Like many sports, flat green bowls has several terms and phrases specific to the game - some being local to particular parts of the country. This glossary, compiled primarily for the newcomer, lists most of those you'll come across.
Back bowl |
Generally regarded as a bowl that finishes well behind the jack. May be played deliberately in anticipation of the jack moving close to it. |
Backhand |
For right-handed players a backhand delivery will curve from left to right towards its objective. The word is also applied to the left-hand side of the rink as seen by a right-handed player standing on the mat and facing up the green. For left-handed players, the opposite to both these meanings will apply. |
Bank |
The raised outer wall of the ditch. |
Best back |
A bowl at rest beyond the jack nearer to the ditch than any opposition bowl and is particularly valuable if the jack is moved towards the back of the rink or into the ditch. |
Be up |
Instruction, normally from the skip, to reach the head with your bowl. An alternative would be 'Don't be short'. |
Bias |
The diversion of the bowl from a straight line caused by the more convex shape on one side of the bowl. Formed at the shaping stage of manufacture, the biased side is indicated by the smaller of the two rings found on opposite sides of the bowl. |
Blocker |
A drawing shot usually played to stop some way short of the head, either to prevent an opponent from playing a certain shot or to protect an advantageous position. The bowl itself is then called a 'Blocker' or sometimes a 'Stopper' or 'Policeman'. |
Bowl |
One of a set of four matching bowls from the same manufacturer and identical in all physical characteristics - size, weight, colour, bias, serial number, etc. |
Burnt end |
See 'Dead end'. |
Count |
Usually used in an expression such as, 'It's in the count' which means that your bowl that has just come to rest is among those that are closer to the jack than any of your opponent's bowls. |
Dead bowl |
A bowl that comes to rest, either directly or indirectly, outside the confines of the rink, or in the ditch provided it isn't a toucher. |
Dead end |
A dead end, also known as a 'Burnt end' or 'Killed end', occurs when the jack is moved outside the confines of the rink during play. No score is recorded and the end is replayed. Compare with 'Tied end'. |
Delivery |
The act of releasing the bowl on to the bowling surface. |
Ditch |
The channel that surrounds the green. |
Draw |
The draw, the commonest shot in bowls, is the one in which the player attempts to play with the exact line and length to finish closest to the jack or to a point on the green dictated by strategy or tactics.
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Driving |
See 'Firing'. |
End |
Sequence of play from the placing of the mat in a rink, delivery of all the bowls by all the players in one direction and agreement of the number of shots scored. |
Fast green |
A green that offers little resistance to the bowl's progress - usually achieved on flat, dry and closely cut surfaces. |
Firing |
A bowl delivered at a very fast pace with the objective of displacing the jack and/or one or more bowls. Also known as 'Driving'. |
Follow-through |
The natural forward movement of the arm following delivery. |
Foot-fault |
A transgression of the law that dictates the position of the bowler's feet on the mat before, and at the point of, delivery. |
Forehand |
For right-handed players a forehand delivery will curve from right to left towards its objective. The word is also applied to the right-hand side of the rink as seen by a right-handed player standing on the mat and facing up the green. For left-handed players, the opposite to both these meanings will apply. |
Four |
A team of four players; also known as a 'Rink'. |
Green |
The whole playing surface. May also be used in such expressions as 'Take more green' meaning 'Bowl with a wider line'. |
Head |
The head refers collectively to the jack and the bowls that have been delivered and come to rest within the boundaries of the rink. |
Heavy |
A 'Heavy' or 'Slow green' is one where conditions slow the pace of the bowl and is usually caused by the grass being long, thick or wet, or through any combination of these factors; and a 'Heavy bowl' is one delivered with too much pace and therefore finishes beyond its objective. |
Jack |
The jack is the white or yellow spherical ball towards which the vast majority of play is directed. The jack has other names, many regional, including 'Kitty', 'Block' and 'Cot(t)'. |
Jack high |
A term referring to a bowl which has come to rest equidistant from the mat as the jack. |
Killed end |
See 'Dead end'. |
Lead |
The player in a team game (pairs, triples or fours) responsible for laying the mat, delivering the jack and playing the first bowl. |
Line |
Usually refers to the direction of the delivery, as in 'Take a wider line'. |
Live bowl |
A bowl, delivered legally, that is in play by coming to rest within the confines of the rink; also a toucher in the ditch. |
Long jack |
A jack delivered to the far end of the rink without it going into the ditch. |
Marker |
Someone who officiates in a singles game to ensure that play accords with the Laws of the Sport of Bowls. |
Mat |
