Lawn Bowls

Athlete Eligibility and Classification

Paralympic lawn bowling is played by both men and women with physical disabilities and vision loss. At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, there were eight classifications. As of this date (December 2001), there is no updated information on the IPC web site (http://www.paralympic.org) about lawn bowls classifications.

Events

At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, separate singles events were contested for men and women in each of the eight classifications, with some combinations of classifications where there were an insufficient number of competitors in a single class. In addition to singles, lawn bowls can also be played as mixed singles, pairs, triples, and foursomes.

Playing Area

The playing area for lawn bowls is an outdoor arena called a green. The green is a 120-foot square (~ 37m square), which is divided into six alleys called rinks.  Each rink is 20 feet x 120 feet (~37cm x 6.1cm). Balls are delivered from a 14 inch x 24 inch (36cm x 61 cm) rubber mat at one end of the rink. The entire green is surrounded by a shallow ditch.

Rules

The IPC web site (http://www.paralympic.org) does not currently include information about the rules of lawn bowling for athletes with physical and vision disabilities. The following information was obtained from the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games web site, the HickokSports.com web site, and Lawn Bowls International.

The rules of lawn bowling are similar to bocce. A small white target ball, called a jack, is rolled toward the opposite side of the rink. If the jack is rolled at least 75 feet (23m) it becomes the target. Athletes then take turns rolling larger wooden balls, called bowls, towards the jack so that they come to rest nearer to the jack than the opponent's bowls. This is sometimes achieved by knocking aside an opponent's bowl or the jack. Each athlete is allowed four bowls which are rolled from a small matted area at the starting end of the rink. An end is complete when each player has delivered all of his/her bowls. Scoring is conducted at the conclusion of an end, with a player scoring one point for each bowl that is closer to the jack than any of the opponent's bowls. The game continues until one of the players reaches 21 points.

There are no changes in the rules of lawn bowling for athletes with physical disabilities. Athletes who are blind play by the same rules, but use sighted assistants when preparing to make their shots during competition.

Equipment

Links