You’ll hear different phrases and bowls terms used in different clubs:
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A jack is also known as a cot, the pill, the dolly, kitty or the white
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A bowl is known as a wood
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The ditch can also be referred to as the gully, trench or bin
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The rinks are also called the greens or the blue
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A heavy bowl is known as the drive, a fire, a dam buster or a slam
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To draw or touch the jack is a toucher or kiss
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Grass is also known as land
And here are some bowls sayings you will hear:
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Head is the term for bowls that have come to rest after being delivered
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Bias – every bowl has bias. Bowls are designed to travel a curved path because of a weight bias in the shape of the bowl. A bowler determines the bias direction of the bowl in his hand by a symbol on one side
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Touchers are bowls that hit the jack and are then marked with chalk, and remain alive even if they are in the ditch
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Play a draw – roll the ball as close to the jack as possible
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Play a yard on shot – arrive with a yard of weight and move jack back five feet
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Tactical bowl – round the back to prevent dropping a count.
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Blocker – drop one short of head and block opponent and the path of the intended target
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Running wood – take out a bowl and stop in place
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Trail the jack – play a bowl in order to move the jack to another position on the rink
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Take it out – an instruction to a bowler to bowl with sufficient pace to push an opponent’s bowl away
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Short bowl – a bowl that has not been delivered with sufficient pace to reach its objective
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Heavy bowl – where a bowl has been delivered with too much pace and will end beyond its objective
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Pace or weight – the amount of force with which the bowl is delivered to execute a particular shot
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Live bowl – any bowl that comes to rest within the rink and is acceptable under the conditions of the game, or any toucher in the ditch
