bowls enthusiasts

[Vic 970]

I enjoy watching bowls and curling occasionally when its on tv. but a couple of things have me confused

bowls: what do they squirt on the occasional bowl & why.

curling: what is the purpose of the team members brushing the ice in front of the shot being played.

[Abbadon]

Originally posted by Vic 970
curling: what is the purpose of the team members brushing the ice in front of the shot being played.

Don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing that by scrubbing the ice, they make it slippy-er. They have to judge when to stop doing so or the shot will go to far, but they have to do it long enough or the shot won't go far enough. The bowls don't glide very good by themselves I suppose...

[pentachris]

I'm not familiar with "bowls" unless you're talking about what we in the states call "bowling." The bowler rolls the ball down the alley with a spin on it, attempting to get it to break so that it hits between the 1 and 3 pin (or, for a left handed bowler, between the 1 and 2 pin). Such a hit is most likely to produce a strike. If the ball "grabs" too early, it will start its break too early. Perhaps the bowlers are using an oil to make the ball slide a little further before beginning its break. Although usually this is adjusted by changing the ball's speed. I'm not sure this is what you're talking about, though...

Curlers vigorously brush the ice in front of the stone because the friction slightly melts the ice, creating a film of water on which the stone can glide. They have to know, based on how fast the stone is moving and how far away they are from the target and the condition of the ice, when to stop brushing so that they don't overshoot their mark.

[pentachris]

I found (http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Bowls.htm) what you are referring to. I have no idea what sort of stuff they might squirt on the balls or why.

Looking over the site reminded me that the sweeping action in curling also aids in direction, not just velocity.

[malcore]

bowls polishes and grip aids (http://www.bowlingsalesofcanada.com/pages/lawnBowling/polishes.htm)

Keep 'em clean and "tacky";)

[Vic 970]

thanks for the replies. I had thought that brushing the ice in curling might be to make the ice slippier, but on occasion (that being the case) the members had continued to brush when it was obvious that the 'shot' was going to fast,

re bowls, it is the english version that I was refering to, certainly the indoor (which was on today) dont know if they do it on lawn, or crown green,
but it is the referee who applies the 'stuff' on the bowl, I guess as a temporary marker, but it is not the 1st bowl, nor the nearest bowl that always gets marked, (although often it appears to be) it would appear that it is a small spray can, and he marks each side of the bowl with a splodge (or dot)

incidently, they are now made of resin and called bowls, and 'delivered' with 'forehand' or 'backhand'. when my father first learned me to play, they were made of wood and called 'woods' and were 'played' with finger bios or thumb bios.
can't remember anybody squirting them though.

[Vic 970]

from the duties of the 'marker',

(v) mark all touchers immediately they come to rest, and remove marks from non-touchers.

however upon observation (bbc tv today) it was apparent that the 'marker' was 'squirting' the bowls that had hit the jack, whether they remained in contact or not, which makes the rule (or the viewed action) confusing.

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re: US. bowling, which I played for the first time recently, did'nt realise that the bowls were so heavy ! and it felt strange just sort of 'dropping' them from the finger holes, which was like having very little control over the bowl, in my younger days I was a spin bowler at cricket and goalkeeper at football, where much control is placed on the object ball when it leaves the hand, or in snooker/billiards/pool when struck by the cue, where it can be encoraged to.., roll on, roll back, twist in, twist off, etc. etc.

when it came to UK. it was refered to as 'ten pin bowling' and was in fact made illegal, the law in fact referencing ten pin, so the game continued without hinderance, as the 'alleys' immediately took away 1 pin leaving nine, and has continued (I think with law still standing) until present time.

how is it played in US. ? 9 or 10 pins ?

[pentachris]

Almost always 10 pins. There are some variations, including at least one 9 pin game. Not sure of the rules.

It's amazing how much control a good bowler can exhibit over the ball. A 7-10 split converted is a beautiful thing to watch! :)

[pave_spectre]

A 7-10 split converted is a beautiful thing to watch!

Its even more incredible when done by accident. Just watching everyones jaw drop can be quite hilarious.:D