Lawn bowls words · Intermediate
The words that make the commentary make sense. They build on the beginner words.
I · Intermediate · 54 words · Step 2 of 2Basic setup terms
Bank
The face against the outer edge of the ditch. Its top is at least 230 mm above the green, and it is vertical or sloped no more than 35 degrees from vertical, with a surface that will not damage the jack or bowls.
Boundary peg
A white or brightly coloured peg on the bank marking each corner of a rink. The side boundaries of a rink of play are imaginary lines joining the centres of the pegs on opposite banks, and on outdoor greens may be shown with a green boundary thread.
Side boundary
The imaginary straight line joining the centres of the boundary pegs on opposite banks that shows the limit of the rink of play.
See also: Rink
Green and equipment terms
Pace of the green
The number of seconds a bowl takes from delivery to rest at about 27 m from the mat line. The more seconds it takes, the faster the green.
Also called: green speed
See also: Green
Mat
The 600 mm by 360 mm mat the player delivers from. It is placed lengthwise on the centre line of the rink, with the mat line at least 2 m from the rear ditch and at least 25 m from the front ditch. The mat line is the edge nearest the front ditch, and all measurements from the mat are taken from the centre of it.
See also: Bowl
Mat line
The edge of the mat nearest the front ditch. Measurements between the mat and a jack or bowl are taken from the centre of the mat line.
Groundsheet
A canvas or similar sheet pinned temporarily on an outdoor green to protect it where players deliver. Its rear edge is at least 2 m from the rear ditch and 25 m from the front ditch, and the mat line sits on that rear edge.
World Bowls Stamp
The registered mark that a Licensed Manufacturer or Licensed Tester imprints on the bias side of a bowl. It carries an expiry year; bowls must be re-tested and re-stamped at least every 10 years.
The ruleWhat gives a lawn bowl its curve?Working Reference Bowl
A bowl approved by World Bowls as having the minimum bias required. Every Licensed Tester holds one, and all bowls must have a bias at least as great.
Measuring equipment
What the umpire must have for measuring: at least a 25 m tape, a measure for long distances, a flexible measure, callipers, feeler gauges, wedges for supporting leaning bowls, and equipment for deciding whether a jack or bowl is inside the side boundary when no boundary thread is used.
See also: Bowl, Jack, Side boundary, Measure, Umpire
Scoring terms
Jack high
The nearest part of the bowl is in line with, and the same distance from the mat line as, the nearest part of the jack.
Line bowl
A bowl or jack at rest partly inside and partly outside the side boundary of the rink of play. A bowl in its original course that comes to rest outside the side boundary is dead even if it touches the outer edge of a line jack.
Also called: line jack
See also: Rink, Bowl, Jack, Side boundary, Original course
Net total of shots
The shots a player, team or side scores minus the shots scored against it, over a game or section. It can decide a tournament or series.
Shot indicators
Thin oar-shaped pieces of plastic in the colour of each player's bowls. The marker holds up the matching number to signal which side's bowls are shot.
Also called: lollipops, paddles
See also: Marker
Playing terms
Improper delivery of the jack
The jack is improperly delivered if it comes to rest in the ditch, wholly outside the rink, less than 23 m from the mat line after centring, or on the rink after touching the bank face or an object or person outside the rink. The opposing player then replaces the mat and re-delivers, but does not play first. If both players deliver improperly in one end, the jack is centred 2 m from the front ditch. Domestic play may change 23 m to 21 m.
Jack less than 2 m from the front ditch
If the jack in its original course comes to rest less than 2 m from the front ditch, it is placed on the centre line with the nearest point of the jack to the mat line 2 m from the front ditch.
See also: Jack, Mat line, Ditch, Original course
Original course
A jack or bowl from its delivery until it comes to rest, however many times a bowl touches the jack or other bowls on the way. After that it is in motion only if played at again.
Displaced bowl or jack
A jack or bowl moved in a way the Laws do not approve. Where a law says to put it back, it goes to its former position, the place at rest immediately before it moved, or as near as can be judged.
Disturbing the head
Changing the position of the jack or a bowl in the head. After some breaches, such as a foot-fault bowl that cannot be stopped, the opposing skip may choose to replace the head, leave it altered or declare the end dead.
See also: Bowl, Jack, Foot-fault, Skip, Head
Rules of play
Possession of the rink
The player or team whose bowl is being played has possession. It passes to the opponents as soon as the bowl comes to rest, after time to mark a toucher. Delivering before the previous bowl is at rest, or distracting the player in possession, earns a warning and then a dead bowl.
Trial ends
One practice end in each direction before a game, or before an unfinished game resumes on another day, on the rink of play and with no more bowls than the game uses. Domestic play can limit them.
See also: Rink
Toss for opening play
A coin toss decides who starts. The winner either places the mat and delivers the jack and first bowl, or tells the opponent to do so. After that, the winner of the previous scoring end starts the next end.
Position of players
Players at the mat end who are not delivering stand at least 1 m behind the mat. Players at the head end who are not controlling play stand behind the jack, and the team not in possession also stays away from the head.
Marking a toucher
A toucher is marked with chalk as soon as it comes to rest, by a teammate or the marker. In the ditch it is shown with a brightly coloured indicator at most 50 mm wide and 100 mm high. If chalking would move the bowl or alter the head it is nominated as a toucher instead; a bowl neither marked nor nominated in time is no longer a toucher.
See also: Bowl, Toucher, Ditch, Head, Marker
The ruleWhat is a toucher in lawn bowls?Dead end
An end that is not counted as completed even if all the bowls have been played. It is replayed in the same direction unless the players agree otherwise, and the player who played first plays first again.
Extra end
In a knockout competition with a fixed number of ends, if scores are level after all ends an extra end is played, from where the last end finished, with a coin toss for who plays first. More extra ends follow while it stays level.
