Schoolboy William “Will” Burt made his pennant bowls debut with his proud dad, Jamie, playing in his dad’s rink in first division.  Showing no signs of nervousness, Will bowled consistently, particularly with a good line. He continually picked up members’ bowls, polished them, and was encouraged by both Hahndorf and Meadows bowlers throughout the game.

William, 10 1/2 years, is just able to hold his “00” bowls and is now awaiting his “000” bowls to make his grip much easier.

His interest in playing bowls started when he began playing social bowls and the encouragement and positive feedback he received from many members of the club.  Whilst he plays soccer, golf, and karate, he has given cricket away to concentrate on his bowls.   Dad, Jamie, maintains his main interest is that after bowls he can have a Bunderberg Tropical Mango drink plus a bag of chips.

Well done William – happy bowling.

Thank you to everyone who attended this afternoon’s practice.  Over twenty bowlers were present and participated in a valued discussion regarding the Bowls Etiquette within our club.  Many good suggestions were put forward and considered.  Your Club Coaches are combining the suggestions and forwarding a revised draft Bowls Etiquette for our Club to our Club Committee for consideration.   A draft copy will be placed on the Club Notice Board this Friday for members to view. If any member has any further suggestions, please let either Michael or Graham know by this Thursday.

As the weather remained inclement, two groups were involved in “reading and developing the head”, led by Geoff Deeble and Chris Button/Bob Edwards.  Members were asked what shot could be played with the view to considering various shot outcomes and the associated risks.

Our thanks to Geoff, Chris, and Bob plus all who participated.  From the feedback received, everyone was pleased with this afternoon’s late change.

Please note we plan to conduct the outdoors drills programmed for tonight next week. Could all in attendance tonight please bring your handout next week?

Hahndorf Bowling Club was the venue for the Minister of Recreation, Sport and Racing, Hon Katrine Hildyard MP, to officially declare the bowls season 2022-23 open and include the opening of their new verandah.  A grant through the Office of Recreation, Sport and Racing provided the opportunity for the club to give bowlers, and supporters an area to socialise under cover.  The verandah had been on the Club’s list of additions for some time and was also supported by the Mt Barker Council.

In bright sunshine, President, Phil Nagel, welcomed the Minister, along with the Member for Heysen, Josh Teague MP, Mayor of Mt Baker Council, Ann Ferguson OAM, and Councillor for North, Narelle Hardingham. The Minister spoke of the value sporting clubs provide to the wider community, especially in both physical and mental health.  She commended the club for its involvement in supporting the local community by offering its facilities and providing a social and welcoming environment.

The Minister was then invited to “roll the first jack” followed by Mayor Ferguson to “roll the first bowl” to officially open the bowls season. The club is indebted to the Office of Recreation, Sport and Racing, and the Mt Barker Council for their continued support of the Club through various grants.

A great couple of days had by all. Waikerie hospitality was fantastic with mixed teams bowls Friday afternoon and dinner at the Waikerie Hotel. Saturday approx 32 bowlers again in the afternoon and a great BBQ organised by Waikerie club in the evening. A meat raffle was thrown in for fun and won by a Hahndorf newcomer, Maria. Friday was cold and wet but it did not matter as we were playing under the dome. Many thanks to Jenny, Wayne and Glen for organising the Waikerie end and many thanks to Val for organizing the Hahndorf crew. We came to Waikerie and were greeted with a handshake and after two days left with a lot of hugs.

DELIBERATE PRACTICE

When you head out on the green for a practice session what are you focusing on?  What is the objective of your session?

If you don’t have a specific objective in mind then you aren’t practicing, you’re having a roll-up!  (There is nothing wrong with going out and rolling up with your mates – but don’t confuse it with a practice session.)

At every practice session focus on and practice one specific thing that you want to improve in your game.

Practice it with INTENTION and CONCENTRATION, mentally VISUALISING or rehearsing while you practice and thus experiencing the ‘feel’ of the delivery in your body.  That’s deliberate practice!

