Hello!

[Timmyboy72]

Hi, my name is Tim im 37 and i live in Suffolk. Im new to this forum and to bowling, infact so new i've yet to roll a single bowl, im hopefully going within the next week or so with a friend who is a member of Otley BC so i'd be very grateful for any advice on equipment or technique.

Cheers Tim

[yappychap]

Hi Tim - always good to welcome a new bowler.

Is it flat green bowls you're going to be playing? I play crown green and short mat bowls and there are similarities, so I'd be happy to have a bash at giving you any advice! :)

[Timmyboy72]

Hello yappy chap, yes it is flat green bowls i will be playing. The thing that is confusing me at the minute is the vast amount of bowls on the market all with different degrees of bias. To start with i will be playing on an outdoor green but hopefully if i stick with it i would like to play indoors through the winter. So is there an all round bowl or do most players have two sets, one for indoors and one for out?

[Surfer]

Morning Timmyboy72

Ive got to say I need different Bowls for Outdoors and another set for indoors try and borrow some for a roll up and see what suits you

Surfer from Cornwall

[Timmyboy72]

Hi Surfer, thanks for the feedback.

[Surfer]

Morning Timmyboy72 best thing you could do is take up Bowling as a Sport and the younger the better, I have days where I feel like burning my bowls but the best advice I can give is practice it looks easy till you try but I'm sure you will get the hang of it very quickly,
I play for a Club down here in Cornwall haven't revealed the name because I often come on this Forum and have a good moan

Surfer from a wet Cornwall:cool:

[yappychap]

Hi Tim,

I play crown green and short mat bowls and use the same crown green woods for both. Although short mat rules allow you to play with any type of bowl, I'm not sure if the same applies for regular indoor bowls.

The strength of the bias has various advantages and disadvantages depending on which kind of bowls you're playing. This website http://www.bowlamania.co.uk/Thomas-Taylor-Bowls/Thomas-Taylor-Bowls-Bias-Chart shows a draw line chart which is basically the kind of turning effect you can expect from different bowls and which type of bowls game they are most suited for. This one shows just Thomas Taylor bowls but it should give you a better idea of what kind of bowl you might prefer.

[Jean]

Evening Yappychappy, got to ask which do you prefer playing Crown green or short mat, I struggle at the beginning of the season when the rinks are heavy my arm forgets to swing feel such a fool when my wood ends half way up the green,

Good luck with your games this year,

Jean who has just got back from being trapped in Grand Canary:roll: never going on Holiday again.

[Timmyboy72]

Morning Timmyboy72 best thing you could do is take up Bowling as a Sport and the younger the better, I have days where I feel like burning my bowls but the best advice I can give is practice it looks easy till you try but I'm sure you will get the hang of it very quickly,
I play for a Club down here in Cornwall haven't revealed the name because I often come on this Forum and have a good moan

Surfer from a wet Cornwall:cool:
Yep i know what you mean about burning your bowls, i've been playing golf for the last eleven years and have walked off the course many a time wanting to send my clubs into orbit!!!

[Bargain Hunt]

Great thread & some good advice, always a concern when young bowlers start the amount of well intentioned advice can be overpowering!!!!

For me its a bit of self discovery, had lots of different sets often it comes back to one thing ....ME!! Handy to blame the woods at times:D

[Timmyboy72]

Thanks for that bargin Hunt, i know what you mean somtimes you can end up blinding yourself with science.
Well after taking some advice from the people at bowls world in Ipswich and reading Tony Allcocks book Improve your Bowls i decided on a set of Drakes Pride Professionals, I been told that with them being a mid biased bowl they should be fine for indoors and out.
I picked up a second hand set on ebay last night for £57.00 including p&p, they have an 07 stamp and from the photo the looked in really good condition. Hopefully they will turn out to be a good buy, What do you guys think?

