Level 1

PART 1

Break into groups if necessary

Review of Lead Responsibilities

First Lead to bowl does the following - demonstrate as necessary

  • Setting the Mat
    • Explain the specifics of distance from the Ditch
      • Front end no less than 2 meters from the Ditch - leave farthest position for Level 2 
    • Alignment of the center of the mat with the number on the far end of the rink 
  • Setting the Jack
    • How to hold and roll the Jack
    • Minimum distance - far Hog Line
    • Centering the Jack on the number
    • Out of bounds - setting falls to the other lead
    • How to tell Skip to center the Jack
      • point hand in direction of movement followed by
      • indication of distance Jack needs to be moved by holding up two hands the necessary distance apart
      • fine tune the centering by repeat the above until the Jack is centered
      • indicate the Jack is properly position by giving the Skip a thumbs-up

Scoring
  • At the end of the end and only after the score has been tallied and agreed upon by the two Vices, the losing side Lead rakes the bowls to their left, behind the mat and close to the Ditch

​PART II

Exercises

Roll to the Ditch
  • Place a delivery mat at or near a Hog Line. Place two marker jacks 3 feet apart one-half the way between the delivery mat and the Tent End Ditch.
  • The objective is to practice delivering the bowl along a defined target line without worrying about where the bowls will come to rest. 
  • Having the bowler face the Ditch rather than the far end of the Rink eliminates the need to think about throwing enough weight to reach the opposite Head and allows the bowler to focus solely on the delivery. 
  • Using all four bowls one after the other in relatively short order helps the bowler to refine their eye-hand coordination to a specific target point along a delivery line without looking at the jack at the far end. 

Weight Control : 
  • Two rinks will be set up with 8’ X 4’ rectangles at different distances from the mat using 4 jacks to form the rectangle - one near the Hog Line and the other about 3 paces from the Ditch.
  • The objective is to have the bowl come to rest within the rectangle
  • Each player throws all bowls consecutively, collects their bowls and moves to the next rink for the return play
  • Throw each bowl with the same bias on Rink 1, switching to the other bias on Rink 2.
 
Target Practice
  • The objective is to have the bowl come to rest within a 24” radius of the jack. 
  • Each player throws all bowls consecutively, collects their bowls and moves to the next rink for the return play
  • Throw each bowl with the same bias on the first rink, switching to the other bias on the return