Bowling season 2013

[Hibbylad86]

The countdown is on for the season ahead and as always I can't wait to get started. Fees were paid last night (£60) for the season including all club competitions.

Checklist to be completed before green opens on 7th April (weather dependent)

Locate bowls
Dust off bowls
Locate shoes
Wash shoes
New grey trousers to be purchased
New club top to be purchased

Anyone else gearing up for the season ahead?

[Scouse Hibee]

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The countdown is on for the season ahead and as always I can't wait to get started. Fees were paid last night (£60) for the season including all club competitions.

Checklist to be completed before green opens on 7th April (weather dependent)

Locate bowls
Dust off bowls
Locate shoes
Wash shoes
New grey trousers to be purchased
New club top to be purchased

Anyone else gearing up for the season ahead?

Yes looking forward to it myself, will have to pop to the club this week and pay my fees (£160).It looks like there will be some cold nights ahead at the start of the season though! Thankfully all of my gear is in my locker at the club (I hope it's still there) for the green opening on 21 April. A new bowling jacket this year for me and still toying with the idea of changing my bowls.

[MSK]

Jewel Miners green opens next Sat (Semi final day ) paid my yearly £20 membership fee but shoulder prob may scupper any chances of playing this season ...comps are being drawn later this year so plenty time to get out & have a practice though ..

[MB62]

Northern opening day put back a wee, thankfully, to the 20th due to bad weather and the green consultant unable to work on the green as he wanted to. Hopefully by then the weather will have improved, or at least got a bit warmer anyway, but I hardly ever play in the first 2 or 3 weeks because of the weather and the heavy green.
Can't say I am looking forward to the new season although myself and Sambajustice look certs for the ELBA pairs title this year

[MB62]

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The countdown is on for the season ahead and as always I can't wait to get started. Fees were paid last night (£60) for the season including all club competitions.

Checklist to be completed before green opens on 7th April (weather dependent)

Locate bowls
Dust off bowls
Locate shoes
Wash shoes
New grey trousers to be purchased
New club top to be purchased

Anyone else gearing up for the season ahead?

sO HOW WAS YOUR OPENING DAY?

Weather was reasonable, if a bit cold.

[MB62]

Just in case anybody is interested, the club shop has ordered a new batch of Bowls stickers and they will be in the shop within the next two weeks, just in time for the new season.
They are a bit more expensive than before, £1.99 for a pack of two stickers, the white ones with green writing and Hibs crest on the bias side, but always worth having anyway.

[MSK]

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Just in case anybody is interested, the club shop has ordered a new batch of Bowls stickers and they will be in the shop within the next two weeks, just in time for the new season.
They are a bit more expensive than before, £1.99 for a pack of two stickers, the white ones with green writing and Hibs crest on the bias side, but always worth having anyway.

Good stuff Mike ...Ive still got a set of the "home" ones kicking around ...will grab some more though ..

[Hibbylad86]

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sO HOW WAS YOUR OPENING DAY?

Weather was reasonable, if a bit cold.

Went well MB! A bit like playing bowls on a rugby field at the moment mind you but its good to get back out there and playing. Bowling AGM before it was its usual few arguing over the same topics year after year.

When does your club open up?

[MB62]

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Went well MB! A bit like playing bowls on a rugby field at the moment mind you but its good to get back out there and playing. Bowling AGM before it was its usual few arguing over the same topics year after year.

When does your club open up?

Should have been this Saturday but had to put it back a week because of the poor weather (or so they say, but it's more likely to have been because Hibs are playing in the semi-final on Saturday and there would have been nobody at Opening Day )

[MB62]

Opening Day at the Northern tomorrow, yahoo!

Still looking for new members if anybody is interested, just PM me.

[MSK]

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Opening Day at the Northern tomorrow, yahoo!

Still looking for new members if anybody is interested, just PM me.

Jewel cancelled the opening last week ..opening the morn instead ..

If I was a bit closer I would join Northern Mike ....however ..looks like Im destined to remain at the Jewel & be a one club man ..

