Useful Information for New Bowlers
On this page, you will find everything you want to know about bowls, where to buy them, recommnedations for suitable footwear and clothing, and some information about playing the game.
Bowls
There are several brands of bowl available to buy.
Bowls come in a range of sizes, weights, grips and colours, and can also be personalised with your choice of motif.
The four most common brands are Aero, Drakes Pride, Henslite and Taylor. Each brand offers different models that have different bias that affect the way the bowl bends after leaaving the hand..
It is advisible to try bowling with different makes and models before buying a brand new set of bowls.
Bowls can be purchased new from a variety of sources including The Bowls Shop and Potters, and second hand on eBay.
Clothing and Footwear
When playing social bowls, the dress code is usually relaxed such as t-shirt, casual trousers, shorts or skirts.
When playing competitive matches including league matches, Saturday firiendlies and club comptetitions, members should wear a Club shirt and appropriate coloured clothing below the waist.
Club branded polo shirts can be ordered through the Club, as can branded waterproof and windproof jackets. Non club jackets must be predominantly white.
Shoes should be trainers or flat soled bowling shoes.
BRUSH BOWLS CLUB SHIRT
The Game of Bowls
The Basics
Bowls is played on an area of grass called a green, which is divided into lanes called rinks. Players take turns to deliver their bowls from a mat at one end of the rink towards a target ball, referred to as a jack, situated at the other end of the rink. The bowls are shaped so that they take a curved path towards the jack, known as the bias.
The aim of the game is to get your bowls closest to the jack. One point is given for each bowl nearer the jack than the nearest bowl from the opposition. For example, if you or your team has three bowls closer to the jack than your opponent’s nearest bowl then you will score three for that end.
Each game is spilt into individual ends. After playing all the bowls in one direction and agreeing the score, the next end is played back down the rink in the opposite direction. The winner of the previous end will cast the jack.
There are different formats of the game. You can play singles or as part of a team, and matches can vary in duration. The winner can either be the one who scores the most shots after a specified number of ends or the first to reach a designated score.
Delivering the Jack
Before delivering the jack, you should stand on the mat and face forward with your feet pointing towards the jack, but to one side of it depending which way you are planning to curve the bowl. The bowl should feel comfortable in your favoured hand and be placed outside the hip to enable an unimpeded backswing. You should be looking where you are aiming.
Most players combine a forward step with their backswing. On completion of your backswing, swing your arm forwards whilst bending your knees so, at the moment of release, the hand holding the bowl is almost touching the ground. This helps the bowl roll smoothly towards the jack. At the moment of delivery, make sure at least one foot is on the mat.
The Bias
To make it easy to know which side of the bowl the bias is on, bowls have a large disc one side and a small disc on the other. Bowls curve towards the side with the smaller disc. So, if you are right handed holding the bowl with the small disc on the side nearest your thumb, the bowl will curve from right to left so you need to aim to the right of the jack.