BOWLING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 6 November 1926, Page 12

BOWLING

THE SHIELD COMPETITIONS. A very valuable lever in inducing healthy inter-club rivalry is provided by the annual shield competitions which take place all over the province. The first of the series, Wednesday and Saturday, have been played. Intense enthusiasm prevails amongst all clubs.

BOWLING green damaged. CHAIRS THROWN ON TURF. MIDNIGHT GAME OP SKITTLES. A malicious ’attempt- was made recently by some person or persons to damage the surface of the Hamilton Bowling Club’s greens at Knox Street. (>n a Sunday morning a heap of iron chairs was found in the middle of the green, which, judging from the slices of turf that have been removed, had been hurled from a considerable distance. Although all the turf was painstakingly replaced, slight ridges, whicji materially affect the run of a bowl, were inevitable, and in yesterday’s games the damaged parts could net be used.

TMs is the third time that the greens have suffered at the hands of revellers. A few weeks ago fourteen holes were found in the turf, with fourteen empty beer bottles close by, pointing to the fact that a game of midnight skittles had been played. On a previous occasion the greens were carefully planted with nails, which played havoc with the lawn mower. Some two years ago a band of hockey enthusiasts were found enjoying a moonlight game on the green, and had to be forcibly ejected. The club has shown considerable forbearance in putting up with these offences (says tlie Times), but tlie officials describe the last malicious attempt as "over the odds,” and have offered a reward for information leading to the conviction of the offenders.

IN AUSTRALIA. The season promises well. It is rather early to write with emphasis on such an uncertain subject, but present indications favour a warm summer. And a dry, warm summer is a bowlqr’s delight. On every hand is heard from club officials and bowling enthusiasts prognostications of keen contests consequent on general improvement in club

teams. The number of clubs grows with the seasons, and each of these latter finds additions to those seeking pennant provisions and threatening the vested interests of their forerunners. If for no other reason the very number of the competing clubs will force the Victorian Bowling Association sooner or later to do what they seem so averse from doing; and will bring about some system of grading.

DIFFICULT METHODS.

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND

Having regard to all the fuss that Australian bowlers made about their rule requiring them to keep two feet on the mat, one would expect it to be quite a popular measure, wed supported by public opinion (writes “Trundler” in tlie Auckland Star). But' in .some notable instances this does not appear to be so. All who were at Devonport last year, on that miserably wet day when the Australian bowlers returning from Fiji were entertained in the pavilion, will remember the peals of daughter which greeted the enlarged photographs of the N.S.W. president, when it was opened out and presented by Mr J. W. Hardley, on» behalf of the donor, Mr VV. Marshall. Talk about two feet on the mat! A photograph cannot lie, and it showed the distinguished head of the arch-advocates of the ‘two-foot rule,” New South Wales, with no foot on the mat at all! Much the the same happened in Brisbane the other day. In the delightful winter climate of Queensland they were having a three-cornered interstate tournament with New South Wales and Victoria, and the local papers published a fine series of views. There was only one which showed a man actually bowling, and the title described him as being “on the mat.” His right foot was completely off, and his left wa,s apparently touching it with his little toe, but that was all. Some people think that Mr Arthur Parsons gets perilously near the edge, and that it would not take much to put him off the mat altogether, but his stance is carefully studied, and he has never been known to transgress the New Zealand rule, for nobody takes up his position with more accuracy and precision.

Presumably the object of the New Zealand rule, in addition to fixing the exact spot at which the delivery is to commence, is to preserve thei green, for it is distressing to see the way many a good player tears up the green by digging his toes in the grass, through having hi® foot over the front of the mat. In this matter New Zealand and Australia are at one, but it is difficult to know what harm could be done by the foot that steps forward ; it is the one that is supposed to stay on the mat that does all the damage. The English rules seem to recognise this, for their mats are only 20 to 22 inches long, and 12 to 14 inches wide. Anyone would need to be pretty c’ever to keep both feet on a mat of that size. But the objection in New Zealand to the Australian rule, after giving it a

fairly exhaustive trial about fifteen years ago, is that it cramps the delivery, and if the Australians come over here next January they will' be very closely watched on that account. In New ‘Zealand we contend, rightly ( ’or wrongly, that ours is a far better delivery, and on that account alone there is very little chance that the two-foot rule will ever again be adopted here. The perfection of delivery, so far as the mat is concerned, is the one recently shown in the widely published photograph of the President of the Dominion Bowling Association. Verv few will deny that the picture in question shows the typical New Zealand delivery, and it is a great pity that there is hot a more general system of teaching that style.

Quite a number of clubs in Auckland now appoint a coach, but most of them call him their “first-year coach.” As a matter pf fact a coach is often wanted just as much for the others, for the delivery of many seasoned players leaves much to be desired. Probably not many would benefit by attempting the masterly delivery of a Maxwell Walker, for the professor’s inimitable style seems to be in a class by itself; but hundreds could improve if they took every opportunity to follow the delivery of such players as Messrs Dick Pilkington, Jack Truscott, Ernie Buckley, Ted Wright, Harry de Launay, Flem Laurenson, Sam Jenkin, Ernie Jurie, Con Maher, Sandy Brown, Bon Allsopp, and Peter Watson. Another dozen could also be picked out as models, all different, in minor points, but alike in their typical exposition of the free and open style that is generally accepted as the characteristic New Zealand delivery. But instead of selecting a model and following it, wbat do we find? One man holds down his head until his back is horizontal; another is worst still, and squats down as if he is going to weed has garden; another kneels, forgetting that it is not Sunday till the morrow; another balances himself on one. foot and one toe, where he surely has no control over his bowl. But everyone sees all. these, faults, and it is surely more profitable to study the correct style.

There is room for much difference of opinion on this, for what will suit one may not suit another. But the _ main principles are fairly well established. The player should stand perfectly erect, with the feet together, and avoid squatting. Then the arm is to be swung back with the bowl, at the same time teaming forward just enough to. balance the bowl, and a fraction of a second later the left foot is put forward. As the arm is then swung forward with the bowl, both knees are bent, the exact angle being a matter of opinion, and the bowl gets away on an even keel, without a bump and without a wobble. If players would take the above as their model, thev would enjoy the game far more than by putting up* .the contortions that so often mar their play; and they would then have the foundation upon which they could buiVl up accuracy.