Six Inches Wide
January 26, 2020 12:45 PM   Subscribe

 


Absolutely nuts.
posted by smoke at 2:05 PM on January 26, 2020


Wow! My partner and I fell in love with lawn bowls when we visited Scotland. All we have access to in our hometown is bocce ball, which is no fun for us.
posted by waving at 2:32 PM on January 26, 2020


That is insane.
posted by essexjan at 2:37 PM on January 26, 2020


Retire now, Nick. There's nothing better in it for you.
posted by Etrigan at 2:39 PM on January 26, 2020


From TFA:

This is probably a stupid question, but how did you do it? Did you put spin on it when it came out your hand?

No. On the running surface the balls have like a bevel to them so they will turn one way. We only have to master the weight, really, how far we need for them to roll. They have a bend on them. You just put them on the line you want to play, and if you have the right pace it will bend as it would normally.


Can someone here explain what those words mean? Is there an asymmetry to the balls?

I had no idea there were so many variation on Boules. I had only known about bocce and petanque.

Anyway, always nice to see something perfectly executed even when I don't understand it at all.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:42 PM on January 26, 2020


Is there an asymmetry to the balls?

Yep.
posted by Etrigan at 2:45 PM on January 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


Also, this was interesting:

I’m not a big celebrator, but also we were in the middle of a game. I try not to [celebrate] because of the emotion and the adrenaline. If you go up too much, the next bowl is quite quick. For me, too much adrenaline means too much strength in my arm and so the next one could have been three or four yards away. I try not to get too low or too high.

It's a very interesting point and I suppose it applies particularly in games like golf, pool and basketball. I'd never thought about it before, but keeping a steady state of excitation would be crucial in certain sports.
posted by sjswitzer at 2:47 PM on January 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


I have a random selection of old lignum vitae bowls (they're also called woods) stashed away in my shed. One of these days I'm going to make something with them. The balls themselves are shaped sort of like a fat wheel, so you roll them along their wider circumference; the sides are flattened, so the woods tend to topple when they come to a stop. The shape of the bowl is biased towards one side, which means it'll curve to the left or right depending on which way it faces when you roll it.

If you think you keep a tidy lawn, go and take a look at the grass they play outdoor bowls on. Looks like felt.
posted by pipeski at 3:03 PM on January 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


Honestly, my stupid strongest association with “bowls” is the Blur track ” Moroccan Peoples’ Revolutionary Bowls Club”. Having this boy of news pop up on my day was a nice reminder that, oh yes, song titles mean something.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:24 PM on January 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


If only that was a metaphor for my life...
posted by blue shadows at 8:04 PM on January 26, 2020


That's an even better shot than The Flipper.
posted by flabdablet at 10:02 PM on January 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


Wow!
posted by lazaruslong at 6:12 AM on January 27, 2020


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