It is said that Short Mat bowling is the fastest growing sport in the UK. It is an adaptation of Lawn Bowls with qualities and features of its own. It has become very popular throughout the UK for a number of reasons. It requires limited space to set up, inexpensive to fund and run and is played indoors. It's influence is now slowly spreading to countries within Europe and further afield.

Equipment

The game is played on a portable bowling carpet called a bowls rink, which must measure between 40 and 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. Full sized bowls are used and the jack, a smaller target ball is placed at one end of the rink. A block of wood, or spinner, is positioned across the centre of the rink and a delivery mat is placed at the opposite end of the rink to the jack. All of this equipment must be positioned either on or within boundaries that are marked out on the mat by white lines. The game may be contested as either a singles, pairs, triples or rinks match. The duration of a game of short mat bowls is usually pre-determined where a set number of ends is decided before the match begins.

     

How to Play

With at least one foot on the delivery mat, each player will take it in turns to send a bowl and attempt to get as close to the jack as possible. As the block of wood, or spinner, prevents them from playing directly down the centre of the mat, players must bowl around the wood and avoid touching it. Players on opposing sides play their shots alternately until all bowls have been played. This whole process is called an "end.”

Scoring

 

Following the completion of an end, the bowl or bowls agreed to be nearest the jack score, and the next end begins with the lead from the team that just scored, bowling first. Once the pre-determined number of ends have been played, the team with the highest score is declared the winner.