As you start to play bowls you will hear people say things that you may not quite understand, but as a new player you are too embarrassed to ask your skip at that point in time. That’s ok, some of us are quite shy and don’t want to look silly in front of others, and will just caryy on making a point to ask afterwards.
If you have heard the term jack high and are not quite sure what it means, then let me explain.
Jack high is a bowl that has been bowled and has finished level with the jack, to either side. It is a good indicator of the length required when you bowl, especially if the jack is obscured by other bowls, and can be used to stop on or maybe guide your bowl back towards the jack.
I hope that helps, but let’s take a more detailed look at jack high bowls.
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Is a jack high bowl good?
A jack high bowl is a good bowl in that it is obviously a good length, being level with the jack. If it is your first bowl of the end then you know that your weight judgement is very good, you just need to adjust the line with your next delivery, and keep the weight the same.
If it was bowled by someone else then it is a good visual help for you bowling afterwards. You know that if you can get very close to the same weight, but on a better line, then you may well get shot wood. If the jack high bowl IS shot wood, then you are almost certain of getting shot if you get close to the same weight and on a better line.
Can a jack high bowl be bad?
A jack high bowl that is very wide and only just inside the rink marker won’t be much help – if the jack is touched backwards, even on an angle, it is doubtful that this jack high bowl will be in the game. And if the jack remains where it is then it is almost half the width of the rink away – again, not really any help to you.
When is a jack high bowl VERY bad? Or VERY good.
Imagine a head where you are holding shot, maybe with a wood that is just short of the jack in the middle of the rink. Maybe you are holding several shots and the opposition cannot see the jack. You then bowl a jack high bowl, but quite close – certainly within a foot of the jack.
This may be great in that you have added another shot, but you have not only given the opposition a visual aid, but it will now be possible to play with just a little weight to hit the inside edge of this bowl and either stop next to the jack or move it out into the open. This is commonly known as a shoulder.
But of course you may be the team shots down and your skip wants some help for his own bowls later in the end. So if you were to put a very close bowl jack high in the same situation you are making it easier for your team.
This is why it is important to be confident of playing a good line and length and being able to adjust one or the other very slightly.
This head building, whether defensively to avoid giving a shoulder or if you are shots down by adding a shoulder to aid your team-mates, is part of the great tactics that makes bowls such an interesting sport.
Conclusion – what is a jack high bowl?
As we have seen, a jack high bowl is a bowl that is level with the jack, off to either side. It may be close, or indeed far away. But it is a good visual aid to those players that are following.