Coaching, Training

Bowls Drills

Source: Matthew Otteridge
Time Drill Focus Mat Length/s Bowls Groups Instructions
10mins Bowl to ditch Technique 5m up from T facing ditch 4 Individual -players bowl 12 FH and 12 BH from the mat to the ditch.
-players work on developing a pre-bowl routine and staying down.
10 mins Roll the Jack Jack Rolling min/med/max 1 jack Pairs -players have a mat each and one jack.
-the player with the jack, rolls it to their partner trying to land within a mat of their partners mat.
-jack rolls continue and players adjust their mat lengths.
15 mins Draw to ditch Draw min/med to ditch 4 Pairs -player bowl 4 bowls and the drill is repeated at various lengths
-players bowl trying to land their 4 bowls between the T and the ditch
-short bowls and bowls in the ditch are not counted
15 mins Front End Game Plan Game Plan min/med/max 2 Pairs -players bowl two bowls in a row
-Pairs work together to achieve the game plan e.g. two within a mat and one behind
-drill is repeated up and back the green at various lengths.
30 mins Front End Game Plan Competitive Game Plan min/med/max 2 Pairs -players bowl two bowls in a row against another pair
-Pairs work together to achieve the game plan e.g. two within a mat and one behind
-Pairs keep score once all bowls have been bowled.
-drill is repeated up and back the green at various lengths.
15 mins Cluster Draw any length 4 Individual + Pairs Draw a ML from the first bowl and each subsequent delivery
Work with a partner at other end, Draw a ML beyond the front bowl and each subsequent delivery beyond a ML, however partner returns every delivery until you get ML distance each delivery
Draw two (2) ML beyond the front bowl and each subsequent delivery beyond 2 ML
15 mins Various Weight Weight any length 4 Individual + Pairs Place 4 bowls on CDs a metre apart, draw to caterpillar first bowl and only when successful draw to second, etc, third, etc fourth
now in order from bowl 1-4, successfully wrest out each bowl from CD (remove delivered and displaced bowl to enable access to the next CD bowl)
now drive each bowl starting from the front placed bowl in order to the back placed bowl (remove and bowl obstructing your next drive)
30 mins Back of the queue Weight Various lengths 2 Individually Set 15-20 mats (circuits) diagonally from one corner to diagonally opposite corner;
Start from a corner 2m mark to maximum length on green;
Using only 2 bowls see how many of the 15-20 circuits have one of two deliveries within ML of ditch
15 mins All Rounder Weight + draw min + med 4 Individual + Pairs Choose your length, set up a jack on the tee, players bowl 4 bowls trying to achieve the 4 objectives
1 – draw within a ML. 2 – trail the jack without going into the ditch. 3 – trail the jack into the ditch.
4 – draw within a ML
15 mins Phantom Singles weight or draw min/med/max 4 Individual Choose your length, players bowl 4 bowls trying to achieve the objective – draw, mat over or drive
Each time a player achieves the objective they get a point
Each time the player misses the objective the Phantom gets a point
10 mins Beat Your Bowl Weight any length 4 Individual Bowl your first bowl along an aiming line
Bowl your second, third and fourth along the same aiming line trying to beat the previous by adding weight.
Repeat the process but beat your previous bowl by taking way the weight.
20 mins First to 7 Utility any length 4 Pairs Choose your objective e.g. draw within a mat and you get one point eachtime you schieve the objective
Player A bowls four bowls trying to achieve the objective, Player B bowls four bowls trying to achieve the objective
Player A and Player B repeat the process first to get seve points wins.
30 mins Progressive Snake Utility any length 4 Individual Setup a snake course where each drill is a progression of the previous drill e.g. beat one bowl the beat two bowls
Players work their way through the snake trying to achieve each objective
30 mins Three lengths, three objectives Weight + draw min/med/max 4 Pairs Players bowl 4 bowls at each length three times (12 bowls at each length)
The first objective is draw to a line, the second objective is 1m over the line, the third objective is over the line and loose your bowl
Extension: play a singles game against your partner at the three lengths
20 mins Singles – Sets Play Uility any length 4 Singles Play four bowl singles across two sets (nominate ends)
If players both win a set, play a one end tiebreaker

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