The rectangular piece of rubber placed on the rink at the beginning of each end from which all play takes place. |
Measure |
The device used to ascertain which bowl is closest to the jack; also used as the verb. |
Narrow |
A 'Narrow' bowl is one played inside the intended line and consequently often finishes running away from the jack. |
Open the head |
An instruction sometimes given by skips to their thirds to play with weight if an unfavourable head has developed, such as a group of opposition bowls blocking a natural draw. |
Pairs |
A team of two players. |
Plant |
A shot that hits one bowl (bowl A ) into another (bowl B) with the intention of using bowl B to achieve the objective. In practice bowls A and B are often touching or close together and in line with the objective - normally the jack. |
Promote |
Using your bowl to push up one of your team's bowls to a better position. |
Rest |
Using your opponent's bowl to rest on and take the shot. |
Rink |
The rectangular divisions of the green upon which play is confined. Each rink is indicated at each end by two boundary pegs and a central number. The term is also used for a team of four players. |
Roll-up |
Informal, social bowls - ideal for beginners to meet club members in a friendly, mildly competitive environment. |
Rub |
See 'Wick'. |
Second |
The second player in a team of four or triples who plays after the lead. |
Second bowl |
A bowl that is second nearest to the jack. |
Short bowl |
A bowl delivered with insufficient weight to reach its objective. |
Short end |
See 'Short jack'. |
Short jack |
A jack delivered to the minimum legal distance (23m) or a few metres beyond. |
Shot |
Shot can have several meanings. The shot or shots are the number of points scored in an end. It can also mean the type of delivery, e.g. a drawing shot; and during play the bowl that is currently nearest the jack is called the 'Shot'. |
Shoulder of the green |
The point on the green where the bowl begins to curve inwards towards its objective. |
Singles |
A contest between two players, usually with four bowls each. |
Skip |
The skip, short for 'skipper', is the captain of the team and is the last to bowl. He/she is responsible for deciding the team's strategies and tactics and maintaining the scorecard. |
Slow green |
See 'Heavy'. |
Speed of the green |
The pace at which the bowl travels over the green - see 'Fast green' and 'Heavy green'. Green speed is calculated as the number of seconds it takes a bowl to travel from the bowler's hand to come to rest within 0.15 m (6") of a jack placed centrally 27m from the front of the mat. Seemingly paradoxical, the faster the green, the longer it will take; the heavier the green, the shorter it will take. |
Split shot |
Two opposition bowls lying side by side, but not touching, in front of the objective provide a wide target. A bowl delivered correctly with sufficient weight will force apart or 'split' the two bowls and move on towards the objective. |
Stance |
The position on the mat immediately before delivery. |
Stopper |
See 'Blocker'. |
Take it out |
An instruction to bowl with sufficient weight to move an opponent's bowl away, for example from a scoring or blocking position. |
Taking green |
Allowing the bias of a delivered bowl to operate to its full extent so that the bowl finishes close to the jack. Sometimes called 'Taking land'. |
Tap and lie |
The aim of this shot is to push the object bowl out of the way using just enough weight to lie in the position vacated. Sometimes called 'Chop and lie', 'Push and rest' or 'Wrest'. |
Third |
The third player in a team of four who plays after the lead and second, and takes charge at the head while the skip is on the mat. He/she is usually responsible for measuring disputed shots and notifying the skip after every end of the shots scored. |
Tied end |
A tied end occurs when the nearest bowls of opposing players are equidistant from the jack or both touching it. The end is completed and therefore recorded on the score card with no score to either side. Compare with 'Dead end'. |
Toucher |
A bowl that touches the jack in its original course. Even if it touches the jack and then enters the ditch within the rink boundaries it remains a toucher and is still live. All touchers are marked with chalk as soon as they come to rest. |
Trail |
A word used to describe a bowl that 'picks up' the jack and moves it to another position on the rink - both jack and bowl staying fairly close together. |
Trial ends |
Before the start of most games, one trial (practice) end is allowed in each direction. |
Triples |
A team of three players. |
Umpire |
The person with total authority during any game responsible for enforcing the Laws of the Sport of Bowls. |
Weight |
The term used to refer to the power applied to a delivery. |
Wick |
A glancing deflection of the delivered bowl off another bowl. Sometimes called a 'Rub'. |
Woods |
A term used for bowls derived from their manufacture from wood (usually lignum vitae) before the advent of composition bowls. |
Wrest |
See 'Tap and lie'. |
Yard on |
An extension of the draw shot where the bowl is played with slightly more weight to take it a yard or so beyond the objective, assuming a clear run. Examples of its use in practice include: promoting bowls into the head; planting bowls into the head and splitting bowls out of the head. |
