Bowls Terminology

Bowls has some unique terminology that might sound strange to begin with but in context will generally make sense:

Singles: one bowler on each team, usually bowling four woods
Pairs: two bowlers on each team, usually bowling four woods
Triples: three bowlers on each team, usually bowling three woods
Fours: four bowlers on each team, usually bowling two woods. This is sometimes referred to as “full rinks“
The head: this is the area around the jack which, if all goes well, will be occupied by bowls from both sides
An end: one round of play, where everyone delivers all their bowls, is an end. A match will often be a fixed number of ends e.g. eighteen ends in most triples matches

Green: the entire area of the bowling green
The mat: the rubber mat that bowls are delivered from. “Having the mat” means being the team that chooses where to place it at the start of an end and for delivering the jack.
Rink: the long narrow strip containing the playing area of a match. A green will generally have multiple rinks, usually at least four but often many more.
Ditch: the shallow trough surrounding the green, designed to catch any woods (or the jack) that go over the edge. Bowls that fall into the ditch are usually removed from play for the end and won’t count for scoring (unless a toucher: see below).

The Lead: the player who plays first for a team, and will deliver the jack if their team has the mat (see below 'Starting the match')
The Second: in a triples or fours match, the player who plays after the lead. In triples they will also be the one to communicate with the skip about shot choice and to agree the score for each end with the opposition second. In games without umpires one or other of the seconds will be called upon to measure if the score of an end is in doubt.
The Third: in a fours match, the player who plays fourth, and who will be responsible for discussing tactics with the skip and to agree the score for each end with the opposition second. In games without umpires one or other of the seconds will be called upon to measure if the score of an end is in doubt.
The Skip: the last player to play in any team competition. The skip is the boss and if you’re asked to try to play a particular type of shot you should give it your best if at all possible.

Shot or shot wood: the bowl that is currently closest to the jack
Second wood: the bowl currently second closest to the jack. (You may also want to know third wood, fourth wood etc.)
Toucher: a bowl that has touched the jack when bowled i.e. not having been knocked onto the jack by a subsequent bowl. A toucher can end up a long way from the jack, but as long as it touched the jack even a glancing blow when bowled it’s still a toucher. Touchers are usually marked with a spot of chalk (either from a stick or spray) for identification. A toucher which goes into the ditch at the end of the rink is still “in play”, and therefore can score if it’s one of the closets to the jack.
Out of play: a bowl that is entirely outside the side bounds of the rink is out of play and is removed from the end, regardless of whether it’s a toucher or not. If a bowl has any part of it, no matter how small, in line with the side markers it remains in play.
Draw: a shot to try to land as close to the jack as possible. Most shots are draw shots.
Weighted: playing to go past the jack, but usually hoping to collide with another wood or the jack to get a favourable results.
Firing: a fast running wood intended to strike the head at speed to try to substantially change the game situation. Most often a skip will be the only player to fire, and usually only when the team is in a spot of trouble.

Coin Toss; players generally toss a coin to decide which team gets to decide who goes first.
Taking the mat: The winner of the coin toss may “take the mat” (which is a rubber mat not dissimilar from the type of non-slip mat you might find in a hotel shower) and he/she casts the jack down the rink, or “gives it away” and let the other team start. There are tactical reasons for doing one or the other, but in a casual game the winner of the toss will most likely take the mat.
Placing the mat and casting the jack; The lead who plays first will place the mat on the center line of the rink and rolls the jack – the smaller white ball – down the green, and it must come to rest at least 23 metres from the front of the mat and not go into the ditch that surrounds the green. If it fails on either of these counts, the opposition skip can roll it back and have their lead make an attempt. If they fail as well, the jack is placed at maximum length, but the first lead can move the mat to adjust the distance between mat and jack. Generally, in a roll-up (a casual game), if a jack has landed in an illegal position someone will just kick it to a nearby spot that is legal and get on with the game.
In a team competition, and for this example let’s say there are three players (“triples”), one player is number one (“lead”), the other is second, and the third is “skip”. Each end will start with the skip at the other end of the green to the other players.

The order of play in a triples game is simple: first the lead players deliver their three woods, alternating, then the seconds do the same, and the skips do theirs. It’s the same in pairs, except everyone gets four woods rather than three. In a game of fours on each team you only have two woods to play. In singles you also generally play with four woods each and take alternate turns.
In triples, after the first twelve woods have been delivered (three each by each of the leads and three each by both seconds), the ones and twos swap ends with the skip so the skip can deliver their bowls, and so that the number twos can relay any changes in position or answer any questions the skip might have about new woods that have been bowled since they walked down the other end.

In all team games it’s the two players that bowl just before the skip that agree the score for an end between themselves. (In triples this will be the seconds, and in fours it will be the number threes.)
Usually, it’s obvious which woods are closest, and as each one is agreed upon the player who is conceding the point can remove the bowl from the head and place it aside as counting, provided doing so would not cause another bowl to fall or move. Removing bowls as they score often makes it easier to judge distances.
If the players can’t agree which team’s woods are closest – either for scoring shot or for other counting woods – then the same two players will either ask an umpire to measure distances (using special bowls measures) or one of them will measure, under the watch of the other.

When the score is agreed and relayed to the skips, the lead of the team that lost the end is responsible for collecting the woods up, while the lead on the other side takes the mat and jack and begins the next end.

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