GET A GRIP

Once released, a bowl will travel two-thirds (approx.) of its path in a straight line before it has slowed enough that the slightly offset centre of gravity causes it to tilt and bend inwards. During the straight part of its path it wants to be upright on its running surface. At the point of release from your hand, the bowl should already be in the upright position. If it is not, the bowl’s gyroscopic motion will cause it to try to attain a steady upright orientation. This can introduce a wobble into the motion and wobble is the enemy of consistency. A wobble can throw the bowl slightly off line and affect the speed.

A consistent upright release starts with how you grip the bowl. If you are a watcher of bowls videos on YouTube, you may well have seen differing views on the best way to grip a bowl. However, there is a general consensus that the middle finger is key to a successful grip and should be the last part of the hand to be in contact with the bowl at the moment of release. The two most common examples of a middle finger dominated grip are as follows:

Straddled Finger Grip

The middle finger and ring finger are placed either side of the imaginary centre line of the bowl. The index finger and little finger are placed on the outer concentric rings of the bowl.

Centred Finger Grip

The middle finger is placed on the centre line with the ring finger halfway between centre line and the bowls grips. Once again, the outer fingers are placed on the outer rings.

In both of these cases the middle and index finger are aligned pointing directly forward.

Try It For Yourself

To see if these grips are suitable for you, try the following routine;

Thumb Positions

The two most commonly used thumb positions are as follow;

Claw Grip

The thumb is placed on the bowl’s outer rings and the hand forms a claw shape. This grip pushes the bowl slightly onto the fingertips and is thought to give a better “feel” for the weight (pace) of delivery.

Cradle Grip

The thumb is placed on the centre of the bowl and the bowl is cradled in the hand. The bowl sits deeper in the palm of the hand than the claw grip and the bowl feels very secure. Some bowlers adopt this grip when they are playing a heavy (fast) shot where exact control of pace is less critical than for a draw shot.

Alternative Grips

There are a great many successful bowlers who have grips where the fingers are not aligned straight on the running surface. They hold the bowl with the fingers angled across it. The key to their consistency is that they place their fingers in the same position with each delivery. In most cases the middle finger is the last part of the hand to lose contact with the bowl as it is released.

Curing The Wobble

The most common cause of a wobbly bowl is the little finger being too high on the side of the bowl. At the moment of release, the little finger can slightly flick the bowl as it leaves your hand. If you find you are wobbling your bowl, check the positioning of the little finger and drop it to the outer rings to see if that helps.

There is a modern tendency for bowlers to change their bowls for smaller ones. There are very good reasons for this trend to smaller and lighter bowls, not the least being weakening wrists with age and arthritic fingers. Also, modern coloured bowls are almost always heavyweight and are a couple of ounces heavier than a same size mediumweight bowl. The danger with moving to a smaller bowl is that the fingers spread out, because that feels comfortable, and the hand “envelops” the bowl. The index and little fingers can grip the bowl too tightly and either of them can impart a wobble. It is perfectly OK to play with a bowl that is theoretically too small for your hand if it is easier for you to manage, but the principles of a good grip still apply.

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