BOWLING.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19457, 22 December 1934, Page 20 (Supplement)

BOWLING.

AROUND THE GREENS. ITEMS OF INTEREST. IMPROVE YOUR GAME. (By “Jack High.") Taking the Green. While judgment in taking correct green is of first importance, and can only he acquired, not taught, there are several ways of doing this, some of doubtful merit, and others without anything to recommend them. Taking an object on the bank is one method that I think can be at once discarded. If the Jack were 1 always in the same place, there might be something to say in favour of it. Finding * spot on the green may help at times, but first find your spot. On a perfect green this should be impossible. I have in mind an occasion, when playing an important evenit, that 1 picked up a small feather on the green. From then on my opponent’s play which on one hand (the feather one) had been deadly, went astray and it was only when he inquired for the feather I realised what an important part it had played in the game.

' It is rather a difficult matter to get any definite opinion from even good exponents, as to how they take their green; not that they they object to enlighten one, they simply do not know, have not given it a thought-, and it is more or less instinctive through practice. Then again there is the player who draws his menial picture oi the track he expects his bowl to take, then promptly looks at the turf a yard or two infront of him, taking his green from memory. In golf the coach insists that-the eye be kept, on the ball, in bowling it is just as important to keep your eyes on the green. It is hard enough at times 'to pick the correct -green without making the task still harder. Even a variation of an inch or two a couple of yards from the mat means a difference of feet at the other end. The method of keeping the green and jack in your field of vision is debatable, while I believe some players have trained themselves to do so, I must frankly admit 'that, to me it is an impossibility, particularly on a wide drawing green. When I ami playing best is when, -after sighting, the jack for distance, I lose sight of it altogether until the bowl is within a short distance of it. The jack certainly does not come into the picture again before the bowl starts its inward curve, approximately 3-'slhs of the distance from ithe mat. I think the player should, when delivering his bowl, concentrate on the shoulder of the draw, that is that portion of'the imaginary line where the bowl starts its curve, and where width is adjusted. If more attention were paid to this and less to the draw the bowl is taking, an improvement would soon be noticed, as after all we only play a limited part, -and that is to give the bowl the necessary width and pace, the actual curve after leaving (lie straight line is beyond our control.

Whatever the method adopted, however, there is one point that all agree upon. The player must face the shoulder of the draw, and not the jack, except of course in fast shots where little or no green is required. If this is done the arm brought forward on this line and the foot in the step out placed on the same line, you 'will find little trouble in greening correctly on the widest drawing green. LIGNUM VITAE BOWLS. HOW THEY ARE MADE. (Extracts from articles by two of the leading bowl makers appearing in the Modern Technique of 'Bowls.) Not.more than 20 per. cent of Lignum Vitae imported inlto this country (England), is suitable for bowl making, since the conditions of manufacture are so exacting. The

wood must be of the requisite density, of clean round growth, and free from flaws. Only the heart of the tree is used, and it is imperative that the centre of the grain should pass through the centre of 'the bowl, otherwise the bowl would warp out of shape. In the process of bowl making, suitable logs which have been carefully selected, are cross-cut by a higli speed circular saw, each block l being examined as it comes from the j saw for flaws, which, of course, would | render the material useless. The ! nexit step is the preparation for the ; lathe. The light sap wood is split off | the block with an axe, and a centre is i bored in one end of the block. The i operator then fixes it securely in a | high speed lathe, between centres and ' commences the rough shaping with.a i gouge. . At this stage the shaping I is purely by eye, but an expert work- ! man will produce a rough bowl very closely to its finished shape. During I this process the wood is again care-' ! fully examined for flaws, and should | any appear the wood is .re-jecited and j destroyed. | Prior to the year l'S7l all bowls

I were shaped by hand to a template; j consequently there was a variation in | each bowl of a pair or set, and no two bowls were exactly alike. Then a machine was invented and patented by Thomas Taylor, of Glasgow, for shaping bowls accurately. Each pair or set of bowls is cut from the same log of wood, which ensures that they are all identically equal in every respect. The bias is con- I trolled by the shape of the bowl and j not by loading, as is commonly be- I lieved. It is, therefore, very jm- j portant that the bowl should be' accurately shaped. i ■Since Lignum Vitae is very sensitive j to changing atmospheric conditions, j ■it is essential to protect the surface ‘ of the wood. Immediately the bowls are turned they are put under cover, and with the least delay varnish is applied, this being done preferably while the bowl is revolving in the lathe. Several coats are applied on the same day as the turning is done. On the following day the varnish is smoothed down, apd the bowls are then ready for fitting with the mounts or discs. (To be continued.) DOMINION TOURNAMENT. The South Auckland Centre have, done 'particularly well in mustering a total of 6'6 entries for this New Zealand event, made up of 18 rinks, 22 singles and 26 doubles. Hamilton Club heads the list with 16 entries, Waihi 9, Whitiora and Te Awamutu 8 each. 14 clubs are represented. (Correspondence addressed to “Jack High,’’ Waikato Times, will be answered through this column).-