[MSK]

How are other clubs memberships faring ..?...sadly Jewel bowling membership is in rapid decline ..when I started playing in 2002 our championship had around 75 entrants ..after deadline (13th April) I counted 24 ..our senior team has only 5 names down to play in the Esk league this year ..sad times ..

[Scouse Hibee]

Currie opening tomorrow then closing again for at least a week due to condition of green, WOL & WEBA home games due this coming week have been cancelled.

[Scouse Hibee]

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How are other clubs memberships faring ..?...sadly Jewel bowling membership is in rapid decline ..when I started playing in 2002 our championship had around 75 entrants ..after deadline (13th April) I counted 24 ..our senior team has only 5 names down to play in the Esk league this year ..sad times ..

Sadly in decline too but not to that extent just yet, having seen the loss of so many clubs in Liverpool decimating the once flourishing crown bowling scene I would hate to see the same effects here. Although the big factor in Liverpool was also that the majority of greens were attached to pubs that have since closed and not private bowling clubs.

[MSK]

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Currie opening tomorrow then closing again for at least a week due to condition of green, WOL & WEBA home games due this coming week have been cancelled.

Whats wrong wi Currie's green ..?...surely it will be ready for opening ..no like they havent had plenty time tae get it prepped ..

[Scouse Hibee]

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Whats wrong wi Currie's green ..?...surely it will be ready for opening ..no like they havent had plenty time tae get it prepped ..

Haven't seen it but in a bad state apparently, so high up probably been covered in snow more than others and suffered with virtually no growth.

[MSK]

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Sadly in decline too but not to that extent just yet, having seen the loss of so many clubs in Liverpool decimating the once flourishing crown bowling scene I would hate to see the same effects here.

Its in a grave state Scouse ....cooncil greens in Edinburgh (Bruntsfield) is a CROQUET green now ..****ing CROQUET !! ...& Leith links TENNIS havent helped ..our club is a wee bit different from the likes o Currie & Northern as we are a Miners club with bowls being a sub section ..in order to play bowls you have to join the Miners club first ...but the snag is ..theres a waiting list of about a year ..

[MSK]

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Haven't seen it but in a bad state apparently, so high up probably been covered in snow more than others and suffered with virtually no growth.

Right enough mate ..few greens must have suffered the past couple o years .. ..Jewel is looking in top condition ..we had a really bad moss problem but that seems tae have been eradicated now ..

Just need players tae use it now ..

[Scouse Hibee]

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Its in a grave state Scouse ....cooncil greens in Edinburgh (Bruntsfield) is a CROQUET green now ..****ing CROQUET !! ...& Leith links TENNIS havent helped ..our club is a wee bit different from the likes o Currie & Northern as we are a Miners club with bowls being a sub section ..in order to play bowls you have to join the Miners club first ...but the snag is ..theres a waiting list of about a year ..

Even if that rule was changed though, trying to attract new members is still a massive challenge these days.

[MSK]

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Even if that rule was changed though, trying to attract new members is still a massive challenge these days.

True ..before I started the Jewel had a really good, successful junior section ..then though they had dedicated coaches who put a lot of hours into the game & were rewarded with an equally enthusiastic turn out..a few years later they tried it again & I even had my oldest Daughter playing ...numbers dwindled again & it was wound up for good ..real shame ..

[MB62]

Northern is suffering the same as most other clubs with the drop in membership and every year it gets harder. Don't think we do enough to encourage youngsters to join but then if it doesn't include an X-Box or whatever, teens don't seem to be interested. Bowls also still suffers from the stigma of it being an old mans game, which, after the surge of younger guys taking the sport up in the 80's, now seems to be falling back in to that category.

As for the Northern green, it was probably the most patchy and sandy I have ever seen it but again, like every other green, there has been no growth to talk about and green consultants must be tearing their hair out trying to prepare a decent surface. When I was walking down to the club, I noticed there was hardly a bud to be seen on any trees or bushes etc, this time last year everything was in full bloom after a glorious March.

