Bowling

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 42, 19 February 1931, Page 19

Bowling

BY "NO TWO"

NEARING THE END

PENNANT COMPETITION

POSTPONED GAMES

SENIOR PENNANT. POSITION TO DATE. (Firßt Round Postponed.) Total Games. Wins. P.O. Wins. P.C. Petono .... 6 " 5 83.30 16 fifi.Gti Tttorndon .. 9 " 6 66.60 21% 62.80 Lyall Bay .. 6 3 50 .15 C 2.5 Victoria 9 B 66.66 24 61.53 Hataltal ... 10 4 40 24 60 Wellington ..11 7 63.63 28 59.57 Kelburn 12 10 53.33 26% 55.20 Island Bay .10 4 40 21 52.5 Knandallah ..6 4 CO.6G V^k 52.08 Woburn .... 2 1 50 7 50 Newtown .. 10 3% 35 19V 2 48.75 Hutt 10 2 20 18 45 Karort .. 10 3^ ,35 17% 43.75 Plimmerton ..2 1 50 3 37.5 Seatoun ... 6 3 50 8 33.53 Eastbourne .• 2 0 .— ' 4 28.57 Johnsonvllle .4 0 ■— 4 l/ 3 28.12 Central ..,. 3 '!■ 66.66 7 25.92 Upper Hutt . 2 0 — 2 14.28 Another six weeks or so, and the 1930-31 bowling season will be drawing to a close. From the weather point of view the season has been a wretched one, and afternoon and evening play has not been at all pleasant. • All that remains to complete the Pennant competition is to play off the games in tho first round, vyhich had to be postponed on account of wet weather, and to complete several games which could not'be played in the Hutt Valley last Saturday because the greens were too heavy after overnight rain. The games of the postponed round are to be played on 28th February. Those matches which could not be played at the Hutt last Saturday may be played at any time that is convenient up till 7th March, but they must be disposed of on that day if not completed beforehand. One game which must be finished is that between Woburn and Thorndon. Petone is at present leading for the Pennant, and Thorndon are next, but if the latter club is beaten by Woburn the position may be altered. A commencement has now been made with the championship matches. The singles were played yesterday. Next Wednesday the pairs -mil be commenced, and on the following Wednesday, 4th March, the rinks. That will about complete the official programme for the season. Wellington v. Otaki. Two rinks of Wellington bowlers visited Otaki at the week-end and were successful jin winning all games, although some by a narrow margin. The visitors, who were entertained at luncheon, will pay a return visit to Otaki on Bth March. A Kemarkable Game. The singles championship of the Karori Club was won by Dempster who beat Adams by one point after a remarkable game. At the eighth head Adams was 11 and Dempster 4. Adams continued on his way rejoicing until at the 13 th head his score was 18, whereas Dempster was still on 4. Then Dempster scored two singles in succession and next a 4, which brought him into double figures. Adams did not score again, and Dempster went on to win by a point, his total boing 19, which included another 4 on the 20th head. Dempster scored on eleven heads and Adams on ten. Adams's score was made up of three 3 's, two 2's, and five singles, and Dempster's of two 4's, two 2's, and seven singles. The result of this game shows clearly that one should never be dismayed by the state of the score until the last head is reached, neither should one be sure of winning until the last head is played. Tho player who coolly keeps on plugging away will very often find himself tho winner of tho game in the end. Lyall Bay. Lyall Bay will have a strong rink to represent them in the champion of champions, the team being Raven, Hazlewood, Sherwood, and Brackenridge (s). The pairs representatives have not yet been decided, Hastings, Eaven (s); Leahy, Lawrie (s); Noad, Braekenridge (s); are at present battling for the distinction. J. M. Braekenridge beat J. Lawrie for the club singles championship. "Friendly Bowl" Contest. The annual match between representatives of the Wellington and Christchurch Bowling Clubs for tho "friendly bowl" will take place at the Wellington green at 2 p.m. on Saturday. There will be five rinks from each club and before the match the players wilj be entertained at luncheon at the Eoyal Oak Hotel. The visitors arrive on Saturday morning. Five Times Champion. By defeating J. Fairway on Tuesday by a margin of 4 points, J. Porteous has won the singles championship of the Wellington Bowling Club five times. The years in which he has been successful are: 1910, 1912, 1927, 1929, 1931. Having won the championship three times, Porteous has also won outright the silver kitty presented to the Wellington Club by Mr. Crawford, a member of the British bowling team which visited New Zealand in 1926. Automatic Draw. Reference was recently made to a compliment paid to the bowlers of Auckland by the bowling critic of the Wellington "Post," in that he stated that tho automatic draw was understood by the rank and file in Dunedin and Auckland, but not in Wellington (writes "Trundlcr" in the Auckland "Star"). So he explained its principles, one being that as soon as tho draw was made the byes went automatically, without any further draw. Apparently, however, this is only correct in theory, for during recent years it has been done in four different ways, and if it was automatic one would expect it to be dono in one way only. Pairing off from the bottom in the orthodox way, the top man gets the bye if there is an odd number. If he has already had a bye, it goes to the second man. If he has bad one it goes to the third, and so on. All that is quite plain sailing, the doubt arising when three are loft in, all having already had a bye. Unfortunately this is by far the most important bye, for nobody appreciates ono in tho earlier rounds, as they go (io a tournament to play bowls, and not to sit on the bank. But whon there are only three left it is quit© different, for the bye has a distinct value, in that the one who gets it is at once assured of being runner-up at least, drawing "second money," as they would say at Ellerslic, even if he fell down. And yet this is just the very place where tho 'automatic draw falls to pieces. In one. tournament it was given to the team who had tho bye first. In another all three 'names were put in the hat. On another occasion the first two wcro put in the hat, and the last; left out, the contention being that if he drew tho bye his turn would come twice. At the Dominion tournament this point was not taken into account, and it was given to fcho ono who had had it last—without eveu a draw! "Trundler" suggested that the point should be definitely settled. Probably the fairest way, considering that a bye in the early rounds is virtually useless, -would be to let it come round

