Mantis Bowls
Mantis Bowls is a structured learning programme in lawn bowls techniques.
It is aimed at nurturing a positive approach towards mastering the delivery of a lawn bowl, while at the same time providing an environment of fun and enjoyment in which players ‘Learn to play’… and also ‘Play to learn’…
Bowls being essentially a game of good habits and consistency, will require a variety of delivery techniques to be learned within a progressive programme of development, where improvement becomes permanent through practice.
Once the techniques have been fully mastered, it will result in the effective choice of shots, together with a consistent delivery in response to those demands placed upon the player in a game situation.
Mantis Bowls offers a graded proficiency award scheme, using a process of Ability Banding designed to systematically develop and measure a player’s level of technical ability when executing a range of delivery techniques. The techniques included within the scheme are Casting the Jack, the Forehand Draw, the Backhand Draw, the Guard Shot, the Upshot (yard-on), the Drive Shot, and the Trail Shot.
Mantis Bowls therefore assists in the development of players of all abilities within a performance pathway from foundation through to elite level using the Mantis Drills and Mantis Games as a fully inclusive stepping-stone process towards playing the full competitive lawn bowls game formats.
Mantis Games
Mantis Games provide a series of game challenges in which the performance ability of a player can be seen in the skill and judgement made in selecting and executing the most effective delivery techniques to deal with those circumstances that present themselves in a game situation.
The lawn bowls skills exhibited by a player must become instinctive in order to cope with the many demands placed upon the player in a competitive game situation. The Mantis Games provide a progressive and transitional step towards the transference of game skills into the full competitive lawn bowls game formats.
Mantis Games assist a player in the development of their lawn bowls skills and game sense through the introduction of a series of simulated practice games. They can be played between individuals, or teams, where the differing game situations will strongly influence and direct the techniques chosen and executed by the players.
For the bowls delivery techniques to be fully absorbed into a player’s repertoire of skills, they are first learned in an isolated practice situation through the Mantis Drills.
Once a player has mastered these delivery techniques the challenge will then be to ‘Play to learn’… the necessary skill and judgement required to execute the most effective delivery or combination of shots in any game situation.
Mantis Games have therefore been designed to enable a player to practice, experiment and improve upon their technical proficiency, as well as to develop their game sense, whilst at the same time nurturing aspects of teamwork, team roles and tactical decision-making within a modified game practice.
The Mini-Mantis is a further addition offering a greater opportunity for people of all abilities to engage in the fun and enjoyment of Mantis Bowls. It has been introduced to encourage and promote added opportunities by making the Mantis Games more accessible for players to fully experience and enjoy the challenges of the Mantis Games.
For the benefit of maximising the inclusion of people of all abilities within the game of lawn bowls, the Mantis Games have been adapted through the modification of The Mantis into the Mini-Mantis (and the Mini-Mantis Jaws) making them more suitable for use when playing with boccia balls.
Two additional game formats: Mini-Mantis Boules and Mini-Mantis Bowls have therefore been created.
These are essentially scaled down versions of the Mantis Games.
Mini-Mantis Boules
Mini-Mantis Boules has been introduced to encourage and promote the inclusion of people of all abilities within the game of lawn bowls by enabling players to engage in all the fun of the Mantis Games.
Mini-Mantis Boules assists and contributes positively towards a player taking a transitional step from playing the game of Boccia over to the more traditional game of Lawn Bowls.
This game is played with boccia balls on a similar sized space to that used when playing boccia, whether played on a flat green bowls rink or on a badminton court.
The main difference when using the boccia balls is in their propulsion when rolling or tossing the ball towards either the Mini-Mantis or the Mini-Mantis Jaws.
Mini-Mantis Bowls
Mini-Mantis Bowls assists in paving the way for a player to take progressive steps from playing Mini-Mantis Boules over to the more traditional game of lawn bowls. It also serves as an effective means of assisting a player to acquire a deft hand when delivering a lawn bowl, as the rink spans a short distance of only 13.4m.
Mini-Mantis Bowls is played between the hog lines when played on a flat green bowls rink, and as such is called ‘Hog Line Bowls’. Fenders are positioned on each of the hog lines to define both ends of the Mini-Mantis Bowls rink.
Players may wish to acquaint themselves with the bias on a lawn bowl using the New Age Bowls, before trying to play with a traditional lawn bowl.
Mini-Mantis Bowls can be played on a badminton court, as well as on a flat green bowls rink, when using the New Age Bowls to assist in gaining an understanding of the effect of the bias on a lawn bowl.