricked him ( and his mind) by picking up the jack as he walked back to the shooting circle where  he would be attempting to shot it and make it fly out-of-bounds.by his shot striking it. On the second attempt, he made the Jack take-out shot and he saw his shot was good and thought he had hit the jack ( if it had been in the original place where it should have been he would have hit it); but  now was not there but in my pocket. Because he had made this shot hundreds of times and had seen it fly out from behind  the Petanque balls; so many times  in the past, he now thought that he had saw it fly out of bounds this time too.  He told me where it had gone and we both went there looking for it..After a few minutes of serious looking for it; I showed him the jack was in my hand. What we saw from this was as I explained that a Alex; was that all the time the jack had beens in my hand and that the subconscious mind had substituted a memory to create this false reality of his brain seeing it fly to the left." Why to the left ? The jack is only 1 1/2 inches and was at a distance of 20 feet (7 meters); but the subconscious in seeing the shot actually say that he had hit the jack on the right side and send it flying to the left. (at least this was the image that the subconscious mind gave Alex to fill that missing image which he would have saw if the jack had been there)  The subconscious mind was able to detect that if the jack was there it would have been hit on the right side.

  As a Archery coach who shoot instinctive,  A Petanque player or a Lawn Bowler: all have similar objectives... to get the send object at a specific target. The centre of the archery target,which may be gold paper (archery) a throw through-the-air 20 feet to take out  target ball (petanque) or roll 25 meters (80 feet to the jack (Lawn Bowls)
As an archer, I  have an instrument which supplies the same energy to the send object (arrow) or as the Petanque player, doing a take out shot, I do not have any objects causing deviation of the thrown ball ( as it is thrown through the air not rolled on greens like in Lawn Bowls). These sports all allow for the individual aspects of the subconscious mind actions to be studied.

 Golf is like four time worst than Lawn bowls because there are so many variables. Playing surface (18 different holes)  play conditions (weather, soil, crowds) and then individual changes which may easily involved changes in  a swing, the club, or some other force _ all giving a different  result;  And of course "technicial"  changes in the sport, from custom material to new types of balls, club heads and may more.. (If I do this.. I previalize that this will happen)

.
 What give me that experience?  If I was a swimmer and asking about body building and certain muscles I would look at health, exercise, muscle building and even scientific advances like material of swim suits.
  As a Archery coach who shoot instinctive,  or aA Petanque player which moved to Lawn Bowls all these have similar objectives... to get the send object at a specific target. The centre of which may be gold paper (archery) a take out ball (pétanque) or the jack (Lawn Bowls)
As an archer has an instrument which supplies the same energy to the send object (arrow) or the Petanque player has not object causing deviation of his thrown ball (thrown through air not rolled on greens); these sports allow for individual aspects of Lawn bowls to be studied.
    Then, as mention in the video of Tiger Wood on Previalization in Golf where so many variables are involved that to change a swing, a club, a force will cause a different result;  we become aware of visualization having a creative nature.. (If I do this.. I previalize that this will happen)
What is previalization...  Think  WRONG BIAS What do you see in your mind.  You have a post vialization of something you have experience.  You can actually remember the bowl going the wrong way. Do your remember all of it...from release to finish ?  Do you have a feeling of disappointment  at the time you realized that the bowl was on a "Wrong Bais".
You have experienced post visualization (the bowl rolling) Post emotional recall  your "Oh I hate that" feeling.  and you know all the tools (mind tools) are there to use in previsualization.
First, know your sport enough to define the variables. My experience with Archery which I do instinctive defines the variables which affect the arrow and those controls which are needed to preform consistancely. Why archery in relation to bowls?
  A Lawn bowl athelic must get away from the shooting to a spot image of Lawn Bowls. One can imagine the jack as the centre of a curling type playing surface wich various distance outward.  Actually, having watched Bowls australia use of a Ring overlay of circles to show individual bowls position and actual shot.
    Bowls atheatic like Ryan Bester, seem to bowl extremely quick from the time they arrive on the mat until final delivery are probably more instinctive than most.
  However, even the learning Lawn Bowler  from the first bowl they view rolling up the green visualizes what their bowl is going to do, They know it will turn inward from the outward side of the green.
    Wrong Bias... What do you see?  What do you feel ?  The two words  bring up a mind image of your bowl not turning into the jack but away from your expected  path.   Actually, you have just experienced a previsialized adjustment.  You remember being on the mat, doing a delivery and then feeling disappointed that the bowl had a wrong bias and rolled away from what you previalized it would do.
    What do you feel with the image and words Wrong Bias? Like hatred or love, feelings you identify; with the thought  and image of the bowl rolling the wrong bias, you have an emotional feeling.. probably memories of disappointment.  Maybe, your most serious Wrong Bias mistake memory.but also a emotional feeling is felt.
You have experience previsialization.  Post Previsialization.  With an mind eye image, emotions and even reactions. (some people say OMG)
  Instinctive.  what is that... Well, a baseball player in the outfield does not calculate the energy needed to throw the bowl to home plate. He simply swings the arm back and lets fly the baseball  and know it will arrive. An rock throwing primative man did the same.. He did not think of the running game he expected to hit for his meal, he simple threw his object and saw it hit the running game.
     Instinctive is the ability to allow the previsialized image of one action to become a reality.  That hunter thought where he must hit the running game. He felt the weight of the stone being thrown, He had thrown many times before and knew he had to aim a bit in front of the running object in order to have the stone arrive at the same time and place.
All of these things were left for the mind to remember, calculate and execute thus creating an instinctive image.  (Instinctive because it was not delayed by the individual thinking of various pass expereience, although part of the memories included the previous misses)
Over the next 5 or 6 blogs I will explain how to exercise your mind's eye to take control of action,  How visualization was part of that instinctive ability development.  And maybe even instruct how to have the mind sort out bad previsualization image.

