Bowls
Bowls is a British ball sport . The word bowls is the English expression for " balls " (cf. Italian boccia , French boules ). As usual with all ball games, the aim of the bowl is to place your own balls or bowls as close as possible to a smaller, round target ball ( called jack or kitty in bowls ). Bowls is also known as precision sports.
history
According to an anecdote , Sir Francis Drake is said to have quietly finished the ball game in progress in 1588 after the news of the appearance of the Spanish Armada and before he started the attack, which was probably bowls. The first written rules for bowls date back to 1849 in a set of rules from Scotland , some of which are still valid today. The first bowls association was founded in 1890 by Scottish immigrants in Australia, which was followed two years later by a separate association in Scotland itself and in England in 1893.
Playing field (Green, Rink, Mat)
The green (German green ) should be rectangular or square, it should be between 31 m and 40 m long. It should be surrounded by a ditch (trench, gutter) between 200 mm and 380 mm wide and between 50 mm and 200 mm deep. Outside the ditch there should be a 230 mm high bench (gang).
For outdoor games, the surface consists of lawn or synthetic material; for indoor games, smooth carpet is usually used.
The green is divided into fairways (rinks), which should be between 4.8 m and 6.4 m wide (indoor: 4.57 m to 5.79 m). The field is marked by lines and stakes on the edge. In indoor games there is often only one lane, which is bordered on the long sides by boards.
A center line is marked on each fairway.
When handing over the game ball or the jack, the player must stand on a mat that should be 600 mm long and 360 mm wide. The first player places them on the center line at each end, with their leading edge at least 2 meters from the back ditch and 25 meters from the front ditch.
See also: Boulodrome
Teams, formations
The singles game is predominantly played in bowls. In addition, it is also played in formations for two (pairs game), three (triples game) and four (fours game). There are also side games, series of singles games, team games or side games and tournament forms (tournament of games).
regulate
In the singles game, each player has four balls. In the other formations, each player has four, three or two balls.
The biggest difference to other ball sports is that the "balls" are usually made of plastic and are slightly flattened and their center of gravity is shifted to one side. As a result, they run on a curved path.
At the beginning of the game, the jack is "thrown" by a player who was initially drawn by a coin toss, that is, he is rolled to the other end of the lane by the player standing on the mat (similar to bowling ). The jack should lie at least 23 m from the front edge of the player mat and a maximum of 2 m from the end of the lane. From the position where the jack remains, it is placed on the center line by the referee at the same height (i.e. parallel to the short side of the lane). If the jack runs too far, it is placed on the center line 2 m from the end of the lane (i.e. where the ditch begins). If the jack leaves the side limits, the opponent may throw the jack. If the jack runs too short or the player leaves the mat too early, the opponent may replace the mat and throw the jack.
Then the bowls are alternately "thrown", i.e. the balls are rolled towards the jack so that they remain as close as possible to the jack or even touch it. The moment the ball leaves the player's hand, the player must have at least one leg still in contact with the mat or over the mat. Then he can leave the mat. Sometimes players also run the entire path of their ball.
Balls that run too far and fall into the ditch are removed from play and not counted. If a ball touches the jack, it is marked with chalk and remains in play even if it rolls into the ditch or is pushed. If the jack is pushed into the ditch, it remains there and all further balls must be played as close as possible to the jack without falling into the ditch.
After each player has thrown his balls, it is scored. There are differences in the scoring system, but the basic principle is the same. All balls of one color that are closer to the jack than the ball of the other color that is closest to the jack are determined and scored accordingly. Only one player can score per "end". Balls that are more than 2 m away from the jack are not scored.
Then the jack is thrown again in the opposite direction to the end that has just ended and a new end begins. The number of ends per set varies from tournament to tournament, and a tie-break is also played.
distribution
The spread of the sport is currently limited to Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Cyprus, as well as parts of the USA. Since 2000, several bowls clubs have also been founded in Denmark. In Germany, this sport has so far only found few fans. There are e.g. Currently two lawn bowling clubs. One is in Löbichau , East Thuringia, the second in Meppen (Emsland). There is also no official association. The German Boccia, Boule and Pétanque Association as the umbrella organization for ball sports in Germany has not yet had a bowl section. There are only a few German-language television broadcasts on Eurosport. In the rest of Europe, bowls-like games like boccia (Italy) and pétanque (France) are more widespread .
Organization and events
The world organization is World Bowls , which has been a member of the CMSB since 2003 . Bowls is played at the Commonwealth Games .
See also
Information about the playing field: Boulodrome general information about ball games and the ball dimensions: Ball sports
Web links
- Page about the World Bowl Tour with information about well-known players and a list of the best
- Homepage of the PBA (professional bowles association)
- Rules
- World Bowls Ltd.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bowls rules ( Memento of the original from February 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on worldbowlsltd.co.uk (English)
