Lawn Bowling

Spend a fun afternoon bowling under the sun

Lawn bowling can be a great hobby for people of all ages, but it is especially popular with seniors. It is a great way to stay physically and socially active.

Before you begin to play, you must have the proper lawn bowling equipment:

• Comfortable, loose-fitting clothing. Many clubs insist on the tradition of wearing all white, especially in competition.
• Four lawn bowling balls, called bowls. As with traditional bowling, lawn bowls are available in different sizes and weights. Be sure to find a set that fits comfortably in your palm. Each set of bowls has a unique emblem, in order to tell your bowls apart from other players’ bowls.
• Flat, rubber-soled shoes. If you get serious about the game, you will want proper lawn bowling shoes. Beginners can get by with a pair of soft-soled tennis shoes.

The basic lawn bowling rules are simple to learn, but the techniques can be difficult to master:

• A lawn bowling match is made up of ends. To begin an end, a small white ball called the jack is rolled. This will become the target for the other balls for the rest of the end. The idea is to get your bowl closest to the jack. The jack will typically be anywhere from 75 to 105 feet away.
• The most important technique in lawn bowling is curving the bowl in order to get close to the jack as momentum is lost. Many players consider this technique an art as it is very difficult to perfect and is in most cases the key to winning.
• Once all players have bowled all their bowls, the end is scored. The team with the closest bowl to the jack scores one point. That team then scores one additional point for every other bowl that comes closer to the jack than any of the opposing team’s bowls.
• The final scoring of the game depends on where you play. Sometimes the winner is the team with the highest score after 18 ends. Alternatively, the winner may be the first to score 21 points.

Lawn bowling fun at any level, but it’s tougher than it looks. You can get quite a workout, too, making it a great senior fitness activity. The most important thing to remember about lawn bowling is that it can take a while to perfect the proper techniques. This is why many beginners can benefit from lawn bowling lessons. You can also learn a lot from a club that is non-competitive. This will allow you to socialize with likeminded bowlers and learn things from more experienced ones.