Bowls Weight

[brettb372]

Hi regardless of size of bowl ie 1 to 5 is the overall weight of the bowl the same
Regards Brett.............. brettb372@hotmail.co.uk

[keith]

Hi Brettb372,

Understand the confusion and yes they are different weights, if you are new to the sport the guide below that we use at our club might help!


BOWLS - A SHORT GUIDE TO BUYING BOWLS

If you are just starting to play bowls I suggest you do not rush out and buy a brand new set of bowls costing over £100. First try out a few different makes and sizes of bowls borrowed from friends or club colleagues in order to find out what you are comfortable with.
SIZE
You will need to decide the size of bowl that best suits your own hand. As a rough guide, the average size for men is 4, while for women size 2 or 3 is most common. A quick way of determining your "correct" size is to try spanning the running surface of a bowl with both hands. If with your thumbs touching, your middle fingers are just touching, the bowl is a correct fit. If there is a gap the bowl is probably too big and you need to try a smaller size. If your middle fingers overlap the bowl is too small and you are better using a larger size. Please bear in mind this procedure is only intended as a rough "rule of thumb" and the correct bowl is one which is comfortable for you to hold and deliver, without putting any undue strain on either your fingers or wrist.
GRIP
I generally advise the use of a gripped bowl on grass, as this aids delivery in cold or wet conditions. Again there are various types of dimpled grips, according to the manufacturer and make of bowl, so try out a few to find what is most comfortable. There are lots of different grips (eg deep dimples, shallow dimples, dimples with pimples, vertical grooves, crescents, etc). Remember the grip is not just cosmetic, it is intended to improve your grip on the bowl, so it is a matter of trying them out to find your personal preference. Indoors I think the grip really is just a matter of personal preference and indeed some players choose to use a plain bowl especially on indoor carpets.
WEIGHT
The next consideration is weight (ie medium, medium heavy, heavy or extra heavy). If you look at seria number on bowl it will begin with M or H indicating if it is medium or heavy. I generally recommend medium weight for grass and heavy weight for indoors, but again this is an individual choice, not a tablet of stone! However, if you need to use a very small bowl (eg size 0 or 1) it may be advisable to choose a heavy bowl in that size, as it will tend to hold its line on the green better than a lighter medium bowl. When it comes to indoor bowls I do think it is a little easier to make the necessary small adjustments to your delivery length on faster carpets if you use a heavy bowl. Remember the extra weight is quite small and it is much easier to deliver a heavy weight bowl on carpet than on grass.
COLOUR
Black is still by far the most predominant colour, followed by brown and of course most importantly they are also the cheapest. Coloured bowls (eg blue, red, green, etc) are becoming more popular nowadays but are usually about £35 more expensive and perform no better, so unless you like your bowls to stand out from the crowd, my advice is to start off with a standard black (or brown) bowl. Many more players now use coloured bowls indoors, rather fewer use them outdoors on grass as they do tend to show up scratches from use on grass surfaces.
COST
Your first purchase should normally be a used bowl, which is still in pretty good condition, with only some minor scratches but no serious scrapes or gouges and reasonably new, by that I mean not more than 15 years old. This bowl will perform just as well as a brand new bowl, but will cost you much less and should you subsequently decide to change, it will only lose a little of its cost. Do remember that a nearly new set of bowls will easily last you 10 years, so it is much better to buy wisely than to buy economically. Indeed penny wise & pound foolish is a good maxim when buying a set of bowls. They will give you much pleasure over a long time and are an excellent investment.
AGE
You can determine the age of a bowl by examining the oval / rectangular stamp on the side of the bowl. This is a 10 year maufacturers guarantee stamp, so if the year shown on the bowl is for example 09 it was actually manufactured in 1999. However, do remember that it may not have been used for some years after that, as it may have been lying in a store or shop for some time before its sale. My advice is dont buy a bowl with a stamp older than 00, unless of course it has not seen much use and is in much better condition than its age would suggest. A World Bowls (WBB )stamp is slightly more preferable than a British Isles (BIBC) stamp, as some major competitions will insist on this particular stamp. However, as a newcomer to the sport, this is of much less significance than the general condition of the bowl itself.
MAKE
The actual make of bowl is not that important, as all manufacturers (ie Henselite, Taylor, Almark, Drakes Pride, Greenmaster and Cotswold) produce good quality bowls, which must conform to the standards laid down in World Bowls Regulations. Henselite bowls tends to be a bit more expensive than the others, but this price difference is much less marked when buying older second hand bowls. Pay more regard to the actual brand name of the bowl. The following list indicates order of drawing for the main manufacturers ie Henselite - Classic, Tiger, TigerII, ClassicII, Dreamline; Taylor - Lignoid, Legacy, International, Ace, Vector, Lazer; Almark Sterling - Gold, Slimline, King, CrusaderII; Drakes Pride - Professional Plus, Jazz, Professional, Advantage. These brand names give an indication of the type of drawing line that particular bowl will take (ie wide, medium, narrow) and whether it is intended for use on indoor stadium or shortmat carpets or outdoors on grass. Bowls, with only a very few exceptions, are generally designed either for indoor or outdoor use. An indoor bowl is designed to have a much narrower bias than an outdoor bowl. An outdoor bowl has usually much too big a swing for use indoors and is too difficult to control consistently if you really want to be competitive. When I say indoor bowls I am referring to stadium bowls (not shortmat bowls). Generally speaking most outdoor bowls are also suitable for use on shortmat carpets, but the wider swinging bowls are especially favoured. The first two named bowls in previous list of the main manufacturers bowls would therefore be intended for outdoor use and latter two named for indoor use. If you require advice on the draw line of any particular bowl please ask and I will be only too pleased to help.
SUMMARY