Still,Saturday was a good day and a good few beers were sunk over the course of the day

[sambajustice]

Bowls stickers back in the hibs shop.

[MSK]

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Bowls stickers back in the hibs shop.

Cheers M ..

[Scouse Hibee]

Due to play first league game last night at Currie, game was cancelled as the green was unplayable, completely white covered in hailstones and far too wet and slippy to start the game, bowls a summer game eh, I have yet to play a bowl this season!!!!

[MSK]

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Due to play first league game last night at Currie, game was cancelled as the green was unplayable, completely white covered in hailstones and far too wet and slippy to start the game, bowls a summer game eh, I have yet to play a bowl this season!!!!

Freaky eh !!! ..Im off till Wed so might try get along for a throw the next day or so ...weather permitting of course ..

[Scouse Hibee]

Spent a few hours practicing on my own this afternoon as I hadn't bowled a bowl at all and have a game on Friday.

I have been toying with the idea of moving down from size 5 to size 4 as I am beginning to think that the bowl is slipping from my hand when delivering (this first surfaced last season).
Changed my grip today which is hard to do after 30 odd years of bowling but found it quite helpful. I may just see if I can borrow a set of size 4's for a few games and see if it helps rather than buy a smaller set and not like them.

[MB62]

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Spent a few hours practicing on my own this afternoon as I hadn't bowled a bowl at all and have a game on Friday.

I have been toying with the idea of moving down from size 5 to size 4 as I am beginning to think that the bowl is slipping from my hand when delivering (this first surfaced last season).
Changed my grip today which is hard to do after 30 odd years of bowling but found it quite helpful. I may just see if I can borrow a set of size 4's for a few games and see if it helps rather than buy a smaller set and not like them.

I did exactly that many moons ago now and TBH, never looked back. It was particularly bad in cold or wet conditions and whilst down sizing helped, I still struggle to get a good grip in these conditions. Then again, I do not have the dimple grips on my bowls like most others and I would imagine that would help in the wet a bit.

Defo recommend going down a size.

[Hibbylad86]

A size 5 bowl? WTF!! I play with size 3 heavy and have done since I started playing 16 years ago. Never changed, never felt the need too I suppose.

East lothian leagues up and running now. Two Friday games, two nights of rain. Horrible to play bowls in but it only ever seems to rain on a Friday during the bowling season. Championship drawn, first game not until 14th June though as I have a bye into round 1.

Store club membership been fairly constant over the years. Its down from the early 2000's but these boys are playing elsewhere now. I think we have about 72 names in the championship this year.

[Scouse Hibee]

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A size 5 bowl? WTF!! I play with size 3 heavy and have done since I started playing 16 years ago. Never changed, never felt the need too I suppose.

East lothian leagues up and running now. Two Friday games, two nights of rain. Horrible to play bowls in but it only ever seems to rain on a Friday during the bowling season. Championship drawn, first game not until 14th June though as I have a bye into round 1.

Store club membership been fairly constant over the years. Its down from the early 2000's but these boys are playing elsewhere now. I think we have about 72 names in the championship this year.

Small hands

[MSK]

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A size 5 bowl? WTF!! I play with size 3 heavy and have done since I started playing 16 years ago. Never changed, never felt the need too I suppose.

East lothian leagues up and running now. Two Friday games, two nights of rain. Horrible to play bowls in but it only ever seems to rain on a Friday during the bowling season. Championship drawn, first game not until 14th June though as I have a bye into round 1.

Store club membership been fairly constant over the years. Its down from the early 2000's but these boys are playing elsewhere now. I think we have about 72 names in the championship this year.

Ye wouldnae want tae play with my size 7's then ...

Used my 7's (cannon balls) for Esk league wi the Jewel ..won the 5th in 2004 .. 4th div runners up in 2005 & 3rd div winners in 2006 using them ...since I dropped to a 5 heavy I struggled to get back into the team ...even when we have players short !!

Now (like Scouse) thinking of dropping to a 4 heavy ..

2 sets o 5 heavy for sale if anyone is interested, one set only 6 years old ..