18th December 2024 – Putrajaya
A short Mat Bowls clinic is currently being held at SMK Putrajaya Presint 16, involving more than 240 Form 1 students. The purpose of this activity is to promote Lawn Bowls and increase the popularity of this sport among school students.
Short Mat Bowls is a modern indoor version of Lawn Bowls, where players roll heavy balls on a carpet to score points by getting closer to a target called the jack than their opponents.
Unlike lawn or crown green bowls, you don’t have to worry about the weather if you fancy a game of the short mat version, as it’s played indoors. Some say it was invented by two South Africans who were working in Wales in and fancied a game of bowls. Frustrated by the wet climate, they put a mat down and began playing in a church hall. However, players in Northern Ireland insist that the game originated in Belfast. (BowlsWorld, UK)
One of the beauties of this type of bowls is that it takes very little time to set up a game. All you need is the mat, the bowls, a jack, some players and a venue big enough to accommodate the mats.
As with all forms of bowls, the short mat version is good for your mental and physical health. It can improve the strength of the muscles in your arms, shoulders and legs. It is also mentally stimulating as each end will throw up its own challenges and problems which you need to solve. There’s also a social aspect – if you play regularly, you can make lots of new friends.