Indoor bowls

Indoor Bowls is a Game for All

Indoor Bowls is a “Game for All”, family, men and women, young and old, including people with disabilities. It can be serious and competitive or, as in our Club, played mainly as a social activity. There is no need to buy a uniform and all the equipment is supplied. And being indoors, we don’t have to worry about wind or rain or sunburn!

About the Game

The game is played indoors on a green woollen or synthetic mat about 6.7 metres long and 1.8 metres wide.

The idea is to get your bowls to stop on the mat closer to the jack than any other player or team’s bowls.

While many players also play lawn bowls, indoor bowls are smaller and so are easier to handle for older people, youngsters, or players with disabilities.

Where and When

We play in the Club hall at 6 Myrtle Street, Lower Hutt, behind Riddiford Gardens and the Lower Hutt Events Centre.

Our indoor bowls season starts this year on Thursday 4th May, and runs on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons over the winter until September. Our playing format, without fixed teams, makes it particularly easy for new players to join at any time.

We ask you to arrive by 1:00 pm so that teams can be made up from those present for Games to start by 1:15 pm. We also host galas and competitions with other clubs.

Entry for the season is free for existing Club members, but for those playing only indoor bowls the sub is $25.00. All players pay a mat fee of $3 on each afternoon, which concludes with tea/coffee and biscuits.

The Club also hosts the Hutt Valley Indoor Bowls Association and they generally play in the evenings. Check out the Activities Calendar for the programme.

Format

We have two formats we typically use; Graded Teams and Graded Progressive.

Teams will either be a Combination of Triples and Fours or a Combination of Pairs and Triples (Depending on numbers attending).

Each team plays 3 games of 7 Ends with 8 bowls delivered per team. A team of 4 delivers 2 bowls each; A team of 3 delivers 3 (lead) 2 (second) and 2( Skip) bowls; a Pair delivers 4 bowls each.

Graded Teams

Teams are formed for each day of play. The Team plays 3 Games together. Each team is made up of a mix of experienced, intermediate and junior players.

We attempt to mix up the teams from week to week and there is an element of randomness to the allocations.

We will also make minor adjustments if some teams are unusually strong (or the opposite).

Daily prizes are awarded to the members of a team on the basis of the Team’s overall results.

 

Graded Progressive

Teams are formed for each of the 3 games played. Each team is made up of a mix of experienced, intermediate and junior players.

At the start of the day, each player receives a numbered player card based on their ranking. The card provides details of which Mat and player numbers for the two teams playing in each of the 3 games.

The cards mix up the teams from game to game in different ways and avoid situations where any two players play either with or against any other player more than once. In general you will play both with and against most of the players attending each day.

Daily prizes are awarded to individual players on the basis of the Team results for the teams they played in.

Indoor Bowls News

The last two seasons were severely impacted by the Covid-19 situation. For 2023, we are looking forward to minimal interruption as virtually all mandated restrictions have now been lifted.

If you suspect you may have Covid-19 or have tested positive, we ask you to stay at home until 24 hours after the symptoms have cleared.

New players are most welcome to join and learn from those who are more experienced. Please click on the “Make an Enquiry” box to seek further information.

2022- 2023 Results

The indoor programme during the winter of 2022 was badly impacted by Covid and the restrictions that came with it.
The season started six weeks later than normal; then the numbers attending were well down, and members from other clubs stayed away as well which was quite understandable.
We’re hoping for a much better winter season in 2023.

Indoor Bowler of the Year
Not awarded

Progressive Triples
Not contested

Championship Fours
Not contested

Championship Triples
Not contested

Championship Pairs
Not contested

Hutt Bowling Club vs Massey Avenue Bowling Club
Not contested