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Coaching Tips
TACTICS
FOR WINDY CONDITIONS Becoming proficient in perfect conditions is not enough for the player who really wishes to master the game. Bowling greens can change very quickly and the player striving for good length must always be on the look-out for such changes. One of the factors that can affect the true run of the bowl, and the major one, is wind. To become expert under these conditions there is no substitute for regular practice on windy days. Wind can be across the green giving a wide and narrow hand, diagonal giving heavy conditions when delivering into the wind and faster when finishing with it, or straight up and down giving variation of pace. It can be steady or gusty and naturally it is not possible to master the unexpected. It is therefore essential that you select and play the true hand whether it be wide or narrow. If you do this you will find these vagaries much easier to overcome. Now, as was stated earlier, there is nothing more helpful than to go out and practice on windy days, but the following hints may be found useful when trying to handle the green on a windy day. We all know that bowling with the wind directly behind you can make the speed of the green metres faster than when playing into the wind, particularly on fast greens. A trick that is often used by experienced players is to play short ends with the wind and long ends against the wind. Length control is then very difficult, but the more expert player feels that it is possible to do better than an inexperienced opponent. |
| On a day when the
wind is blowing strongly across the green and there are thus a very wide hand and a very
narrow hand, a player, to handle the narrow side, should deliver from the outside of the
mat and for the wide side from the inside edge of the mat. The changed line of delivery will help counter-act some of the wind effect. See diagram 1 |
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If a diagonal wind is
blowing from right to left across the rink and you are a right-handed bowler, try the
narrow hand first. Stand on the extreme left edge of the mat and direct the bowl on its arc towards the jack and you will find there is less catchment area for the wind to alter the bowl in its course. See diagram 2 |
| Playing from the opposite end, with
the same diagonal wind, play from the centre of the mat and try the swinging or wide hand
where the wind will help the bowl to arc towards the jack. In all cases establish which is the truer hand to play and play accordingly. Do not wait for wind gusts to abate. Treat the wind as being constant and play percentages. See diagram 3 |
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