Many people who play bowls today are those who grew up around a bowling green, often being dragged there, unwillingly in most cases I am sure, as impressionable youngsters by either their parents or grandparents.
I knew very little about the jargon around the game when I began playing because I only ever entered a bowls club as a younger person to attend some sort of function, like a wedding reception, or 21st birthday party, but never as a player or as a child of a bowls-playing parent or grandchild of a player. In fact, yours truly only began playing the game aged 55 but I have always regretted that I hadn’t begun way sooner!
But, on to other matters …
All sports have their jargon. Bowls is no exception. Some terminology has remained; other has changed – often for good reason. Let’s explore a little of this.
• Woods
Bowls are not called ‘woods’, anymore simply because, well, they are not made of wood! They used to be though, they were carved and turned from a very hard wood called Lignum vitae which was found on only one island in the West Indies. Today they are made from a synthetic resin and are much more durable, play more consistently and are many times stronger than the old wooden jobs. And NO, they in no way, size, shape or form resemble marbles!
• Bias
This is a simple term which means the bowl has a ‘tendency or bias to bend’ in a certain way. The bending path that a bowl takes is not as a result of weights being inserted on one side of the bowl, it is achieved by having one side of the bowl ‘more bulging’ (for want of a better term) than the other.
• Kitty
That little white or yellow ball (somewhat larger than a pool ball) which we bowlers try to get as close to as we can is supposed to be called a Jack these days – the term ‘Kitty’ is out the window. But that doesn’t stop the more creative bowlers from calling it a cat or even a yak just for the heck of it. But why kitty, cat, Jack? Who knows …? By the way, in the old days the Jacks were made of porcelain and were inclined to break easily; whereas today they are made of the same tough synthetic resin that bowls are made of.
• Grass
“You have taken too much (or too little) grass!” or “I have cut my grass”. Sounds weird in isolation doesn’t it? But all it means is that you have delivered your bowl too wide (or too narrow) for it to get as close to the Jack as you hope it to.
• Heavy
“Oh dear, I’m too heavy!” Also sounds kind of weird, especially when uttered by a petite young lady on the green. It’s just means that the bowl has been delivered with much more force than needed to gently roll into the required position.
• Rink and skip and etiquette
Rink has nothing to do with ice skating. A rink is a division on the bowling green – usually there are six of these –which allows many games to be played on the same green simultaneously. But why is it called a rink? Again, somewhat of a mystery …
Then there is the Skip. He/ she is basically the captain of a team, hence the term ‘Skip’ from skipper, as in skipper (captain) of a ship/ boat. He or she is not supposed to skip around on the rink – if some bowlers that I know of did that they would simply collapse or have a heart attack, for sure!
Etiquette plays a very important role in the game of bowls – as in most sports. It’s the stuff that makes any game enjoyable for all who play it. Bowls has all sorts of nice little touches that add to its enjoyment. I am not going to go into detail about this, except to say that it’s in place for good reason and by keeping to it the game works” well.
If you need any further information, or should you want to start or re-start playing bowls (our greens are open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoon from 1.30pm), please contact Randfontein Town Bowling Club’s president, Vera Pretorius on 082 779 5177 or secretary, Bobby McNeill on 082 926 4895.