Playing out of turn
If a player plays out of turn, the opposing skip can stop the bowl and return it. Otherwise the opposing skip chooses between leaving the head and playing two bowls in a row to get back into order, or restoring the head and returning the bowl. Once each side has played a bowl, the order simply continues.
Substitute
A player who must leave the green and cannot return within 10 minutes can be replaced if the umpire or Controlling Body agrees. The substitute plays in any position but skip. In Singles, a player who cannot return within 10 minutes forfeits.
See also: Green, Singles, Skip, Umpire, Controlling Body
Game stoppage
If play stops for darkness, weather or another valid reason, scores stand and the game resumes the same day or another. An end in progress with bowls still to play is declared dead, but an end where all bowls have been played is scored first.
Last bowl of an end
The last player in an end does not have to deliver the final bowl, but must tell the opponent before the shots are counted. That decision is final.
See also: Bowl
Dead and live balls
Live jack in the ditch
A jack moved by a bowl in play into the front ditch within the rink's side boundaries stays live. Its position is marked with a white indicator at most 50 mm wide and 100 mm high, and may be moved only by a toucher or by a non-toucher part-overhanging the ditch.
Shot terms
Trail shot
A delivery meant to touch the jack and carry it to a new position. The Laws do not define it.
Block shot
A bowl placed to stop the opposition's next bowl reaching or hitting a good bowl or the jack. The Laws do not define it.
See also: Bowl
Wick shot
A delivery that glances off another bowl so that it, or the other bowl, changes direction toward where the player wants it. The Laws do not define it.
Also called: wick
See also: Bowl
Running shot
A firm delivery with more weight than a draw, played through the head. The Laws do not define it.
See also: Head
Blocker
A bowl left in front of the jack or the head to get in the way of the opposition's next delivery. The Laws do not define it.
See also: Bowl
Match formats
Order of play
Leads play first, then each pair of players in turn. Positions cannot change after the first end except for a substitute. In Pairs the Controlling Body decides how the lead's and skip's bowls are shared when each plays four.
See also: Substitute, Pairs, Skip, Lead, Controlling Body
Side game
A game between two sides, each with the same number of teams or Singles players, whose combined scores decide the result.
Format of play
At WB world events, Commonwealth Games and international events: Singles to 21 shots, Pairs 18 ends, Triples 18 or 15 ends, Fours 18 ends, or sets play. For domestic events the Controlling Body decides. A time limit can apply; an end in progress when it is reached is completed.
Sets play
Sets play
A game decided as the better of two sets, each normally nine ends (or another number agreed beforehand). The winner of a set has the most shots after the ninth end; level scores make it a drawn set. In knockout play a set stops once it can no longer be won or drawn.
The ruleHow does sets play work in lawn bowls?Tie-breaker
If a sets game is level after two sets, a tie-breaker of three ends is played. If still level, a fourth end follows, then more ends until there is a winner. A coin toss decides who plays first in the first, fourth and any later tie-breaker ends.
Game points and set points
In sectional play, 3 game points go to the winner of each game. One set point goes for each set won and a half for each set drawn. Section ties go to game points, then sets won, net set points, net shots and then the result between the tied sides.
See also: Sides
Match and format terms
Head
The jack and any bowls that have come to rest within the boundaries of the rink of play and are not dead.
Sides
Any agreed number of teams or Singles players, or a combination, whose combined scores decide the result of a competition. A side game is played between two sides with the same number of teams or Singles players.
Measure
Using equipment placed between the jack and bowls to decide which are shot. All measuring is between the nearest points, and it cannot start until the last bowl has come to rest, or 30 seconds after if a skip or Singles opponent asks for the wait. A player who measures too soon loses the right to play any bowls left in that end.
Score card
The record of the game kept by the skips, or by the marker where one is used. The shots for and against are entered at the end of each end and agreed with the opposing skip. At the end it records the time the game finished and is signed.
Game result
A single game goes to the player, team or side with the most shots, ends won or sets as the Conditions of Play say. In a series or tournament it goes to most games won or the best net shots; if that is level, 3 points a win and 1 a draw can be used.
Officials and administration
Controlling Body
The body with immediate control of the Conditions of Play under which a game is played. In order: World Bowls, a Member National Authority or group of them, a division within one, or the club whose green it is.
See also: Green
Conditions of Play and domestic regulations
Conditions of Play are set by the Controlling Body for each competition. For domestic play, Member National Authorities may make domestic regulations on listed matters, such as the 21 m improper-jack distance, substitutes and distinguishing marks on bowls.
See also: Jack, Controlling Body
Coach
Either the coach or a delegated deputy may advise a player during play if the umpire has been given their name, only one person is at the rink, it is done while their team has possession and from outside the green's boundaries.
Challenge to bowls
A challenge that bowls do not meet the requirements for size, weight, bias or marks. It cannot be made during trial ends or a game, must be lodged within 10 minutes of the last end the bowls were used in, with a deposit, and once lodged cannot be withdrawn. The bowls are tested by a Licensed Tester; the deposit is lost if they pass.
See also: Bias, Trial ends
The ruleWhat gives a lawn bowl its curve?Forfeited game
A game awarded to the opponent as a penalty when the defaulting player, team or side does not meet the requirements of one or more laws, such as changing set of bowls mid-game or changing positions in a team.
Players with disabilities
Wheelchair bowlers use approved wheelchairs and approved assistance. Partially sighted and blind bowlers may use approved assistance, including an assistant and a white breakable string on the centre line. A player with a physical disability may use a support or artificial device with a rubber base at least 76 mm across, and may kneel on the green to deliver.
See also: Green
The ruleCan wheelchair users and blind players play lawn bowls?