   How nice it would be if we could make a bowl chute which placed beside the mat and pointed at a direction and with a certain incline to give a certain distance to your bowl.  Actually archery allows for that sort of action because the bow will send the arrow the same distance every time... 120 times (in a 1200 FITA).  The Bow will delivery the same energy every arrow released (correctly) and so it is just a matter of aiming.. If in bowls , would it not be great to have such a constant weight of delivery every bowl and just need to aim the bowl?
   On the other hand, some sports have so many variables, Golf for example that this previsialization can become a creative action.  Tiger Wood talks about this is his video at >>>>>>>>>>>  but what he means is  if he thinks of changing a variable what image of results are previalized.  Of course, he must perform the action perfect to get the result previalization.   And of course, to release the mind from our consious control to allow the mind to do all its things to create the results that follow the previalization.  AA out of body experience of absence or amaze of the minds ability and our ability.

Muscle Memory Changing it Part 2

 "" Changing muscle memory. Now what is muscle memory and why do I want to change it ? What  "muscle memory" is. (It is) the "subconscious action" that we consciously train our body to perform" from a youtube by a PBA Professional millionaire, the 24th in PBA  History.

To a blog writter , the reader stats can reveal a lot of interest in expectation of the reader. It can sometimes be rather discouraging as with today stats which showed no reader access to this blog posted yesterday., (found that yesterday twitter posting of this blog was with a link which was not accessable)  Google in making changes to Blogger has created a new and very long link reference which generated  to readers a   "ERROR 403 "Invalid Security Token". Corrected as you are now reading this.

In the previous blog writing I had mention the stats of Feb 12  which  shows how one reader with a large reading of 148 blogs from my pool of blogs; had made small and unreadable the visual stats of the regular daily readers. (See Stats Photo)

Feb 13 Stats of reader/views

In today's Stats this one reader had made me look deeper into what drew him to my blog and why spend time reading so many blogs.  Some of my blogs are rather long.

However this particular instance of Blog Stats gives some very interesting facts. First, to read 148 blogs, even to scan their titles, is very time committed as some of my blogs are very long. Also from  my stats i am  shown  that the search parameter was "Changing muscle memory in Bowling" and that the location of the reader was Denmark or Norway.

The balance of this blog is about Muscle Memory word for word of the video by "MonkeySee Video on Alley bowling  and instructions on how to Changing Muscle Memory.  In earlier blogs, I wrote about the Subconscious and Muscle Memory ( in  October 2016 Part 1) and here Part 2 and soon the final part 3.

This 2016 look at Muscle Memory is a long blog and I talked about many sports and how one must work at being in the Zone. I wrote about our use of Muscle Memory in Lawn Bowls but unlike the video below I didn't work on changing it but I place more important on the Subconscious mind and how an individual must let the Subconscious mind perform the Bowls Delivery.

Above,  I said the orgin  was Denmark as the residence of my blog visitor, because the dark area of the stats  map  )lower right) although it may show Greenland; we see that the whole of Greenland is not darken as the  source of traffic Therefore. I later discovered that the shaded  dark area to the right of Greenland appear to belong to Norway and is a small area of the coast of Greenlandon some maps is listed as " Jan Mayen Norway" Since my stats show two spots of reader usage it could be the reader send his friend to my blog. Or maybe I will discover that Norway has a second land area on the west of Greenland.

First thing of important is as always I am happy that my blog reaches out to new readers. Here, my blog has brought a Alley bowler to read what I wrote about the subconscious mind and Muscle Memory. In an earlier comment a reader wrote  '
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site. My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would really benefit from some of the information you provide. In some of the blogs we find reference is  to Tiger Wood in Golf  In Seeing the Shot, Visualization and I attempt to suggest how to relax and let your subconscious mind do the work.