Cheers Tim

[Barbie]

Welcome Timmyboy72 :Dthought I would say welcome haven't been on the Forum for a while, been a bit busy
Looks like you done your homework on what Bowls to buy these Woods are very good and you should get on very well with them,
Bet you will be waiting for the postman,
Good that the greens are open you will be able to have a roll up, always useful to have a look in the fixtures book to see when the greens are available,
Good luck with your New Bowls let us know how you get on,

Barbie:D:D

[Timmyboy72]

Thanks for the welcome Barbie, yes i'm a bit like a kid waiting for Christmas at the minute. I'll be sure to let you know how i get on when i go for my first game, should be any day now.

[Roo]

Hi Timmyboy72,

Have the woods arrived yet???

Friend of mind has a set of 'Professionals' and plays really well with them, plays back end and have a good swing to get out of trouble!

Hope all goes well:D

[yappychap]

Evening Yappychappy, got to ask which do you prefer playing Crown green or short mat, I struggle at the beginning of the season when the rinks are heavy my arm forgets to swing feel such a fool when my wood ends half way up the green,

Good luck with your games this year,

Jean who has just got back from being trapped in Grand Canary:roll: never going on Holiday again.

Hi Jean,

Hmm, it's difficult to pick a favourite. I usually hate the start of the crown green season mind, as I can't bear the cold weather we normally get in April. We've been lucky this season so far though - 3 games, all played in glorious sunshine!

I know EXACTLY what you mean about struggling with weight at the start of the outdoor season. You might want to read my blog post about switching from indoor to outdoor: http://www.shortmatbowls.net/indoor-bowls-to-crown-green/ It's where I try to make sense of it all!

[Surfer]

Have had a look at your site yappychappy looked Pretty Good, you give some very good advice about changing your delivery when playing outdoor to Indoor Bowling, We have an awful lot of can I say Elderly Bowlers down here in Cornwall who wont or cant bend down to deliver their Bowls, this week our green keeper looked like he was going to have a heart attach when he saw the damage done some really bad divot's and it only the beginning of the Season, he is threating to close the green for Roll up and only allow schedule matches,

Lord knows what trouble this will cause,

Surfer from a very Wet Cornwall:(

[Timmyboy72]

Bowls came today, well chuffed with them. Cant wait to get them on the green. :grin:

[Roo]

Great Timmyboy72,

Every time I have changed my woods have been a bit disappointed, mind you often changed when an opponent beat me & I thought it was the woods!!

Took a bit of a time to realize that it was me!!!

Thats life, best of luck with them & will be interested to hear how you get on!!

[Timmyboy72]

Thanks for that Roo, i'll let you know.

[John]

We all seem to be waiting to see how this new woods bowl, hope they are FANTASTIC!!!!

Raining all over the place at the moment not sure about tonights game UGGH

[Timmyboy72]

Thank you all very much for your warm welcome and advice. I look forward to chatting to you all again very soon.

Cheers Tim

[yappychap]

Have had a look at your site yappychappy looked Pretty Good, you give some very good advice about changing your delivery when playing outdoor to Indoor Bowling, We have an awful lot of can I say Elderly Bowlers down here in Cornwall who wont or cant bend down to deliver their Bowls, this week our green keeper looked like he was going to have a heart attach when he saw the damage done some really bad divot's and it only the beginning of the Season, he is threating to close the green for Roll up and only allow schedule matches,

Lord knows what trouble this will cause,

Surfer from a very Wet Cornwall:(

Hi Surfer, appreciate your comments about my site. I've come across one or two bowlers in my time who, shall we say "shoot from the hip." :) Some of them haven't exactly been old though - just lazy I think!

[snapper]

Also had a look at your site yappychap and was most impressed am on tour down Devon at present you wouldn't believe the problems we are having bit like being back at school, and all to do with giving the mat away, I have got to admit I really lost my temper after overhearing a conversation in the changing rooms, some players take a great pleasure in stirring things and we are only beginning the Summer Season,
Dread to think what is to come

Snapper on tour at Babbercombe Devon:roll: