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SUMMARY.
1. These notes list
some commonly-asked questions about the Individual Bowl Scoring (IBS) approach.
This summary lists only very brief answers.
2. Question One – What major advantage does
the IBS approach have as compared with the Whole Game Rating (WGR) approach?
The scoring of individual bowls allows a legitimate comparison between
Players in different Teams and Sides. The WGR approach does not allow such a comparison.
3. Question Two - Will an IBS Approach interfere with my
Concentration? For
each bowl, Players should concentrate hard during a small period of time. Players
need heightened concentration on the
right things during this period or they will not concentrate correctly. Players who concentrate correctly will not consider that someone will
score each bowl they bowl.
4. Question
Three - Will an IBS Approach threaten some Players? The I B
Scores will show that some Players do not
perform as well as they believe they play. Thus, some Players will feel
threatened. However, it will show that some Players underrate themselves.
5.
Question Four - Will an IBS Approach put Pressure on
Players? The IBS approach
will put pressure on some Players – until they get used to the approach. If
Players cannot face pressure and deal with it successfully, they will never
play to their full potential.
6. Question
Five - Does the Skipper have to Score and Record each Bowl? Skippers have the best chance to estimate the
distance of a finished bowl from the DFP because of their location at the head.
However, Skippers do not have to score. Players from the mat end can do so.
7. Question Six - How can I know that the
Scorer will score my Bowls accurately? A Player may believe that the
Scorer has scored one or more Players inaccurately. Such Players can score all
bowls themselves and ask the Selectors to compare their scores with the scores
of the “Official Scorer”.
8. Question Seven – What Scores should each
Area earn? Selectors/Clubs can
choose from a variety of approaches regarding areas and scores. Whatever the
choice made, the IBS approach will have significant advantages over the
opinion-based rating approach.
9. Question
Eight - Will the selected IBS Approach score the Bowls of Skippers? The IBS approach can take a variety of
approaches. One approach scores the Skippers bowls. But the approach does not have to do so.
Answers to Qs on IBS
8/04
10. Question
Nine - Will a Player get extra Points for a “Big Bowl”? An IBS approach could include a score for a
bowl that makes a significant difference to the number of shots up or
down. However, for this variation to
work, “everyone” would have to agree on a definition for a big bowl Further, to
achieve a fair approach, Players should score nil when they fail to grasp opportunities
to play a big bowl. On balance, it will
prove wiser not to give points for a big bowl.
11. Question
Ten – Will fast Shots that just miss score Points? Most Players play a low percentage of fast
shots. A score for a near miss would make little difference to their total
score. However Club/Selectors can easily
give a score for a near miss if they want to do so.
12. Question Eleven - Will Bowls the same
Distance short receive the same
Points as a Bowl the same Distance past
the DFP? Circles surrounding
the DFP provide a simple approach to defining scoring areas .Scorers just have
to estimate the distance the bowl finishes from the DFP. An IBS approach could
use a different-shaped area that would give a low score to bowls that finish
short and a higher score for bowls that finish the same distance past the DFP.
However this approach will make it more difficult to score.
13. Question Twelve - What scoring Areas
will the IBS Approach use?
Clubs/Selectors can choose their own scoring areas. The more areas that an approach uses, the
more information will Selectors and Players have about their bowling
performance. A restriction of areas to
those close to the DFP may
lead to some Players playing better because of the alleged motivational effect
INTRODUCTION.
14. These notes
list some commonly-asked questions about the Individual Bowl Scoring (IBS)
approach.
15. The answers
do not aim to cover all aspects
of the question.
QUESTION ONE – WHAT MAJOR ADVANTAGE DOES THE IBS
APPROACH HAVE AS COMPARED WITH THE WHOLE GAME RATING (WGR) APPROACH?
16. The scoring
of individual bowls allows a legitimate comparison between Players in different
Teams and Sides. The WGR approach does not
allow a comparison.
17. Research on the statistics of one Club showed
that very similar average ratings existed for each Division from the top
Division to low Divisions. Presumably, “everyone” would agree that Players in
different Division have different bowling abilities. Thus each Division should
have different ratings – but they do not.
QUESTION TWO - WILL AN IBS APPROACH INTERFERE WITH MY CONCENTRATION?
18. Anyone who asks this question need
to consider what they mean by concentrate. One definition states “to direct
one’s thoughts and behaviour exclusively to one subject or object”.
19. For each
bowl, Players should concentrate hard during a small period of time. During
this period, they need to (a) listen carefully to the Skipper’s call, (b)
prepare to bowl, and (c) bowl. This period amounts to no more than two minutes.
Players need heightened concentration on
the right things during this period. Plenty of other minutes exist for
comparative relaxation and/or concentration on something else.
20. Players need to put other things out
of their mind or they will not concentrate correctly. Thus Players should have little difficulty in
putting out of their mind that someone will score each of their bowls. If Players do not accept this point, how do
they put out of their mind that other Players have to rate their performance
during a game – if their Club uses an opinion-based ratings (WGR).
21. In any case, most Players will get
used to the IBS approach and forget that it exists. (See the notes called -
“Disturbance of Concentration”.)
QUESTION THREE - WILL AN IBS
APPROACH THREATEN SOME PLAYERS?