The balance of this blog is the text of the video "How to change Muscle Memory"  on Youtube where Randy Petterson explains how Alley Bowlers who  want to improve their scores need to work to change their Muscle memory which the subconscious then uses to do the proper actions afterward 

Randy Pedersen

" Changing muscle Memory. Now what is Muscle Memory and why do I want to change it ? What "Muscle memory is (it is) the "subconscious action" that we consciously train our body to perform."

What raison may I want to change it?  Maybe my bowling scores are too low because I am throwing (my ball)  all over the alley."

"There is only one way to change muscle memory and that is by reprogramming the subconscious mind, This is done by making a physical change on a conscious level" .

To understand how hard it is to change muscle memory Randy then set out an exercise for the bowler to apply.

"And then by practising for 21 straight days.  3 to 5 games a day; before this conscious motion because the subconscious action." 

"This is the only way to change muscle memory/" 

Than Randy goes on to ask the student  by " to reinforce this (change) make sure that you have a friend that could videotape you or maybe you have a goals coach that could work with you throughout this process,"

 Taking a minute to know what he means by process. Maybe the alley bowler is doing a slide which turns his body and he must correct that bad movement.  For the lawn Bowler it would be thing of balance during a delivery where in catching your balance your body is leaning or throwing into the of-ballance side of your delivery.

Who is Randy Pederson ? Wijidepia  defined this Sportscaster as  " a bowler, who won 13 PBA titles, with his last coming at age 40 in the 2002 Pepsi Open. That title pushed him over the $1 million career earnings mark, making him the 24th millionaire in PBA history"

Randy Closes his video with " You want to get rid of the low scores. You want to throw more strikes. You want to have more fun in this great game; than change that muscle memory"

I have included this stats study, in my blog because all the sports have something in common. The individual who spend hours searching the net for something on his sport has ended up on my blog about subconscious development in Lawn Bowls. Also we see that all great athletic in some way uses their muscle memory and need to understand it and develops it.

New Blogs 2019

Many of my blogs have been on three  basic topics.

1- How a reader can improve their Bowls delivery and overall performance

Blog Stats of Feb 9th 2019

2. The need for bowler participation in the local club and the development of their Sport and

3. The various aspects of lawn bowls which is of danger to our sport as it  charges and destroys our sport.

Although getting on in age (74) I will attempt to do these next few months on various topics such as  Coaching and maybe link some of the blogs here from previous years together.

From the Blog Stats (Photo left) I see there has been  a good blog readership although I have not done any new blogs for over 6 to 8 months. Most of these stats are from new readers although sometimes previous readers return to re-visit a blog they liked.

 Looking at the stats of the blogs and what it show, after more than 6 months without any new blogs.. There has always been an "Readership  average " of 30 blogs/read per day. As per the world map, these readers comes from several countries,  However,  from the stats one can see that there are some interesting changes in Lawn Bowls development. Because my new readers are non-English countries. it means that  there new readers are  from Brazil, India and Spain The darkness of the Green (on the map) indicates the volume of reader from that country over the last week.(Of course Australia has always been a strong as has been Canada and USA)

As I write this in February 2019, the Northern Hemisphere Lawn Bowls is slow as we are waiting for spring. Some countries like England, USA have indoor bowls but most Lawn Bowls Clubs are now covered with snow and ice.. However, Australia and South Africa are now in their summer season and lawn bowls very active.

The topic I will tackle this month ( February 2019) will be aspects of Club coaching and why you the reader should get involved in your local Club. Not to suggest that you taking up a  coaching position but  all club members should become a participant in one of the many Club activities and  committees.

One of these committees is the Greens Committee which need volunteers to prepare

Damage to Green caused by footwear

 the greens for club games.
 Often these volunteers become involved in the annual greens maintenance and closure. In the blog "Greens Committee 1" we see suggestions of what members can do to help the club save money on Greens Maintenance.

 Interesting part of this blog is photos of green damage (photo right) done by squirrels who got a smell of food (apples nuts) from footwear which a member had wore throughout the day and then came and wore the same footwear onto the green.

 Every serious Lawn Bowler should have a special set of footwear which is only use on the green and stored in the clubhouse locker.

Although my blogs are sometime rather long, I try to cover all the various aspects of Lawn Bowls. In the blog "Greens Committee 2) I show photos of Clubs which have been closed and lost their greens to parking lots or other sports.  All clubs are in danger of such action unless they are privately owned.

With club membership being evaluated and the cost of land, sometimes we find the club being closed and the land being developed into a housing complex and the Lawn Bowls green turned into a great community Garden.

Club became housing and Garden

Club lost and became Parking Lot

An Article in Friday (Feb 8th) Scottish NewsPaper "The Guardian"  has a similar story of how a club must change to survive.

Scottish Club talks about how need to change exists