Bowls in the head

[bill morton]

BOWLS ON THE HEAD – POSSIBLY?

I regularly hear the statement – “We must have bowls on the head” and “We lost because we did not have bowls on the head” I wonder whether forum members agree that Skippers should try to get bowls on the head?

However I find that Skippers who say they want to get bowls on the head build a head (call shots) that does NOT achieve this stated objective. I wonder if forum members experience this situation and what they believe such Skippers do that reduce the chance of them getting bowls on the head. I would value your opinions.

[jobayus]

Bill I think every Bowler that Bowls tries to get Bowls On The Head,but we are not always Capable of doing it Consistently enough,I'm talking here about some of us.Some Bowlers are Better than others,consequently they get more Bowls on the Head and The Skip does'nt have to say to them,that he needs more Bowls on the head.

[DWilksy]

Bill I think every Bowler that Bowls tries to get Bowls On The Head,but we are not always Capable of doing it Consistently enough,I'm talking here about some of us.Some Bowlers are Better than others,consequently they get more Bowls on the Head and The Skip does'nt have to say to them,that he needs more Bowls on the head.

That's the word Jobsy!

[Progold]

Probavly different concepts in building a head and bowls in the head. You can have 8 bowls "in the head" but if the opposing skip plays a shot to move the jack and you go 8 down, it is a pretty fruitless exercise.

[damicky]

very good point. position bowls are often required.

[The Fox]

It's a very interesting question this one, the preceding players understanding of what is required is essential to the situation. Generally Seconds and Thirds will try to draw the ultimate shot, resting toucher etc. to resurrect the position, this invariably it doesn’t happen. Impressing on the proceeding player that the ultimate shot is NOT necessary at this stage is the mark of a good skipper, the ultimate shot (high 5’s and all ) can be the second bowl. Position bowls are all well and good but if you are down you have to do something about it or at least minimize the damage. God forbid the skip has to try to resurrect the situation himself.

[David South]

It is difficult because the skipper has a number of different objectives.

1 You want to win the end. For that you need bowls in the zone - that is, close to the jack, or behind, where the jack might be trailed to.

2 You want to ensure that if the opposition draws close bowls, they don't get many shots. For that you need second and third shot, preferably not both together, so that one drive could take them both out.

3 You don't want a situation where there is a possible opposition trail shot to a point on the green where they have a lot of bowls. You need a back bowl (to prevent the opposition skip running the jack into the ditch and getting a big score) and a position bowl in the middle of any group of opposition bowls that the jack might be trailed to.

In my experience a skip lamenting the lack of bowls in the head has usually just had the one or two close bowls he did have taken out, with a resultant big score to the opposition. All very well, but if you have too many bowls in the head you might lose a big score to a trail shot. You then hear the skipper lamenting that there were not enough back bowls.

It is the difficuly of juggling all the various possibilities that makes skipping a challenge.

[bill morton]

1 I have failed miserably in getting my message across and also in achieving my objective. My apologies to forum members.

2. I should NOT have mentioned about the need to get bowls on the head. I assume that almost everyone thinks it rates as a desirable objective. However I accept that we need a definition of what the phrase means.

3. Further I believe that most Players accept that sometimes a Skipper should call a shot that does NOT aim to obtain bowls on the head. However Players will disagree about when a Skipper should call for such shots as (a) a position bowl and (b) a block.

4 Some forum members have stated that I aim to promote my web site (partly true). However it saves me a lot of typing of forum replies if I refer forum members to my views on a particular topic. Thus I will risk criticism and refer you to the page called – Improve Performance by Better Tactics 1 and the file called “Should every bowl try to get shot”.

5 However as my contribution to the forum I comment on A meaning for head. Note I use an “A” to point out that I do not rate it as “THE” definition.

6. Players who want to get bowls on the head almost certainly do not mean the word head to have the meaning given in the laws of the game.

7. The head from a tactical viewpoint consists of an area with - at least – the following two characteristics – (a) distance from the jack and (b) a particular shape. In fact the shape will define distance as well. Personally I use a circle as my shape because I believe it rates as easier to record. (I have discussed my reasons in the page called Evaluation by Individual Bowls Scoring 1 and the file called – “The Scoring of Bowls”). However I also record where the bowl will (probably) finish.

8. Some Players prefer a different shape which uses something like a rhomboid that gives a different distance for bowls short of, or past, the jack – and even the distance narrow or wide.

9. I believe that any definition of a head will use arbitrary distances. I suggest using six feet but many Readers will tell me that any bowl six feet away has no value. I agree that it will not prove of much value re SCORING in most situations but it can have TACTICAL value in some situations.

10. Readers should remember/understand that my recording of Premier League finals in Melbourne for ten years shows that one bowl in four - on the average - finishes outside six feet. See the web page called – Improve performance by analysing statistics – Fours 1 and the file called “Summaries only”.

