How to Play Bowls (Crown Green)

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Crown Green Bowls is an outdoor precision game for two to four players, played on a square grass green whose centre is raised several inches higher than its edges, creating the distinctive 'crown'. Each player uses two biased bowls, called woods, which curve as they travel, and the aim is simple: finish closer to the jack than your opponent. It rewards patience, feel, and an eye for a line that takes years to sharpen.

The game is almost entirely a northern English and Midlands tradition, thriving at pubs, clubs, and parks across those regions. Its outdoor setting and social rhythm make it a fixture of summer life, and because players bowl from any point on the green rather than fixed ends, no two ends are quite the same.

A little history

Crown Green Bowls is closely associated with the north of England and the Midlands, where it has been played at bowling greens attached to public houses and working men's clubs for several centuries. Its precise origins are unclear, but it is traditionally regarded as a regional development of the broader family of lawn bowls games that spread across Britain during the medieval and Tudor periods. It is distinct from flat-green bowls in that the crowned surface is integral to play rather than a surface defect, and that players choose their own footer position each end. The British Crown Green Bowling Association, founded in 1932, standardised much of the modern competitive game.

Setting up

1. Confirm the green is clear and agree the match length, typically 21 points for a singles game.
2. Toss a coin to decide which player or team delivers the jack first.
3. The jack-deliverer places a small rubber mat (the footer) at their chosen starting position anywhere on the green, provided it is a set minimum distance from the boundary ditch.
4. The jack is bowled from the footer. It must travel a minimum of 21 yards from the footer and must not enter the ditch. If it fails, the opponent delivers the jack instead.
5. Once the jack settles, mark its position if needed (a chalk spot or small marker). This spot and the footer position define the end.

How to play

1. The player who delivered the jack bowls first, releasing each wood from the footer position in turn.
2. Woods are bowled with bias: turn the wood in your hand so the bias side faces the direction you intend it to curve, then deliver smoothly along your chosen line.
3. The opposing player or team then bowls their woods from the same footer, attempting to finish closer to the jack than the leading wood.
4. Players alternate individual bowls where the rules require, or each player completes their two woods in sequence, depending on local club convention. Clarify before play.
5. A wood that enters the ditch is dead and removed from scoring consideration for that end.
6. A wood that moves the jack into the ditch also kills that end: return the jack to its last marked position or, if unmarked, replay the end.
7. If the jack is moved but stays on the green, it is live in its new position and all counting distances are measured from there.
8. After all woods have been played, the end is scored (see Winning). The player or team that scored then delivers the jack for the next end from a footer placed anywhere on the green.
9. If a bowl strikes and moves another bowl, both bowls are left where they finish. Touchers are not a feature of Crown Green as they are in flat green.
10. Play continues end by end until one player or team reaches 21 points.

Winning and scoring

At the conclusion of each end, measure carefully. The player or team with the wood nearest the jack scores one point for every wood that is closer to the jack than the nearest opponent's wood. Only one side scores per end: there is no sharing of points. The first player or team to accumulate 21 points wins the game. In organised competition, games are sometimes played to 31 points or over a set number of ends, so always confirm the target before play begins.

The fine points

Disputed distances are the most common source of argument. Always use a proper flexible measuring tape or calipers; eye judgements are not accepted in organised play. Measure from the nearest part of the bowl's surface to the nearest part of the jack. If two woods are genuinely equidistant, those woods cancel and only other counting woods behind them score. If all woods are equal, no score is recorded for that end and the same player delivers the jack again.

Foot-faulting is the other recurring issue: a player's foot must remain on or behind the footer throughout the delivery. Stepping off the footer before the wood is released is a fault; the offending wood is removed from that end. If a player bowls out of turn, the opposing player may leave the wood where it rests or return it and require it to be bowled correctly, but this must be claimed before another wood is delivered. Once play has advanced, the position stands.

How to win more often

• Master the weight of your delivery before worrying about line. A wood bowled with correct weight that sits half a yard wide is usually easier to save than one bowled with the right line but three yards too strong.
• Use the crown deliberately. Bowling across the crown can produce curves that a flat green never offers; learn which lines feed the crown in your favour and which ones turn the wood away from the jack.
• When you are holding shot, play a defensive weight that just adds to the head rather than driving into it. Unnecessary aggression in a winning position is the most common way to give an end away.
• Watch your opponent's woods carefully. Reading the bias and pace of the surface takes time; their bowls tell you as much as your own do.
• Choose your footer position with care at the start of each end. A slightly angled approach to the jack often makes your bias work with the crown rather than against it.

Variations

Pairs

Two players per side, each bowling two woods. Partners stand at opposite ends of the green: one delivers the jack and bowls, the other stands at the head and directs. Partners swap roles each end. Scoring is identical to singles; teams typically play to 21 points.

Triples

Three players per side, each bowling two woods, giving six woods per team per end. Players rotate the role of jack-deliverer between ends. The larger number of woods in the head makes position play and blocking lines far more significant than in singles.

21-up Jack-Length Handicap

To balance mixed-ability games, a stronger player is required to bowl the jack to a longer minimum distance, effectively narrowing the margin of useful green. This is a club-level handicap convention rather than a formal competition rule, but it is widely used in friendly and pub play to keep games competitive.

Knockout Tournament Format

In organised club and pub knockout competitions, players are drawn in a bracket and each match is a straight race to 21. Some competitions introduce a shorter format of 11-up in early rounds to keep a tournament to a single day. No rule changes apply; only the target score differs.

Bowls (Crown Green): frequently asked questions