The Bowling Club

[How biased are you?]

Maybe you’re new to bowls, perhaps you’re thinking of changing your current set. Whatever the reason, take a step back. Selecting a set of bowls is a very personal thing; what works for one person may not work for another. Try or borrow as many makes, sizes and biases as you can. Find out what feels good in your hand. £450+ for a shiny new set of bowls is quite an investment and you want to get it right.

Brands

The four major players (in no particular order) are Thomas Taylor, Henselite, Drakes Pride and Aero. You’ll also find brands such as Almark and Greenmaster but these bowls are manufactured by the major players (Henselite and Taylor in these cases), but don’t dismiss them as they can offer more economical options.

Weights

Quite simply, the bigger your bowl, the heavier it will be. Bowls used to be made in medium and heavy weights. Today almost all bowls are heavy weight, so size and bias are the only things you need to consider.

Sizes

Bowls are available from size 0000 up to size 5, depending on manufacturer. There is a definite trend to move away from larger bowls, and although you’ll still see size 5 (or even older size 6) bowls on the green, it’s not a bowl anyone orders from new. Men will typically play with sizes 2, 3 and 4, while ladies generally opt for sizes 00, 0, 1 and 2.

Aero bowls also come in half sizes.

Choosing the correct size

The Henselite website suggests trying the following:

• Wrap both hands around the middle of the running surface so that your thumbs are touching. If your middle fingers are close to touching this indicates a good fit.
• Practice swinging with the bowl in your hand. It’s a good size if you can maintain your grip easily and comfortably.
• If you hold the bowl out in front of you with your bowling hand for 30 seconds without dropping it this is a good indicator.

In my opinion you should ignore the first one: if I used this method I’d be playing with a size 1 or 2. Have a look below at the pictures I’ve taken.

The second method just seems like common sense.

I think method three is the best one to go with, although it doesn’t make it very clear that you are to hold the bowl ‘upside down’ – your palm should be facing downwards.

Again, only my opinion, go for the biggest bowl you can comfortably hold. You need more effort to deliver a smaller, lighter bowl and it can be more easily knocked around by larger bowls in the head.

Bias

Every bowl has a bias – it is designed to follow a curving path after you deliver it. The effect of this bias is not really noticeable until the bowl has travelled about three-fifths of its distance. From then on the speed of the bowl is decreasing and the amount of curve increasing.

You aim to the left (or right) and deliver with the bowl’s biased side to the right (or left).

Choosing a bias

Although we are focusing on outdoor play we need to consider the indoor game also as this may influence your bias choice.

Remember there is a difference between outdoor and indoor greens and this should be taken into account. A bowl played outdoors will take a narrower arc than if played indoors. Some bowls are best suited to either outdoors or indoors and some can play on both surfaces.

There are two main considerations when choosing a bias, the position you play in your team and the surfaces you are likely to be playing on.

If you play lead, you could have a narrower bias bowl than a skip who will often want to draw around bowls in a head. This is only a generalisation and many leads play successfully with wide bias bowls and skips with narrower bias bowls.

Take a look at the bias charts post for the major brands to see the relative differences between biases.

I’ve yet to find an up to date bias chart which shows all makes of bowls and their comparative biases. This would be helpful, but probably a very ‘busy’ drawing.

If you are playing outdoors (in the UK) you will probably be looking at a mid-bias bowl like the Taylor Ace, Henselite Tiger or Drakes Pride Professional – certainly to begin with. That said there is a growing trend to play with what are termed as ‘straight bowls’ and it’s not unusual to see the Taylor Vector VS, Henselite Tiger II or Drakes Pride Pro 50 on outdoor greens.

Final End

Lots of information to take in, but it’s pretty simple.

Try out as many bowls as you can.

Whatever feels right in your hand is key, so it’s really about the size of bowl.

Bias is important, but the more you play, the more you will understand what your bowl can do.