BOWLING.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19451, 15 December 1934, Page 21 (Supplement)

BOWLING.

AROUND THE GREENS. ITEMS OF INTEREST. r IMPROVE YOUR GAME. (by “Jack High.”) There are few games where the folloG through is not an important factor. Golf, billiards, tennis, cricket, are a few that come to my mind. Follow through in bowls is really completing the delivery and shot, that is chasing the bowl, on the line of the shot, with hand and arm. Any checking of the follow through has a tendency to throw the arm across the body and is a common cause of narrow play and loss of accuracy. The longer the back swing the more' pronounced the follow through, so that in a drive, where the back swing reaches its maximum, the follow through will be correspondingly accentuated. The pendulum action again conveys the idea, the maximum swing going back farthest and the follow through finishing well in front, with the palm of the hand facing up. This is the ideal to aim for, though very few follow it out, the tendency being to turn the hand over and inward, more particularly on heavy greens. If the player determines that in his follow through the outstretched arm will be at least level with his chin, there will not be much amiss, and I can promise him, should his present follow through be faulty, an agreeable surprise. FOLLOW ON.

Though it may be of benefit to some players to follow on a few paces after their shots, I feel confident it is very much overdone. Though following up after a fast shot may be conducive to preserving rhythm and balance, I am certain that peck of trouble starts with this in drawing. I cannot see what is to be gained, but I do know that the majority of players would do infinitely better if they kept to the mat, and only left it when the swing of the body after the bowl calls for it. In the crouch and kneeling stance, where the player keeps to the mat, his drawing shots are as good if not better than in the erect or semierect stance. It is only because the free swinging delivery Is so much better in other shots in the game that it is favoured. DOMINION TOURNAMENT. I The. council should be more than pleased to receive such a number of entries for the forthcoming event. The previous record was a total of 672 in 1927. This is easily surpassed with a grand total of <750 for 1955, made up of 312 singles, 27'G pairs and 162 rinks.

MARKERS' DUTIES. As there is considerable divergence of opinion as to what constitutes a marker’s duties, the following will be of interest: — 1. Control the game subject to the umpire. 2. Stand at the end of the rink towards which the contestants are playing, at least six feet behind the head, and move about as little as possible. 3. See that the jack is thrown the requisite distance, and straighten it when so thrown, j 4. Mark touchers, and the place where the toucher or jack comes to rest in the ditch. 5. Keep an accurate tally of points scored, both on the* scoring card and on the board. G. See that all obstructions are removed. 7. After each bowl is played indicate to the player in question by the usual signs known among bowlers how many shols he is up or down, indicating in the popular manner if in doubt. To avoid confusion only give the sign to the player who is then on the mat. 8. When requested by a competitor, answer all questions of fact as accurately as possible. 9. Give no advice whatever to either player. 10. Decide the result of each nead, measuring if requested by either player, but neither he nor a competitor shall remove any bowls until both players are satisfied. 11. Observe strict Impartiality. 12. See the last player puts the mat away.RENOVATING GREENS. “ Greenkeeper ” enquires . what !s the best grass to sow now for planting worn patches in the autumn. A great deal depends on what the green was sown with originally. It would be worse than useless to patch with a type of grass with different habits and appearance to the existing grass. One does not expect his tailor to patch his bowling trousers with black cloth. So many greens are being marred by using grasses (though perhaps good themselves for some purposes) that will not associate or blend with the grass that Is already there. This in a year or two will result in having a green of grasses of different colours and texture, and, worst of all, a loss of uniformity in pace. I know of nothing better for this district, where nearly all of the greens are brown top (agrostis lannis), than to resow and patch with the same.

AN ARITHMETIC BOWLER. The collecting of statistics of cricket Is a common enough hobby and sometimes engrosses the attention of people who never play cricket, but strangely the devotees of arithmetic rarely turn their attention to other sports. In Australia, however, there is n bowler who, in addition to playing the game well, has been able to divert his attention from it sufllcicnlly to make a note of every bowl lie has delivered over a period approaching 12 years, ‘lie retired from business some years ago, and extracts from his diary were published in (lie Sydney Referee recently. Kor over 11 years he has put down 200 howls a week, SOO a month, 10,000 a year, and 113.000 all told, in actual games. “The whole 113,000 have been triers, and carefully played." he says, and then lie goes into more minute detail. lie continues: —Sixty thousand hav*

been fair shots, 30,000 good bowls, 15,000 first-class bowls, 5000 perfect bowls, 2000 touchers, while 3000 have been indifferent shots, but veryfew bad ones.” Further to these facts he proceeds:—“Each bowl weighs 31b. 3|oz, and the total weight propelled would be approximately IG6 tons. The distance walked by me up and down the greens works out at 940 miles, and the bowls travelled approximately 2000 miles. ■ * UNWRITTEN LAWS. This for the benefit of those who have only recently taken up the game. Older players should not even need a reminder. To roll up before a match, be it inter-club or club competition “Is not done.” It is, of course, rjdher hard on the player who may be on the green all the afternoon' to be debarred from a, roll-up, but how much worse is it for his opponent who cannot leave his business until later In the day. 'Correspondenc addressed to “ Jack High,” Waikato Times, will be answered through this column.