Welcome

As a small club, in numbers but not in spirit, new members are our lifeblood.

As a new member you are particularly welcome and it behoves every member to make your time at the club an enjoyable one. As the sign in our clubhouse says ‘there are no strangers in our club just friends who have not met’.

Despite bowls being a simple game there are many protocols which you should be familiar with. The most important of these are when you step onto the green. Hopefully the following will assist.

Winning the toss

The team winning the toss can decide to go either first or second at the first end.

Mat placement

The player placing the mat should face the rink indicator to ensure it is placed squarely.

The mat can be placed with the front edge on the 2 metre mark (this is usually marked with chalk) with the centre line lengthwise along the centre line of the rink.

On our green the 2 metre mark is indicated at the sides by the red marker. At subsequent ends the team winning the previous end may place the mat as above or anywhere on the rink as far forward as the white marker with black markings.

When asked the position of the mat the lead should indicate as follows: -if the front edge of the mat is on the 2 metre mark the mat is “0 mats up’. If the back edge of the mat is on the 2 metre mark then the mat is ‘one mat up” and so forth.

The jack should then be centred on the rink.

Jack delivery the legal distance

Once delivered, a jack must end up at least 23 metres from the front edge of the mat wherever it is placed.

If the jack goes into the ditch at the far end or goes out of bounds on the side of the rink there are options for the opposing team depending on the conditions of play. Under “open conditions (as in tournaments) the jack is returned to the opposition lead to deliver.

If the jack goes into the ditch or out of bounds a second time, it is placed on the 2 metre mark.

Each time the jack is delivered as in the above situation the leads can place the mats anywhere at their choice.

Bowl out of bounds

If any part of a bowl breaks a line joining the yellow markers indicating the width of the rink then the bowl is in play.

To ascertain if a bowl is out of bounds, the player who played the bowl stands on the bank behind the rink boundary marker and signals to players at the other end of the rink.

During the course of a game, if a bowl from the next rink looks like it is coming onto your rink, it is your responsibility to do one of the following:-

1. If the bowls looks like it will run into a bowl on your rink and this bowl is not a winning shot, pick up your bowl to let the other bowl through and then replace it in its original position
2. If the bowl looks like it will run into a winning shot stop this bowl, pick it up and hand it to a person on the other
   rink.
3. If a bowl looks like it could run into several bowls on your rink ask others to help, or just stop the offending
   bowl and give it to the person on the next rink.

Touchers

A delivered bowl touching the jack is marked with chalk or spray. If the marked bowl, during the course of play, goes into the ditch it is still live and should not be moved until the end is complete.

Any later bowls going into the ditch should be stopped before they interfere with either the toucher in the ditch or the jack.

If the jack is knocked into the ditch it is still alive provided it is still within the rink boundaries. A jack knocked out of the rink in championship competitions is called a ‘killed jack’ and means the end is ‘dead’ and must be replayed.

There are different rules for the placing of the jack in other competitions.

Counting the shots

The appropriate players (the 2 in triples and 3 in fours) from teams A and B agree on which side has the ‘shot bowl’.

Assuming it is team A’s. This bowl can then be moved well away from the other bowls onto a duster. Player from team B then indicates his team’s bowl that he believes is now closest to the jack. It is measured. The measurer then measures to the team A’s bowls to ascertain if any, or how many, are closer to the jack than team B’s best bowl. While this is happening the lead of the side which has won the end gets the mat ready to deliver the jack for the next end and the losing 2 or 3 puts up the score.

Maraetai Bowling Club Coaches

Derek McKeen Ph. 536 4626
Logan Kemp Ph. 536 6636

Coaching sessions are open to all club and prospective members by arrangement with coaches.

Additonal Learning Rescourses

For more learning by video see The Basics of Lawn Bowls provided by Aucklands Bowls.