There are now well over 30 different bowls available in UK, in 8 sizes (00 - 6), in 4 weights ( medium, medium heavy, heavy, extra heavy), and at least 6 different types of grips, or plain. A buyer certainly has a wide range to select from and such a choice can often be rather confusing to a beginner or novice. However bowlers are generally a friendly bunch and only too ready to help newcomers to the club choose a satisfactory set of bowls, so please don't be shy of asking for their advice. As a beginner you would be best advised to start with a narrow to medium drawing bowl, as you will probably be asked to play at the front end of a rink, where your primary task is to place your bowl as close to the jack as possible. A wide drawing bowl is usually only an advantage for back end players, who often have to draw around a pile of short bowls to get to the jack.
If you require further independent advice on any bowls matter please ask. It is all part of the service which I offer free of charge and of course you are under no obligation to buy from me. Do not hesitate to ask any seller for additional information if it is not clear from the description or pictures or if you are in any doubt. The seller should include the make, model, year, size, weight and condition of the bowls in the item description / photo. In my experience the vast majority of ebay sellers are honest, helpful and value their reputation, so you should have no concerns about buying bowls on ebay. My eBay shop EX- SPORT UK is just one of the many choices available to you but it is certainly worth a look. Thank you for your attention and I do hope you have found this guide helpful. Good luck with your purchase and regardless of your level of ability, enjoy your bowls. Finally, when you get your bowls do try to polish them at least weekly with a proprietory bowls product (eg multigrip, grippo, etc) as it will certainly improve your grip on the bowl and also help to preserve the running surface of your bowl in the longer term, thus increasing their resale or trade in value should you ever decide to change to a different or newer model.

[Angel]

Hi Everyone well what a lot of information thank you very much Keith, I started out not knowing Bowls had different weights, the only size I

could hold was a 0 and that happened to be a heavy which someone let me try out, I have very small hands and could not hold anything else, I

really should be bowling with a size00 but they are more difficult to find second hand,

so here I am playing not too badly with a size 0 heavy and recently have been giving the top men Bowlers a run for their money, it hasn't done

their street credit much good to be beaten by someone using a size0

I Forgot to Welcome you to the Forum Brett are you a new Bowler


Angel:D

[brettb372]

Hi yes just started and trying diferant bowls to get a idea size 3 is the size that fits my hands but find them to big so have ordered a second hand set of 2's to start me off
Regards Brett

