Yesterday Rudolf and Connie took us for a game of bowls, as well as some well needed tuition. Especially for me as I have never even held a bowl in my hand, until yesterday.
Roll up time.
Judging the state of the green? Looking for a better spot? What do we do with these funny looking balls? No, it is ascertaining whose bowl is the closest to the kitty. And it was not mine, that is for sure.
Hold the bowl with the small circle on the inside, place the right foot on the marker, make sure your foot faces away from the kitty and in the direction you want the ball to go (it curves around), put your left hand on your left knee, bend and move your left foot forward. And slowly swing your arm and let the bowl ease gently out of your hand. Blast, it has gone the wrong way! And 'oh no'. It has also gone into the gutter, I mean the ditch.
The two experts watch my form, or lack of it.
Rudolf showing us how it is done. Notice the angle of his feet. Important.
Connie also shows us how it is done. I need to sit down. Walter has not moved. He is concentrating.
Walter's turn. He understands the procedure and carefully rolls the bowl. But then he has had practice in Nelson, NZ. I am perplexed by the complexity of the manoeuvres required just to get the bowl going along the green in the right direction. Even with Rudolf's expert coaching I still found it very difficult to grasp the concept of co-ordinating body and arm movement. It is not as easy as it looks!
This afternoon Connie took us down to the bowling club to watch some matches. A great opportunity for me to gain some hints on how to improve my form. And to take some photos of the colourful uniforms some of the teams wear. I do understand that playing competitive bowls is not just about getting to wear a colourful uniform. But they sure are lovely to look at.
When we arrived we saw the bowls looking all forlorn amongst the puddles on the green.
The bowlers were inside the club house having afternoon tea. Sensible people.
They had left the match mid play. The bowls clustered around the kitty.
Then down came the rain again, torrential rain at that.
Rained out. Match cancelled. Very disappointing.
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