again to tho one who had it'first, but, us-already suggested, that is quite _ a minor point compared to the advisability of making it so clear beforehand that if a bye is necessary everybody will know in advance who will got it. Hints on Bowling. A first-class bowler on a fine surface wins by sheer accuracy and concentration (says a writer in a northern paper). He nvaj}s the track of the wood and glides it gently alonj, its destined course with hardly a movement of tho body. When playing over a wellgrassed green, however, a bowler must use more strength. He may find, too, that he cannot rely so much on .the accuracy of the dr,aw. The green may be "chancy," in which case he will once in a while be tempted to try firing a shot at a time when if more certain of the run of the green, he would pin his faith to more subtle methods. A rink of players, finding the sur-face-to their liking, can' give a magnificent demonstration of bowling—although it may "not appeal to the uninitiated. The lead is nearly always there, and, if not, the second can be depended upon to take the shot. The third player gives a fine display of the art of consolidating the end. The skip uses marked ability at the draw to drive the advantage home, rather than any striking shots or spectacular play. Heavy grass covers up many defects in style. When the surface tends to tako charge of the wood, the "dumped" bowl does not look so greatly different from the skilfully launched wood. With a fast surface, however, the green is revealing. Small irregularities of delivery are emphasised by the perfection of the turf, and it behoves the bowler to glido his woods with more than usual care. A fault in delivery must always affect the run of the wood. This is more noticeable on turf than on grass, but a really bad delivery reveals itself on any surface. A bowl that "shows its eyes" is clearly one titat has been dispatched with haste. Wobble may right itself in the early part of the run, so that it doeß not appear to influence the true course of the bowl, but real accuracy, cannot be attained in the long run 'Without a perfectly smooth delivery. ■ The bowler should aim at "grooved" delivery. That is to say, his action should be the same whether he is sending up a long bowl or posting a short guard. And it should be the same on all kinds of green, whether fast or slow. Naturally, strength will have to be varied, but the arm' should always move in tho same groove. By cultivating a grooved delivery, the accuracy that is so essential in good company can be acquired. -\ Many players seek to manipulate bias by means of the fingers. This is not so difficult as some people pretend, but I cannot see that it helps in the draw to tho jack. There are times when a finer wood is needed, but I recommend bowlers to make an invariable practice from the beginning of using bias to the full. It is a good habit, and one that brings reward if assiduously practised. Tho best advice is to vary your strength according to the green, but not the "groove" of your action. Keep your action constant and you will find yourself judging strength more shrewdly. Ungainliness in style may cost the player nothing—the best players sometimes seem the most awkward. But unayonness and jerkiness are always fatal. It is "a fact that most novices —and many more experienced players, too—tend to "dump" the wood on the green, instead of allowing it to slip away. This habit is bad for the green, as its marks will show towards the end of the season, and it is bad for the,accuracy of the bowler. A jerk in delivery may be simply laziness. The player does not trouble to bend low enough. Always remember that bending low exercises the muscles of the abdomen, so if you play bowls only for health's sake there is a lot to be said for "getting down to it." Many players find, too, that the lower they .take the eye the better sight of the jack they secure. The hand must certainly bo as low as it possibly can be. As the wood is dispatched, the hand and the turf should come as nearly as possible to forming a single plane. The nearer you can get to this ideal the smoother will be your delivery, other things being equal. A sufficiently loose hold on the wood is important. Much "throwing" is the direct result of gripping the bowl tightly. The amount of strength that must be put behind the delivery .will depend on the surface of the green. Australian Sympathy. , The following cable message was received at Eotorua last week by Mr. B. J. Hill, of the Wellington Club, who was taking part in the annual local tournament: — "My president and clubmates, Booroodabin Bowling Club, Brisbane, send Napier bowlers and those affected by earthquake deepest sympathy and kind regards.—(Signed) Percy Doctor." The Booroodabin Club 'is the mpther club of bowls in Queensland, at which visiting bowlers from New Zealand are always heartily welcomed. The sender of the cable message, Mr. Percy Doctor, has visited New Zealand more than oncft, and he has a high opinion of Dominion players and people generally. On receipt of the telegram, Mr. Hill road its contents to a large assemblage of visiting and local bowlers at Eotorua, who much appreciated its sympathetic nature. Por the Relief Fund. Mr. Frank Saywell (Victoria Park Bowling Club, Sydney) gave five guineas to tho Eastbourne Club for a trophy in a pairs competition. The winners, Messrs. L. A. Golding and J; Battersby, have generously decided to hand the amount to tho Earthquake Relief Fund. Sydney Bowling Carnival. Tho annual country week bowling carnival was to begain at Sydney on 16 th February, under the auspices of the New South Wales Bowling Association. Seventy-five rinks, representing 300 players, are taking part in tho contest, and a fleet of 100 motor-cars was organised to convey the competitors to tho various metropolitan greens selected for the purpose. The system of playing six games before the semi-finals were reached, which was introduced last year, following on the New Zealand style, has proved a most popular innovation. It was considered that it would bo rather 'lisheartening for contestants to come long distances and be precluded from further rink play after losing the first game. THE MAN WHO KNOWS! This is an Edgeworth advertisement, so unless you are interested don't read any further. Well, to begin, men who have not found their right smoke are discontented, uncertain—but whon a man does find his right smoke he knows it! Maybe the tobacco you aro using fails to give you full-bodied all-round satisfaction. Many men have found that a pipeful of Edgeworth ia tho right smoke for them. 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