Curve Ball

It’s only been three months and I’m hooked. Living just a few doors down from the biggest bowling club in Christchurch I find myself slipping out of the house for a quick ‘roll-up’ as often as possible. Bowling has become my new distraction, a marvelously gentle way to provide a sense of ease.

No mistake, bowls is a highly competitive game, you need only watch the experienced players to see how seriously they take each delivery. But as a newbie my chance of falling anywhere close to the jack is more accident than design. But that’s not a bad thing as my reason for taking up bowls was more about stress relief rather than overnight success. 

Like anyone I like to win, but it’s the psychological break from the incessant buzz of the world that has really drawn me to the game of bowls. I’m happy to acknowledge that bowls is indeed a salve for the restless mind providing a point of measured concentration and calm with it’s precise and repeated movements. 

There’s the release of breath as you walk to the mat, the almost ritualised process of aligning body and bowl towards the intended marker and then the beauty of the release, the downward motion of the arm and the touch of the ball as it leaves your fingers - eyes intent on tracking the curve. And then unless you’ve been playing for years the inevitable adjustment when the bowl misses its target.

What shouldn’t surprise me but did, was just how many young people play bowls. While there are plenty of gold card holders on the green, it’s the younger players who are making their mark in many of the competitions. I can think of no better alternative to social media than a social game of bowls.

Here's link to a few snaps from the Burnside Pairs played in Christchurch, January 2025.