This article is an introduction and guide to the field of tactical programming and

training in lawn bowls, the art and science of excellence, derived from studying how teams in
different levels of lawn bowls obtain their outstanding results. These skills can be learnt by
anyone to improve their effectiveness both personally and professionally. More importantly,
this provides an up-to-date introduction and overview incorporating the latest developments
in the field and revealing important parts of tactical training.

TRAINING

There are four areas of tactical training that should take place if your desire is to improve the
present standard of your team or yourself as a singles player:

i. Performance skills

This is the first step in tactical training and deals with the perfection of playing any of the
lawn bowls shots from the draw shot to drive. Poor performance in this area within the game
will reflect badly on the team or the individual performance which relates to tactical play.
Training should be supervised by a registered coach and the practice of the shots only should
be strictly adhered to. The best result is produced by getting to know each other and training
together as a team. Never fall for the trap of playing together in the atmosphere of a friendly
game, because the only one who gets anything out of it is the strongest player in that group. It
is imperative that each member knows the team’s strengths and weaknesses. This preparation
psychologically reduces the shock of finding out weaknesses during the game.

ii. Training drills

The purpose of training drills is vital to setting up the head to prevent the opposition from
getting shot or converting from an unfavourable position to a favourable one. Overall the
drills cover defence, attack and recovery, are set play and deal with obtaining and protecting
the shot or recovering it from the opposition. The practice of these lawn bowling drills give
you a better understanding of what the skipper may require you to do or what they are about
to do. This training should also be supervised by a registered national coach.

iii. Study of set play

Set plays are drills designed around defence, attack and recovery to prevent the opposition
from obtaining or maintaining the shot or to convert your own tactical circumstances from an
unfavourable position to a favourable one. These drills or play are taught by lawn bowls
coaches or tacticians who delineate the advantages and disadvantages of shots played to a
particular laid out head e.g. draw shot, on-shots, running or drive shots.

iv. Psychological skills

This sets a context and maps out the main ideas of constructing tactics; how we get from our
present reality to where we want to go, communication and outcomes, how to gain rapport,
and how we build unique ways of understanding the game of lawn bowls. It also deals with
our state of mind, how they are evoked, and how we can use these stimuli or anchors to gain
access to our resourceful state of mind at will. These psychological skills are interwoven into
the following paragraph “Psychological Preparation.”

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION

Advantage and effect

Psychological preparation is presented in sequence acting in accordance with rules which

accord with other team’s experiences and allows future teams to access their own conscious
resources. Within its application there is a section on metaphor, another on changing the
meaning of experience, and a third on how we subjectively perceive the game. This is about
thinking in terms of order and a comprehensive assemblage of facts, principles, doctrine or
the like in a particular field of knowledge or thought, rather than waiting for incidents of
simple cause and effect to occur. It contains insight into how the team’s environment,
behaviour, capability, belief and identity fit together.

Understanding

Tactics vary greatly and can be controversial. They depend greatly on the skipper’s and/or
individual’s ability to plan and prepare for each competitive performance.

Object

The employment of psychological preparation in lawn bowls has but one tactical objective;
“To prevent the opposition from getting shot or converting from an unfavourable position to a
favourable one.” If you understand the object of tactics in a competitive situation then all you
need to do is follow six golden rules;
Rule 1: Prior to the game, and as early as possible (months, weeks or days ahead) construct a
game plan so that every member of the team knows and rehearses the performance standard
required and the tactical manoeuvres that may be used in the game e.g. training drills, set play
etc.
Rule 2: Prior to and during the game; sum up and assess the relative strength or weakness of
the opposition. This will also influence tactics and the type of shot to be played. In a team
game it is the skipper who decides the shot to be played and the tactics to be used. Their
decision should never be questioned by other members of the team.
Rule 3: When in making a tactical decision always consider the respective abilities of each
member of your own team as well as that of the opponent, and whenever possible exploit the
strength of your team.
Rule 4: Always assume that the opposition will be successful in the shot they are attempting,
then to assess the results of that shot for the team, and thereby tactically place a bowl to
nullify the success of the attempted shot.
Rule 5: At completion or as soon as possible after the game (must be done within 72 hours or
the emphasis will be lost); the team must conduct a debriefing on the team’s performance
skills and the employment of tactics throughout that game. Do not look for blame nor cast
shame, but look for improvement and counter measures that will raise the team’s
performance to a higher level of play.
Rule 6: Collate the information from the debriefing and prepare your next game plan, and as
soon as possible train together as a team to correct the team’s weaknesses before the next
game.
Debriefing psychologically after 72 hours team members will either overrate or
underrate their own or the team’s strengths and weaknesses e.g. if the team has won the
details of weaknesses, occurrences or circumstances observed becomes lost in the afterimage
of the game. Should they lose, blame and shame intends to rears its ugly head.