Many of you may have seen bowls being played at the local park or sports centre but have not fully understood what was happening. Here are some of the basics of playing bowls:
1. The aim of each team is to roll their bowls on the ground so that they finish closer to the jack (the white/yellow ball) than the opposing team’s bowls. For each bowl that finishes closer to the jack than the closest opposing bowl one shot is scored.
2. Matches are played to a specific score or to a fixed number of ends. Singles matches tend to be played to a specific score whilst team matches are played to a certain number of ends or a set time. An end is completed when all players in both teams have played their bowls to the jack.
3. The person or team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.
The Bowls that are played with have a bias, and in order to play the game successfully it is necessary to roll the bowl in the right direction and at the correct speed so that the bias will bring it back to the target. Simple!
For more information about bowls and related governing bodies please visit our Links page.
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