Short Mat Bowls - A Variation of Indoor Bowling

Since the introduction of short mat bowls to England in the 1980s, bowls in general has become one of the few sports that can be played all year round. Whereas the outdoor versions of this game are sometimes subject to the notorious British weather, short mat bowls, being an indoor sport, can be enjoyed during any season. In actual fact, you could argue that its down to the typical British weather that we can be grateful for the existence of short mat bowls in the first place; as its generally believed that the sport was first conceived due to bowlers who wanted to keep playing during the winter; and subsequently looked for an indoor version of the game of bowls which was inexpensive and didnt require a great deal of space. A popular belief in relation to the sports initial beginnings is that it was invented by two South African bowlers. At the time, they were living and working in Wales and were already veterans of the outdoor game. Not being used to the milder climate and becoming frustrated with the long off season of outdoor bowls in the UK, they soon established an indoor variation of the sport; finding a village hall nearby and setting up a game on a length of carpet rolled out. It wasnt long after that they left Wales and travelled to Ireland, taking their new bowls sport with them. It was here that official rules and regulations were written, which marked the launch of short mat bowls as a sport in its own right. Soon enough, the game was brought over to England and, in 1984, the English Short Mat Bowling Association was established. These days, short mat bowls has reached even further across Europe and beyond. Amongst the many countries that now play the game are the Isle of Man, Belgium, Italy, Canada and Australia. Whilst the sport of short mat bowls has many similarities with the standard indoor version, it also has a number of unique rules and regulations, which is primarily due to the village halls in which those early games were played having limited amounts of space to offer. Because of this, the mat or carpet that short mat bowls is played on is much smaller than what you would expect for a standard indoor bowls rink. Measuring approx 45 foot lengthways and 6 foot wide, the mat is not unlike the proportions of a bowling alley that you would see in ten pin bowling. However, unlike ten pin bowling, its impossible to aim a direct strike as there is a 15 inch long wooden block situated across the middle of the playing area. The reason for this is to prevent bowlers from striking directly at an opponents woods, and instead encouraging more skilful play by curving their bowls around the block using the bias. The actual woods used in short mat bowls though can be the same type of bowls used in indoor, crown green or flat green bowls. The various governing bodies that oversee the sport are quite lenient in this area and will allow bowlers to use any of these different types. Whilst some people might think of short mat bowls as simply being the little brother of standard indoor bowls, the sport is gradually getting bigger and there are many leagues and tournaments that are becoming increasingly competitive. There is even a world championship short mat bowls tournament, which has been held every year since 1989 and is competed in by a number of countries from around the globe. If youre thinking of getting involved in the sport then now is probably a great time to do so, because, as short mat bowls gains more and more recognition, many more opportunities to compete are going to become available. This means that if you take the plunge now, you stand an excellent chance of progressing within the game and can hopefully make your mark in the world of short mat bowls!