Can wheelchair users and blind players play lawn bowls?
A · Advanced · Irregularities, officials and conduct · 8 of 8Wheelchair players may use approved chairs and any approved help, including an assistant. Blind and partially sighted players may have an assistant who repeats instructions and says where the jack and bowls lie, and a white string along the centre line. Players with physical disabilities may use a support or kneel to deliver.
How it works
- Wheelchairs: of a type approved by World Bowls and the national wheelchair body; one wheel on the mat.
- Assistance: any approved form, including an assistant.
- Blind and partially sighted players: an assistant and a white, breakable string along the centre line.
- What the assistant may do: repeat the skip's instructions, help direct the player, say where the jack or a bowl stopped.
- Supports: a support or artificial device with a rubber base at least 76 mm across, on or beside the mat.
- Kneeling: allowed, with the knees and a foot placed as the law sets out.
- Hearing: electronic devices may be used to communicate, under the conditions of play.
- Delivery aids: national bodies may approve them.
- Displacement: a disabled player's equipment or assistant is treated as the player if it moves a bowl or the jack.
The glossary has the players with disabilities, the delivery, the mat, the displaced bowl or jack, the skip and the controlling body.
Tricky cases
Can a blind player's assistant tell them where the jack is?
Yes. That is one of the things the assistant may do.
A wheelchair touches a bowl at the head. Who is responsible?
The player. Equipment or an assistant is treated as the player.
Can a player use a ramp to deliver?
National bodies may approve artificial delivery devices for domestic play.
Does the rule about a foot on the mat apply to wheelchair users?
No. They must have one wheel on the mat instead.
Why the rule exists
The laws aim to let as many people as possible play on equal terms. Treating an assistant as the player keeps the rest of the laws working as normal.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Disabilities | Aids, assistants, kneeling | WB Law 41 |
| Wheelchairs on the mat | One wheel | WB Law 7.2 |
| Displacement | Equipment counts as the player | WB Laws 37.2, 38.2 |
From the rule book
World Bowls, Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark Fourth Edition (August 2022), Laws 7.2, 37.2, 38.2 and 41. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: the World Bowls Laws of the Sport of Bowls.