[brettb372]

Ps Thank you keith for all the information very helpful
Regards Brett

[Sam]

:rolleyes:Noticed your post Brett, its one of the most difficult things sorting out what size and make of Bowl suits you best,
It has gotten more difficult because Manufactures are bringing out so many new makes and Colors,
I know an awful lot of Bowlers who when they have a bad game blame their woods some have got three or four sets,
Don't go down that road stick with one set for at least a season then decide


Sam short for Samantha:rolleyes:

[brettb372]

Thanks Sam
i ordered a second hand st of 2's 3 are supposed to be perfect for my hand but found they wer awful so tryed 1's and little small for me so i await the ones ive ordered (2nd hand) and see how i do
Best regards Brett

[keith]

Afternoon brettb372,

Have always found this time of the year more difficult to judge the correct size of bowls and which fits the hand well, these warm very dry conditions I can well get away with a size or 2 larger than I can manage in the wet slippy conditions.
For me I settle with the largest wood I can manage on a wet day!! also I do like the grips (dimples) around the edge, think its thy way I hold the bowls that I need the grips!:(

Best of luck with the size 2 woods!!

[brettb372]

As a beginner to bowls i want to thank all the very helpful replys to my original question about bowls purchase and size, i have been playing now for a while with size 2 (which according to hand measure are slighly to small but i think they are perfect, i think as a most of you advised is try bowls our first and find your own preferance many thanks for everyones help
Best Regards Brett

[Frankie]

Hi Brettb372,

Very sensible, I think its great fun trying different bowls, nothing wrong with woods slightly small, the weather lately has been fine, the true test is when its wet & slippery if you have too large a wood I find that they go all over the place!!!

Best of luck for the future:D

[Surfer]

Because of our Wet Weather down here in Cornwall last year I noticed a number of Men were wearing Bowling gloves,
Very Sensible doesent matter as long as you can hold and deliver your Bowl

Surfer from Cornwall:cool:

[widgetwilk]

First time post, hey to all,
have not been bowling long, still have a lot to learn, but keith I have been reading your post 'A Short Guide To Buying Bowls' and am asking you to help me with

'If you require advice on the draw line of any particular bowl please ask and I will be only too pleased to help.'

I have got a set of Crystalate size 1 bowls and am interested in finding out the 'draw line' of these bowls, can you help??
thank you

[keith]

Welcome Widgetwilk,

Hope you enjoy the site, Do you play Crown Green or flat geen???

Whilst the site is mainly 'Flat green bowlers' there are a few posters on Crown Green.

Have seen these bowls years ago and were being used in Crown Green, did find this bit below;

The original Crystalate, Tyrolite and Vitalite Bowls that are no longer available and so sought after today? They were manufactured to feature a natural shine, providing a much better surface grip. Bowlers did not need to use waxes or sticky compounds to achieve this benefit.

Look forward to hearing from you:D

[Barbie]

Hi Everyone this is an interesting post I have never heard of these Bowls, I only wish they would manufacture some with this finish I have tried everything on my Bowls to Improve the grip,
Rosewater and Glycerin then the sticky grippo that tends to stick my fingers to the Bowls, now I am wearing Bowling gloves these are all right if it doesn't rain then they get all soggy and cold,

Love your name Widgetwilk good Luck with your Bowling

Barbie:D

[widgetwilk]

Keith, I play Crown Green Bowls,
I was given these bowls by a friend when her husband died, they have a shine and not a very large grip around them.

Barbie, I don't find the handling of them difficult, did not realize they were that 'uncommon'

thanks for replies.

[Surfer]

Morning Widgetwilk

Ive never heard of these Bowls but it sounds like you have got your hands on something special would hang onto them if I were you,
We don't have any Crown Green Bowling down here in Cornwall it sounds a really different game to flat Green,

Going back to Barbie's post a lot of the Ladies have smaller hands and struggle holding bowls exotically in wet weather,
All right for us Blokes we got much larger hands

Good luck let us know how you get on with your Bowls

Surfer from an Overcast Cornwall