ON THE GREEN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 19 February 1931, Page 7

ON THE GREEN.

HOW TO BOWL. If the golfer who hacks and hews, axot the putting green but the outfield, is looked upon as a pariah by his fellows, it is by comparison impossible to designate the bowler whose clumsy -carelessness “skins” the bowling .green, which is as much superior to the putting green as the latter is to the outfield, writes J. A. Mansou (“Jack High”), the well-known English bowling writer in an article in bowling. Yet the bowler tar more easily than the golfer can avoid any •damage to the turf. Injury to the green is almost entirely caused bj fautly delivery of the bowl. Beginners err through ignorance, and older players through culpable laziness and indifference. The former throw, the latter dump the bowl, and just as the perpetual drip, drip of water will hollow out the hardest stone, a succession of such deliveries continued over -even a short space of time will infallibly strip the grass and make bare patches and indentations big enough to modify the ekact running of the “woods.” The whole art of right ■delivery consists in getting well down to the surface of the green, and in the very act of launching the bowl, taking ■care that the hands and turf make one plane. Thus delivered, the bowl should glide from the hand like a ship’s hull from the builder’s slip. There should not be the shadow of a suspicion of a throw. One may always tell when a bowl has been imperfectly delivered, though perhaps not actually thrown. When if begins its career with a wobbling action and “shows its eyes,” this is a certain, sign that the bowler has been too hasty. It may be said without exaggeration that every defect in the delivery affects to some extent the true course of the bowl, occasionally the bowl may right itself, but even then it does not perform its work so effectively as it would had it been dispatched on its way without a hitch.

Therefore, the beginner must learn from the very first to roll and not pitch the bowl. In the case of old players the defect is usually past remedy, for they will not take the necessary trouble to bend low enough to enable the hand to form a true plane with the turf. Their conduct is really reprehensible, for probably they began and continued for years to deliver their howls well and truly. It is when they put on flesh and fancy their knees are stiff that so many of them will not stoop, but send the bowl to :he green with a dump. From close observation of several of these hardened sinners, I am satisfied they need never acquire the habit in the first place, and, in the second, may readily cure it if it grow Tipon them unconsciously. These dumpers do so much harm to the lawn that one must frankly confess their active participation in the game has ceased to be desirable.

From what has been said about the damage done by throwing the bowl, "bowls should be forbidden on a soft green, when the turf has become sodden and relaxed by heavy rain and is

in such a tender state that it responds very quickly to usage that might not affect a dry green. Whenever one can trace the track of bowls, like the wake of a steamer, it is certain play has been going - on when the ground was too damp and when the committee should have closed the green. In delivering the bowl, it should be hold a little loosely in the palm of the hand and “steadied” in its place by the thumb and forefinger. One sometimes hears of the “bowler’s grip.” The expression is unhappy since its implies that the bowl should be held tightly. There is, however, one shot in which it is really necessary to hold the bowl very firmly, and that is the drive. In the case of all other deliveries case of handling the bowl rather than any method of holding it with a grip is essential, if the bowl is to run from the hand with a free and graceful course towards the jack. And, by the by, though the player should not be in a hurry to deliver his bowl, he must at the same time beware of mentally studying his intended course too long; in. such event he is in danger of “over-sighting” himself, and his bowl will probably run cither too narrow and short or too wide and strong.

Playing up to and through the wood was ever a profitable game, but it is remarkable how many skips overlook the fact. Times out of number you will see a “wail” of bowls running across, short of the jack, and skippers losing the golden opportunities that offer (writes “Boomerang” in the Sydney Referee). The science of bowling is often to be found in a head that is apparenty impregnable, but in reality is a false Gibraltar, and very easily stormed. I would far sooner play into four or five short bowls spread out and completely blocking one hand than take a perfectly open hand with nothing in the way. The odds favour Mio former, but few players recognise it, because the open hand looks so easy. . Carswell, who is an undoubted authority (less the grip) in New ZeaI land, the home of good bowlers, is ' very favourable to “running through” the short woods, and brings the shot off with uncanny precision.