11. However from a tactical viewpoint a head varies – from one end to another AND from one location to another within an end. . Some heads have (a) very few bowls within three feet, (b) many (six) bowls within one foot, (c) few bowls within six feet. This last point often occurs if play has moved the jack back. Thus the “correct” shot to call varies with what a Skipper defines as a head at a particular point in the end and his estimate of the ability of a Player and himself to play a particular shot and the likely probability of something happening. (See Head 14 in the page called “Improve performance by analysing Head Problems 13 – 18.)

12. However enough on this topic. I wrote my thread to obtain views on the second part of my posting. So far no-one has contributed on this topic. Hence my admission of failure.

13. I have a theory that some skippers say that they want to use the tactics of “get bowls on the head” but build a head (call shots) that do NOT contribute to this objective – in fact quite the opposite.

14. As an example, does changing the hand of a Leader increase the probability that the Leader’s bowl will NOT finish on the “head”. However I propose that- in some situations - NOT changing the hand will DECREASE the probability of getting the shot but will INCREASE the probability of getting bowls on the head.

15. I hope that Readers will have other theories on this topic. No doubt some will disagree with the above proposition but I suggest that no one really knows. With my over ten years of recording I can try to find out but it requires a lot of manual analysis. Should I try to do it – as compared with all the other objectives I would like to achieve? (I asked for a computer programmer (forum member) who might devise a program for doing such analysis but I received not takers.)

16 Meanwhile I have hard copies and computer records that I believe do not exist anywhere in the world. When I die, my wife said that she will just throw them out! However that has the advantage that Bowlers will continue to hold the many myths about bowls that exist. (Example – most drives finish narrow – not true. (See the page called Improve performance by analysing statistics – Fours 2 and the file called Missed upshots – Do they finish wide or narrow.)

17. I started to write notes on this topic but thought it would prove an interesting and important topic for a forum. Further I hoped that I would get some useful ideas to use in my notes.

18 Meanwhile I realised that I lacked information on this topic so I have designed a questionnaire to collect information on this topic WITHOUT stating it as the real objective of the questionnaire.

19. If you would like to see a copy of the draft questionnaire just send me an email. If you do and will complete it then - wonderful. Eventually I will analyse what I discover and put it on my web site – and notify forum members that it exists. However I accept that some forum members do not like me to take this approach.

20. If you would like to contribute on this topic (see paragraph 13) please add your ideas.

SOME COMMENTS ON YOUR REPLIES = and thankj you for them.

jobayus - I agree I see bowls as imilar to a game of chess BUT with the major difference that you cannot always place the peces where you would like to place them,

Progold - I would happily settle for holding eight shots and with the opposition skipper having last bowl PROVIDED I had the back covered. i think I would win most ends with this situation.

David South - Thank you for your well-reasonaed reply, My fault that I failed to get my messasge across and I did not get a well-reasoned reply to my intended message. I agree that "juggling" the various possibilities makes skipping a challenge. However I suspect you can find a better verb than - juggle.

[mickpacholli]

BOWLS ON THE HEAD – POSSIBLY?

I regularly hear the statement – “We must have bowls on the head” and “We lost because we did not have bowls on the head” I wonder whether forum members agree that Skippers should try to get bowls on the head?

However I find that Skippers who say they want to get bowls on the head build a head (call shots) that does NOT achieve this stated objective. I wonder if forum members experience this situation and what they believe such Skippers do that reduce the chance of them getting bowls on the head. I would value your opinions.

The question seems a bit unwieldy Bill.

Do you mean like driving at a head when you are up to take out a 3rd shot, or playing a position shot? Often the best bowl of an end is one that ends up in the skips pocket!

Asking one's two to play weight too often can certainly reduce the chances of building a head.

Not enough bowls in the head is usually a refence to the performance of the front end as they are required to draw 95%+ of the time, shot play from the back end is often played with weight to reach, so would by design be less likely to add other than by conversion.

[deebee]

Surely the head is fluid, and in a constant state of flux!

[bill morton]

It depends on what you (or someone else ) means by "Head. In some cases PROBABLY - some people would say that it has no effect on the "head" However it may affect tactics, Example - the team holding shot has n0 bowl at the back and a Player puts a bowl 15 feet behind, Has the bowl added to the head?
In some casess the meaning does not matter but if a Skipper asks a Player to put a bowl on the head then it may prove an ambiguous call. Perhaps Skippers should not use such a call?

[mickpacholli]

It depends on what you (or someone else ) means by "Head. In some cases PROBABLY - some people would say that it has no effect on the "head" However it may affect tactics, Example - the team holding shot has n0 bowl at the back and a Player puts a bowl 15 feet behind, Has the bowl added to the head?
In some casess the meaning does not matter but if a Skipper asks a Player to put a bowl on the head then it may prove an ambiguous call. Perhaps Skippers should not use such a call?

The size of the head may be a scaleable measure at different division levels, Say a circumference of 2 mat lengths from the Jack for Div 1, 3 for Div2 etc.

A position bowl would be usually behind the 'head'.