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Lawn Bowling Game
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Lawn bowling, often simply called Bowls, is a very old game most popular in the UK and Australia. Recently, the sport has become more popular and widespread in North America. Lawn bowling is not like the kind of bowling you do in a bowling alley; you are not trying to knock pins down. You are rolling a ball (called a bowl), however the aim is to get is as close as possible to the target which is usually a smaller white ball called the 'jack' or 'kitty' (the term 'jack' will be used here).
The bowls used in Lawn Bowling have this name because they are not perfectly round; their different shape (bias) determines the direction in which they will roll. They were originally made from wood but are now typically made of hard plastic. Each player has their own bowls, customized with engravings or stickers for identification.
Lawn Bowling is played on a bowling green - an area of grass or synthetic surface (around 35m or 40 yards long) which is suitably flat and divided into playing strips called rinks. At one end is the mat on which players must stand to throw their bowls. The world's oldest bowling green dates back to the 13th century, in Southampton, England.
The game can be played between two individuals or two teams of anywhere from 2 to 4 players on each team. These are known as singles (two players), pairs (two teams of two players), triples (two teams of three players) and fours (two teams of four players).
Points, called shots, are awarded for each bowl which a competitor has closer to the 'jack' than their opponents. A set number of shots are usually used to determine the length of the game, often 21 or 25. One game of bowls, including rolling out the target and each team rolling all their bowls is called an 'end'. With team playing, often a number of ends are pre-determined (such as 18 'ends') and the winner is the team with the highest number of shots.
The last bowls of an 'end' are most critical and many different tactics are used. Sometimes bowls are sacrificed to knock the opponents bowl away from the 'jack'. Other times, the 'jack' is specifically targeted in order to move it closer to bowls already in place. Also, bowls are sometimes rolled to specific locations to make it harder for the opponent to get their bowl close to the 'jack'.
Variations of Lawn Bowling include Bocce, Pétanque, Boccia and Curling. Bocce (the Italian version) is played on soil or asphalt and the balls used are round. The idea of the game is the same; a target is thrown and the game is to get your bocce balls as close to the target as possible. Pétanque (the French version) is also played on hard dirt. A circle is drawn and metal balls are thrown as close as possible to a small wooden ball while standing inside this circle. Boccia was developed for people with cerebral palsy in wheelchairs; it is now a Paralympic sport in which leather balls are thrown as close as possible to a target ball. Curling uses the same idea of trying to 'throw' something as close to a target as possible, however the game is played on ice. Heavy game pieces called 'rocks' are slid across the ice to a target which is painted beneath the ice.
Lawn bowling is a competitive sport, featured in the Commonwealth Games and with its own World Championships. A basic version of the game can be played in your backyard as follows:
Number of Players: 2 or more
Equipment: A grassy area, bowls to roll and one smaller one to be the target. Regular balls of different sizes can be used. For example, a golf ball can be used as the target and baseballs can be used as the bowls.
Object of the Game: To roll your bowl as close to the target as possible.
To Play: Toss a coin, the winner then rolls the target out on the grass. Players then take turns rolling their bowls (usually 4 each) from the determined start position trying to get theirs as close to the target as possible. Once all the bowls have been rolled, measure the distance from the target to the closest bowls (even if the target has moved). The player that has the bowl closest to the target wins.
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