Because lawn bowls do not run straight but instead curve to the inside, you need to aim wide so that your bowl curves gently towards the jack.
A good starting point is to aim for the rink marker which indicates the rink boundary. In the photo these are indicated with the arrows on that particular green.
From there you can adjust your “line” as you play a couple of ends up and down the green. Perhaps you need to aim a little inside the rink pole on a certain side. Or maybe a side is “taking a lot of grass”, meaning you will have to aim a little outside the marker.
Must you always aim for the rink peg?
Every player is different. Some don’t aim at any particular point. They simply look at the head and bowl. Other bowlers look for a mark on the green itself, such a distinctive piece of lawn or even a stray leaf. Some look at an aiming point a few metres away from the mat. Others look at a point beyond the hog line (the 25 metre mark).
Yet others look at something away from the green such as the edge of a building, a bowls bag standing on the bank or a flagpole.
Where do you aim for a driving shot?
A drive will take less grass, meaning the bowl will run much straighter than if you are drawing to the jack. Experience teaches how much less grass to take for a weighted shot. It is a question of adjusting your aim to compensate for the weightier shot.