22. The I B Scores will show that some Players do
not perform up to their views
of how well they play and/or their reputation. Thus, some Players will feel threatened. In
addition, the opposite applies. The IBS approach will show that the Selectors
underrate some Players and/or that some Players underrate themselves.
QUESTION FOUR - WILL AN IBS APPROACH PUT PRESSURE ON PLAYERS?
23. The IBS approach will put pressure on some
Players – until they get used to the approach. But playing high-grade bowls
puts pressure on some Players anyway. Many aspects of bowls put pressure on
Players. If Players cannot face pressure and deal with it successfully, they
will never play to their full potential.
QUESTION FIVE - DOES THE SKIPPER HAVE TO SCORE AND
RECORD EACH BOWL?
24. Because of their location at the head, Skippers have the best
chance to estimate the distance of a finished bowl from the DFP (Designated
Finishing Point) - for the first three Players. Thus it rates as preferable for
the Skipper to score each bowl. However Skippers do not have to score. Players from the mat end can do so.
25. Skippers can score
each bowl but ask one of the other Team Members to do the recording. Most Skippers send some sort of communication (signal)
to Players at the other end during the game. It will prove easy to arrange a
signal that a Skipper can send that will allow a Player to record a score.
26. For more
details, see the notes called – “Who can, and should, score individual bowls?”
QUESTION SIX - HOW CAN I KNOW THAT THE SCORER WILL
SCORE MY BOWLS ACCURATELY?
27. A Player may
come to believe that the Scorer of each Player’s bowls has scored one or more
Players inaccurately. If so, such Players can score all bowls themselves. Then
that Player can ask the Selectors to compare the scores of the “Official
Scorer” with the scores that they have recorded.
QUESTION SEVEN – WHAT SCORES SHOULD EACH AREA EARN?
28. This question
relates to the details of (a) what areas to use in an IBS approach and (b) how
many points to give for the different areas.
29. Selectors/Clubs
can choose from a variety of approaches within an IBS approach. Whatever the
choice made, the IBS approach will have significant advantages over the opinion-based
rating approach used by most Clubs.
QUESTION EIGHT - WILL THE SELECTED IBS APPROACH
SCORE THE BOWLS OF SKIPPERS?
30. The IBS approach can take
a variety of approaches. One approach scores the Skippers bowls. Selectors will
decide to do so because of the views of some Players - “If we score one Player
in a Team we should score all Players”.
31. However, other approaches exist to measure the performance of
Skippers (Example. The average number
of shots won for ends won and the average number of shots lost for end lost plus
the I B Scores of the other three Team Members ) (See the notes called –
“An explanation of the Formula Approach”.) Thus Selectors may decide not to score the bowls of
Skippers.
QUESTION NINE - WILL A
PLAYER GET EXTRA POINTS FOR A “BIG BOWL”?
32. An IBS approach could include a score for a “big
bowl” i.e. a bowl that makes a significant difference to the number of shots up
or down. However, for this variation to
work, “everyone” would have to agree on a definition for a big bowl and use
that definition when scoring. Further, to achieve a fair approach, Players
would need to score nil when they had the opportunities to play a big bowl but failed to do so. On balance, it
will prove wiser not to give points for a big bowl.
33. See the notes called - “Can Players play a Big Bowl” and”Extra
Points for a Big Bowl?”)
QUESTION TEN – WILL FAST
SHOTS THAT JUST MISS SCORE POINTS?
34. The IBS approach can give a score for a near miss when someone plays
a fast shot – or it may not. Most
Players play a low percentage of fast shots. For these Players, the inclusion
of a score for a near miss would make little difference to the total score. Further,
it will usually only affect the Third or the Skipper.
35. However an IBS approach
can easily score something for a near miss if the Club/Selectors want to do so.
QUESTION ELEVEN - WILL BOWLS THE SAME DISTANCE SHORT RECEIVE THE SAME POINTS AS A BOWL
THE SAME DISTANCE PAST THE DFP
(USUALLY THE JACK)?
36. The idea of
having circles surrounding the DFP (Designated Finishing Point) provides a
simple approach to defining scoring areas .Scorers just have to estimate the
distance the bowl finishes from the DFP. An IBS approach could use a
different-shaped area. A particular shape could give a low score to bowls that finish
short and a higher score for bowls that finish the same distance past the DFP.
However this approach will make it more difficult to score. The difficulty will
increase if the DFP moves to past the jack (Example
.A yard-on shot)
37. It will prove simpler to use the concentric
circles approach than trying to change the shape of the area. But, certainly, a
circle will not distinguish between bowls that finish short as compared to
bowls that finish past the DFP.
QUESTION TWELVE - WHAT SCORING AREAS WILL THE IBS
APPROACH USE?
38. This question
refers to a technical point. Clubs/Selectors can choose their own scoring areas.
They should compare (a) the amount of information gained from the scoring areas
chosen with (b) the attitude the areas will engender in Players regarding
playing high-quality bowls. (See the notes – “The Scoring of Bowls”.)
39. The more areas that an
approach uses, the more information will Selectors and Players have about their bowling performance.
Probably the number of areas chosen should not exceed four – in order to
simplify the scoring. However a restriction of areas to those close to the DFP may lead to some Players playing
better because of the alleged motivational effect
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