The health benefits of playing bowls

Bowls is a game that can be enjoyed at any age and experience level. While it’s not a particularly energetic game, bowls can help with posture, flexibility, balance and hand-eye coordination. 

Bowls: the health benefits 

Improved fitness

According to the NHS, low-impact, moderate-intensity exercise can be just as effective as high-impact exercise (for example, running) at lowering the risk of heart disease. Bowls is one type of therapeutic exercise that ticks the boxes in terms of fitness and health benefits. There’s a surprising amount of walking involved in bowls (you could end up walking up to three miles while you play!), and it’s a good workout for your arms too.   

Increased coordination

Rolling the bowl with the goal of getting it as close to the jack as possible requires a healthy amount of hand-eye coordination. The more practice you get playing bowls, the better your hand-eye coordination will become. This, in turn, can stimulate mental alertness and improve concentration. 

Enhanced mental wellbeing

By increasing the level of endorphins in your body, exercise has been proven to boost mental wellbeing. Bowls also has a social element and sense of community, which can also be a great mood booster and source of support. 

Staying safe while playing bowls

Here are some of our tips for staying safe and avoiding injury while playing bowls:

• Wear grip sole shoes when stepping off the green
• Ensure you have adequate sun protection when playing outside. We recommend wearing SPF and a wide-brimmed hat on sunny days
• Drink plenty of water
• Take lessons to develop proper skills and technique
• Practice correct technique. Poor delivery or incorrect grip of the bowl can lead to injury
• Warm up and stretch before play. This will improve range of motion, prevent muscle strain, and promote elasticity of tendons and ligaments
• Cool down afterwards. This will help to prevent stiffness

Fancy giving bowls a try?

The Bowls England club finder is the easiest way to find a bowls club near you. If your club uses the Bowlr system, you’ll enjoy the convenience of easy online booking, as well as a whole host of other features that will free up your time so you can just enjoy the game!