On the Bowling Green with Geoff Behrent
Did you know orthopaedic surgeons and nurses play bowls.
• Geoff Behrent writes:
According to statistics gathered in England, the average age of bowlers is 55, with the youngest registered player aged 10 and the oldest 95. Of interest is the fact that a large proportion of bowls players represent the various medical professions. I have played with and against orthopaedic surgeons, doctors and nurses, and have discussed with them at length the health benefits of playing bowls.
So with this in mind, in this article I would like to examine the issue of good health specially with regard to middle-aged (and older) people, those people whom the averages indicate are in the 55-year-old bracket.
As we all know there are two kinds of health we should experience, and these are physical health and mental health. The best result is of course enjoying both simultaneously. My research has turned up the following on this very subject.
Let me quote what someone once so eloquently wrote on the subject. “Suitable exercise not only promotes good health and combats physical weakening; it also lessens nervous tension and resulting mind confusion. The mental resiliency of the habitual bowler is not due solely to bodily fitness, but also the tonic effects of skilful contest, for no balanced mind can brood on life’s anxieties whole absorbed in friendly rivalry, the delight of social intercourse, calculated judgement of distance and angle of despatch, and sustained interest in the fate or fortune of every running bowl. Bowls may seem slow to the onlooker – it is never so to those engaged in it, for to excel requires constant practice and the use of the greatest skill. It is fine training for the eye, the brain, the temperament and the muscle. It is a health-giving but not too strenuous pastime, recommended and patronised by the medical profession; giving the player an interest to keep him/ her in the open air with an alert mind.”
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 13:30), please contact Randfontein Town Bowling Club’s president, Vera Pretorius on 082 779 5177 or secretary, Bobby McNeill on 082 926 4895. The club also has a hall that can be hired at very reasonable rates; contact Vera or Bobby for details.
