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REASONS FOR WRITING NOTES ON LAWN BOWLS
I have played lawn bowls for over thirty years. Many years ago, when I took on the role of a Selector, I realised that I lacked worthwhile information to evaluate the performance of players. Ten or so years ago I started to collect information on individual bowls when I played in fours games. Later I collected information by observing fours games. Still later I started to collect information from singles games. I do all this recording as a hobby and some people rate me as "mad". Very few Bowlers ever ask to see the results of the recording of their games - even when they win.
I had discussions with other Bowlers and realised that the sport generally lacked information on what really happened during games. Examples - How often do touchers exist in a game of fours of 25 ends. What percentage of times does a drive actually hit the target.
I started to believe that many myths exist in bowls. Example. Most drives that miss their target miss on the narrow side.
Many bowlers overestimate their own abilities and the abilities of others. Ask some of your bowling friends the question - What percentage of bowls (on the average) will a Division-One Leader get to finish within three feet of the jack? Probably you will find a large range of opinions. Some Players answer the question with a figure of 80 percent. What do you think?
When Players brought up various topics, I started to write notes on the topics discussed. I take this approach because I find that putting ideas on paper helps me to check out my thinking. Sometimes I start out believing "X". However by the time I finish writing, I find that I no longer believe "X".
However I write in detail and often end up with lengthy notes. Example. Seventeen pages on the topic - "Compatibility". I have given copies of my notes to a variety of people over the years and always ask if they could give me feedback - where have I written unclearly and where do they find weaknesses in my logic? Most people promise to do so, but almost no one does!
Probably this part of the my web site will interest only a few Bowlers. However, just in case it does help some Players, I have extended my hobby to making my ideas available to anyone interested.
As usual, I make my standing offer- please contact me with any criticisms etc. Click on the following to use my email address - billmorton2003@yahoo.com or use the form that allows for comments. Click - Comment on Material .
Readers who want help in finding out the content of this site will find it useful to look at the index of notes. Click Navigating around the Bowls Part to access the index.
Notes exist that aim to help Readers study the notes on this site. Click - How to study the notes in this site.(15/10/08)
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