In lawn bowls, players take turns rolling bowls towards a small ball called the jack, and when an end is finished, the side with the nearest bowl scores one shot for every bowl it has closer to the jack than the opponent's nearest. The game goes to whoever has the highest total of shots, ends won or sets, as the Controlling Body decides.
These are the World Bowls laws, the Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark Fourth Edition (World Bowls Limited, 2022), as published by Bowls South Africa, as of November 2026. That edition took effect in South Africa from 1 October 2022. I've kept to the Laws and left out South Africa's domestic regulations. National authorities can change some distances for domestic play, for example 23 metres to 21 metres, so your local club may vary.
Who plays: singles and the three team games
| Game | Players per side | Positions in order of play | Bowls each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | 1 | Just you | 2, 3 or 4 |
| Pairs | 2 | Lead and skip | 2, 3 or 4 |
| Triples | 3 | Lead, second and skip | 2 or 3 |
| Fours | 4 | Lead, second, third and skip | 2 |
Where there's a choice of how many bowls, the Controlling Body decides. The skip is the player in charge of the team. A side game is two sides, each with the same number of teams or singles players.
Starting a game and placing the mat
- Play one trial end in each direction before the game, on the same rink as the game.
- The skips, or the two opponents in Singles, toss a coin. The winner chooses whether to place the mat and deliver the jack and the first bowl, or to tell the opponent to, and the opponent can't refuse.
- The first player places the mat lengthwise on the centre line, with the mat line at least 2 metres from the rear ditch and at least 25 metres from the front ditch.
- That player delivers the jack, makes sure it's centred, then plays the first bowl.
- Players then play singly and in turn.
- The next end is played in the opposite direction, and the winner of the previous scoring end places the mat and plays first.
The mat itself is 600 millimetres long and 360 millimetres wide. Before you deliver, you need all or part of at least one foot on the mat, and at the moment of delivery all or part of one foot must be on or above it. Get that wrong and it's a foot-fault. The umpire gives a warning the first time, and after that each foot-faulted bowl is stopped and declared dead.
Delivering the jack
The jack has its own rules about where it may stop. A jack that stops less than 23 metres from the mat line is one of the ways it can be improperly delivered. When that happens, the opposing player places the mat and re-delivers the jack, but doesn't play first.
If the jack comes to rest less than 2 metres from the front ditch, it's moved onto the centre line with its nearest point 2 metres from the front ditch.
The jack is a solid ball, white or yellow. On outdoor grass greens it measures between 63 and 64 millimetres across and weighs between 225 and 285 grams. Synthetic and indoor greens use a heavier jack.
Touchers, dead bowls and dead ends
This is the law that trips up newcomers. A bowl that ends in the ditch is usually dead and taken out of play. The exception is a toucher: a bowl that touched the jack in its original course stays live, even if it then runs into the ditch. A toucher must be marked with chalk, and a toucher in the ditch is marked by a brightly coloured indicator. So chalk matters.
A bowl is dead if:
- it isn't a toucher and comes to rest in the ditch
- it comes to rest less than 14 metres from the centre of the mat line
A jack moved by a bowl in play is dead if it goes completely outside the rink, comes to rest in a hollow in the face of the bank, or stops less than 20 metres from the centre of the mat line.
A dead end doesn't count as a completed end. It's replayed in the same direction, unless the skips or opponents agree to play it the other way.
Counting shots at the end of an end
Shot bowls are the bowls nearer to the jack than the nearest bowl played by the opposing team or opponent. Measuring can't start until the last bowl of the end has come to rest, or 30 seconds after that if either skip or opponent asks for the 30 second wait. No bowl may be moved until both sides agree whether it's a shot, other than to allow measuring.
A worked example. Say your two closest bowls are both nearer the jack than your opponent's best bowl, and your third bowl is behind it. You score 2 shots. Your third bowl doesn't count, however close it looks, because the opponent's best bowl is nearer.
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An end is tied if the nearest bowls of each side are the same distance from the jack, or if there are no live bowls left in the rink. It's recorded as a completed end, and no shot scores. If the very first end is tied, the same player who started it plays first in the second end.
One more detail. The last player in an end doesn't have to deliver their final bowl, but they must tell the opposing skip before shot counting begins, and that decision is final.
How the game is won
Victory goes to the player, team or side with the highest total of shots, the most ends won, the most sets, or a combination of those, as decided by the Controlling Body. That's set in the Conditions of Play for each competition, so check how your game is being decided before the first end.
My advice before your first game at a club
I'd learn three laws before anything else: how a shot is counted, what makes a toucher, and why a bowl in the ditch is usually dead. Those three settle almost every question you'll have on your first afternoon.
I'd skip the umpire procedures and the bowls order for pairs until you're playing in a league. If you enjoy the target-and-jack idea, bocce and petanque are close cousins, and croquet is another lawn game that rewards a steady hand.
Frequently asked questions
How many players are in lawn bowls?
Singles has 2 opposing players. Team games are Pairs (2 per team), Triples (3) or Fours (4).
What is a toucher in lawn bowls?
A bowl in its original course that touches the jack. It stays live even if it ends in the ditch, and must be marked.
How is a shot scored in lawn bowls?
Each bowl nearer the jack than the opponent's nearest bowl counts as a shot.
What happens if a bowl ends in the ditch?
If it isn't a toucher it's dead and removed. A toucher in the ditch stays live.
How is a bowls game won?
By the highest total of shots, ends won or sets, or a combination, as decided by the Controlling Body.
