ROCHESTER BLIND BOWLING GROUP

  BLIND BOWLING EXPLAINED

  "How can blind people play bowls?", asked an interested bowler who has never seen a blind person bowl on the rink - and has no idea how it is possible!

  "How do they know where the jack is?" - a natural enough question, too.

  "How far from the jack is my wood?" asks the visually impaired bowler.

  For those who can see, there is a description, using diagrams and an animation (click here), but the text of the explanation is roughly as follows:

  Visually impaired or blind bowlers play the game of bowls, like any other bowlers - but with slight modifications and some useful information. For those bowlers who have some restricted vision, a string is stretched, from one end of the rink to the other - giving him or her a rough guide of the general direction in which to send the wood. The mat is placed over the string, as an added aid to direction finding.

  When the bowler delivers a wood, the 'marker calls out some information about where the wood comes to rest, in relation to the jack and any other woods. In order to give an accurate idea to the bowler, the position of the wood is given in terms of positions on a 12-hour clock face and the distance (measured from the jack), given in imperial measure, in yards, feet or inches. (When fully-sighted players bowl, the distance is indicated with respect to the length distance of the wood to the jack ... as the bowler can judge distance widthwise)

  Thus, if the wood finishes in line with the jack, but three yards short, then the 'marker' calls

  "Three yards, at 6 o'clock." This means that the effort is of a good line, but is three yards short of the jack.

  If the wood travels a little beyond the jack, on the right-hand side, but has rolled on a little way, then the 'marker might call out:

  "Your wood is between a yard and four feet, at two o'clock."

  On the other hand, if the wood has zipped through, too quickly, and carried on quite a way, to the left of the jack, then the information might be:

  "That one has gone through, about five yards, at eleven o'clock!"

  In this way, a skilled and experienced, visually impaired bowler can can play with or against a fully-sighted opponent - or against another visually impaired challenger!