CHOOSING BOWLS AND BIAS

The bowl gets its bias from the more acute shaping of its inner edge; that is the edge towards the small ring. If you inspect your bowl you will be able to see this.

When a bowl is delivered it should be delivered cleanly and upright so that the flat part is running on the green. Its original trajectory will therefore be more or less a straight line and then as it slows it will incline towards the 'chamfered' side and commence to bend more and more acutely as its speed drops. That is of course, when all things are equal. Since most greens have little 'tricks' or 'runs' there are many other elements which come into play!

The amount of 'bias' in a bowl depends on its manufacturer and its size; a small bowl tending to make a larger curve.

Of course the actual size of the bowl will affect its overall weight (on the scales) since the larger the bowl the more material in it and this is an element to consider when choosing your bowls, since the lighter (smaller) the bowl, the more likely it is to get moved in the head and the less effective it is at moving other heavier bowls. There are, nowadays, bowls made of denser material, termed 'heavyweights' designed to give some of the advantages of the larger bowl to those who cannot handle the size. Indoor bowlers who do not suffer from bowling in adverse weather conditions, can often handle a larger bowl than they could expect to control in the rain !

The recommended way to choose the size of your bowl is to wrap your hands around the running edge, so that the tips of the thumbs touch on one side and the tips of the middle fingers just touch on the other. This allows you to hold the bowl for delivery without dropping it; the tips of your fingers underneath and your thumb on top. I have the type of hand (long but with a small span), which could not span even the smallest bowl in this way, and which, therefore, made a nonsense of that particular test ! I have also developed my own grip which involves 'cupping' the bowl and allows me to use a much more practical size. Consequently, I prefer to advise that you use as large a bowl as you can handle and deliver comfortably. Try a few!

Hope this helps . . good luck with your bowling !