BOWLS

The game of bowls - more correctly called "flat green bowls" to distinguish it from crown green bowls, indoor bowls, carpet bowls or 10-pin bowling - is a very old game. The history books suggest that Sir Francis Drake was playing bowls on Plymouth Ho when he received word that the Spanish Armada needed his attention.

Bowls is a game for both men and women of any age and any level of skill. It is played on a large green, divided into several rinks. Most greens are square so that the rinks can be played either "up-and-down" or "across" to avoid uneven wear of the grass. The game can be played as singles, pairs, triples or "rinks" of four players. Normally in singles and pairs, each player will use four bowls; in triples three bowls per player are used and, in rinks, each of the four players per side uses two bowls.

The basic objective of the game is for each team to finish each "end" with as many of its bowls as possible closer to the "jack" than the nearest of its opponent's bowls. Bowls are shaped to roll with a bias, causing the bowl to follow a curved path up the green. This enables a skillful player to direct his bowl around other bowls to draw in close to the jack.

Like most other clubs, the Alloa Bowling Club has a full range of internal competitions and enters players and teams for County and National competitions. There is also plenty of opportunity for friendly games with varying degrees of informality.