BY EVELYN HOARE

‘BOWLING DOWN THE YEARS’

Bowling is one of this country’s best kept secrets. However it is played regularly by tens of thousands of people. It affords good exercise, exciting competition and social contact.

Bowls historians believe that the game developed from the Egyptians. This has been determined based on artefacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C. The sport spread across the world and took on a variety of forms, Bocce (Italian), Bolla (Saxon), Bolle (Danish), Boules (French), lawn bowls (English), Road Bowls (Irish), Ten-pin Bowling (American), Curling (Scottish) and Short-mat Bowls.

There’s a common perception that, with the possible exception of croquet, bowling is the most sedate of games. All you have to do is roll a ball gently from one end of the green to the other and have a chat along the way before adjourning for a nice cup of tea. The reality however is much different. Anyone playing the game for the first time will experience the morning-after stiffness that proves bowling is more than a gentle saunter. And of course there is also the skill factor. As it doesn’t require physical fitness, it is particularly favoured by older folk but there are also a lot of younger players enjoying the sport.

Road Bowling

The French have their boules, the English their bowls and the Americans love ten-pin, but the Irish have road bowls (or long bullets as it is sometimes called).

Road bowls is a traditional Irish sport. It has been part of the Irish folk culture for four centuries. Once played all over Ireland, it was until recently played mainly in Cork and Armagh but is enjoying a revival with the formation of new clubs in counties Wexford, Offaly, Kilkenny, Louth, Dublin, Kerry and Monaghan. The sport is played with a 28-ounce iron ball on ordinary country roads, on the same principle as golf. It is the challenge of playing on the naturally undulating and twisting roadways that makes the sport so interesting and such a spectacular sport. The winner is the one who covers the distance (usually about 4 kilometres) in the fewest shots.

Lawn Bowls

Lawn Bowls is usually played straight up and down a lawn using bowls called “woods” which these days are usually made of a resin material. Each bowl is less rounded on one side which results in the bowl being “biased” in one direction due to extra weight on one side. The bias of a correctly rolled bowl ensures that it follows a slightly curved path as it rolls, which accentuates as the bowl comes to a halt. Each bowl is rolled alternately at a target ball called a jack. The jack is a smaller white ball without a bias. The aim of the game is to deliver your bowls nearer to the jack than your opponent.