Pre-shot routine
Ready when: The pendulum swing and the mat (b2) started.
What you are learning
A routine of the same few steps before every roll: decide the shot, stand behind the mat facing the line, pick a fixed object to aim at, think "how far, how fast", then step on. Good bowlers stay calm and steady because their routine never changes.
Words on this card Bowl, Jack, Mat, Shot, Line, Pre-shot routine
- Bowl
- The heavy ball used in the game, slightly flatter on one side.
- Jack
- The small white ball that is the target.
- Mat
- The small rubber mat the player stands on to bowl.
- Shot
- A point; each bowl nearer the jack than the other side's nearest.
- Line
- The direction the bowl is aimed, which is wide of the jack because the bowl curves.
- Pre-shot routine
- The same few steps before every roll.
Show it first for the one teaching
- Stand one step behind the mat, facing the jack.
- Say the shot aloud: "I want it to stop just short of the jack".
- Pick a fixed object in line, such as a tree or a door handle, and think "how far, how fast".
- Step onto the mat and roll.
Your part while they practise
Watch the routine; do not help.
Step by step
- Decide the shot.
- Stand one step from the mat facing the line.
- Pick a fixed object as the line.
- Think "how far, how fast".
- Step on to the mat and roll.
How much: 10 shots 8 min a session 3 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Say the plan
Before each roll, say the plan aloud; after it, say whether the bowl did what you planned.
Who plays: 2 players against each other, taking turns.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Place the jack 5 m away
- Each player does the routine and says the plan aloud
- After the roll, both players say whether it matched the plan
- 10 rolls each
- Fair play
- A grown-up rolls from 7 m.
- Points
- 1 point for doing the full routine; 1 point if the ball stops within a body length of the jack.
- Fouls
- No points for that roll
- Skipping a step of the routine
- Rolling before saying the plan
- Rolling while the other player is on the mat
- Winning
- More points after 10 rolls each.
- 8 points for 1 star
- 13 points for 2 stars
- 17 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
A three-step routine.
The full routine with a focus object.
What you will see, and what to say
- the routine is skipped
Same steps every time
Every roll, all the steps. - the child hurries
Stop, look, then step
Take a breath first.
Self-check
The routine is used before 9 of 10 rolls.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains routine, focus.
awiseathlete.com/sports/lawn-bowls/lawn-bowls-b3