Basic Rules

There is a Bowler's Handbook which explains everything that a new bowler need to know. This can be purchased through the club.

The Green
A standard bowling green is 34 to 40 meters square. Delimiting the edge of the lawn is a ditch. The green is divided into parallel rinks, each rink being no less than 5.5 meters no more than 5.8 meters wide so that multiple games occur across the whole lawn, one in each rink. 

The Equipment and The Play
A player must stand with one foot on a centrally placed mat, 360mm by 600mm while bowling. The Jack weighs between 225 gms and 285 gms approx. for grass. 
Bowl sizes and weights vary to suit individuals. Sizes range from 00 to 7, 116mm to 131mm, and weight from 1.31kg to 1.56kg.

The game is played up and down a rink. In "singles", each player plays four bowls.  In "pairs", for each end, each player plays four bowls - the first player on each side bows all four bowls and then the second player bowls four bowls. In "triples", three players play three bowls each.  And in "fours" or "rinks", four players play just two bowls each.  

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Aim of the Game

​​The aim of the game is simple. Get your bowls as close as possible to a small white ball called the 'jack'.
It might sound easy, but the fact that the bowls do not travel in a straight line seriously adds to the tactical challenge.
Bowls can be played indoors or outdoors, and the rules are the same, with top stars from both formats coming together to play lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games.
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How Games Unfold

All the action takes place on a standard bowling green, which is a flat square 34-40m long. This is divided into six playing areas called rinks.
After a coin toss, the first bowler (the lead) places the mat and rolls the jack to the other end of the green as a target.
The jack must travel at least 23m and, when it comes to rest, it is moved across to the centre of the rink.
The players then take turns to bowl.
When all the bowls have been played, a competitor or team gets one point for each of their bowls that is closer to the jack than the opponent's closest bowl.
After all the bowls have been delivered, the direction of play is reversed. This is the end of an end!


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How the Scoring Works

The scoring system in this Lawn Bowling varies from tournament to tournament. If it is a singles game, a target number of shots are there for the players and that target is normally between 10 and 12. For a team, there is a higher score after a specified number of ends.
If a draw has occurred, then the opponents may be required to play an extra shot to decide the winner because in the lawn bowl games, the games may be drawn to a specified number of ends. In lawn bowling singles game, the first player to score 21 shots is the winner.
In pairs, doubles or triples the team is declared a winner who after 10/12 ends of play has scored the most shots. A set scoring system is often used in some competitions where the first to seven points are awarded in a best-of-five or in a best-of-three set match.