Do that for 40 minutes to an hour – and then have a roll-up with your mates if you want.

SCORING DRILLS

We have spoken previously about the 40 Bowl Test and the Grouping Drill.  Below are links to the Scoring Sheets for both drills as well as 3 other drills used by many elite coaching programs to enable their bowlers to monitor their skill development.  Do these on a regular basis and record your results.  You can then learn about your strengths and weaknesses and strive to improve.  If you are getting around 30-35% is good.  Any better, great!!

Push yourself to improve each time you do one of the tests to create some ‘positive stress’ in your training.  Challenge your comfort zone when you practice and ensure you focus on CONCENTRATION, VISUALISATION, and INTENTION.  You will then be developing good habits to take into match day.

40 Bowl Draw Drill

Drive – Draw Drill

Grouping Drill

Jack and 2 Bowl Drill

Weight Control Drill

CLUB COACHES

Club Coaches, Micheal Wheal (0421 032 145) and Graham Evans (0419 804 418) are available to provide extra support to any member who considers they are having difficulty with their bowling.   It may only be for 15 minutes and the problem is solved.  Please don’t be backward in coming forward!!

Sunday 7th of August saw a round of the BPL cup hosted under the Dome at Mt Barker, 12 teams entered, with 3 winners going forward to the state final in September. The format is 2 bowl triples with a game consisting of two 5 end sets.  It is designed to be fast-paced, with no jack rolling and restrictions on player movement.

Hahndorf players Sue Hutchinson, Rob Hutchinson, and Geoff Deeble entered and so represented our club. They had success winning all 3 games, two of the games, against teams from Strathalbyn and Blackwood by the barest of margins, 1 shot up in a tie-breaker. The last game against Lobethal was a 2-set win but was still very close.

So they advance to the state final in September to be played at Torrensville.

Well Done Team.

This page has been updated, in particular for the Ladies.  All the current flyers in the Red Book have been included on this page.

Click on the link “Club Gala Days” and strongly consider entering a rink, triple, or pair and have some great fun!!  It is an excellent way of improving your game and you get to play on different types of surfaces.  You meet a wide range of bowlers from around the State and you don’t have to be a highly skilled bowler to enjoy the day.

Get a team together and enter.

Doesn’t make a difference how you say it – “Back-to-Back”, “Repeat”, “Two in a Row”, “Twice” it all adds up to we won the Div 1 Premiership yesterday, again.

Yesterday, Saturday 26th March 2022, our Division 1 Pennant team completed a dream by downing the strong Woodside team by four shots.  Heading for Gumeracha Bowling Club, there was a quiet confidence in the team that they could overcome the last minor round loss to Woodside and we had the ability to do so.

Geoff Deeble’s team of Richard Crocker, Phil Nagel, and Sue Hutchinson together with Jamie Burt’s team of Tim Anderson, Roger Mableson, and Sue Maddern quickly jumped to early leads, whilst Glen McGough’s team of Bob Edwards, Rick Babidge, and Rob Hutchinson were having a difficult time getting on the board.   By the break at 3.00pm, the scores were well in favour of Woodside and there would need to be a turnaround in fortunes to see our team get home.

To the credit of all our bowlers, they continued to show they were not going to lie down and gradually got themselves back into the game.  The lead seemed to change over the last five ends with the result going down to the wire.  The old adjudge that the last five ends are the most important certainly came to light here.

With Geoff Deeble’s rink having comfortably won by fifteen shots it was now left to McGough and Burt’s rinks to hold their nerve and with both on their last ends, Jamie moved the jack to hold four shots to put the team in front and Glen to cover by not going down by any more than three shots.  When the Woodside skipper missed changing the head and only holding one shot, we were home.

The tension throughout those last ends was not only felt by those on the green but the fabulous number of Hahndorf spectators who supported the team.

Well done to all who have made this season such a successful one, with three teams making the finals and the other two playing creditable bowls by just missing out.

Here’s to a successful 2022-2023 season.