Lawn bowls
Lawn bowls is players taking turns to roll bowls along a flat green towards a small ball called the jack. The bowls are shaped so they curve as they slow, a curve called the bias. When all the bowls of an end are played, the side with the bowl nearest the jack scores. It is played as singles, pairs, triples or fours.
New to lawn bowls? Start here
How long
Games of a set number of ends or shots; in sets play, two sets of nine ends
Lengths are from the rule book.
The big events, and why they matter
- 1Commonwealth Games (lawn bowls)A multi-sport title against the Commonwealth nations.Every 4 years · Holder: England 3 golds
India
India won gold in the women's fours and silver in the men's fours at Birmingham 2022, its only Commonwealth Games medals in the sport [the Commonwealth Games page].
- Lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: Birmingham 2022: gold in the women's fours and silver in the men's fours, India's only medals in the sport
Countries to know
India and the nations that have done best, biggest titles first.
- IndiaLawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: 1 gold, 1 silver (latest 2022)
- EnglandLawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: 24 golds, 13 silvers, 24 bronzes (latest 2026)
- AustraliaLawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: 19 golds, 25 silvers, 11 bronzes (latest 2026)
- ScotlandLawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: 22 golds, 10 silvers, 11 bronzes (latest 2026)
- South AfricaLawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: 17 golds, 12 silvers, 15 bronzes (latest 2022)
- New ZealandLawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games: 13 golds, 14 silvers, 18 bronzes (latest 2026)
Who runs it
| Rules made by | World Bowls, Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark Fourth Edition, August 2022 |
| International federation | World Bowls |
| In India | Bowling Federation of India (BFI): recognised for lawn bowls, on the MYAS list for 2026 |
Where and when it is played
On a green of grass or approved synthetic turf, 31 to 40 metres long, split into rinks and edged by a ditch. The big event: the Commonwealth Games every four years, with para bowls.