English Indoor Bowling Association

Bowls can be played indoors or outdoors, and the rules are the same, with top stars from both formats coming together to play lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games.

All the action takes place on a standard bowling green, which is a flat square 34-40m long. This is divided into six playing areas called rinks. After a coin toss, the first bowler (the lead) places the mat and rolls the jack to the other end of the green as a target.

The jack must travel at least 23m and, when it comes to rest, it is moved across to the centre of the rink. The players then take turns to bowl. When all the bowls have been played, a competitor or team gets one point for each of their bowls that is closer to the jack than the opponent's closest bowl. After all the bowls have been delivered, the direction of play is reversed. This is the end of an end!

Each player has four bowls per end in singles and pairs competitions, three in triples, and two in fours. Bowls can be played in singles, pairs, triples and four-player teams.