Nottingham Indoor Bowls Club – Competition Rules
All competitors must be members of the club.
1. All competitions shall be played on a knockout basis and conform to the Laws of the Game, as published by the E.I.B.A. and the provisions as stated in these rules.
2. The winner of the preceding end shall play first.
3. For all competitions up to and including the final and with the exception of the Ladies and Men’s Club Singles Championship, the rink used for each game will be the responsibility of the Bowls Manager and/or member of the office team to allocate.
The Ladies and the Men’s Club Singles Championship is a National Competition and therefore follows the rule of the EIBA National Championships. The rink to be used for all ties up to the Semi-Final shall be the choice of the challenger. Rink allocation for the Semi-Finals and Finals shall be organised and allocated by the Bowls Manager and/or member of the office team.
4. All competitions prior to the semi-finals shall be:-
Singles – The first to 21 shots wins the match. Once the game is booked for a 3 hour period and a marker confirmed by the challenger, the challenger shall notify their opponent of the marker that is to undertake duties for the game. If the opponent is not satisfied in any way with the selection of the marker they are entitled to contact the Men’s and Ladies President via the challenger to ask them to provide an ‘independent marker for the match.
Pairs, Triples and Fours – The game commences after the sounding of the starter buzzer and will end after the sounding of the finishing buzzer.
An end that is in play when the finishing buzzer sounds will be played to a conclusion, but this will be the last end to be played.
In the event of tied scores at the conclusion of the game, one Extra End will be played to determine a winner. If scores remain tied after the Extra End, a further end will be played, and so on, until a winner is concluded.
The team to commence the Extra End will be decided by the toss of a coin.
Semi-finals and finals will be 18 ends in the Pairs, Triples and Fours, or a maximum of 3 hours 30 minutes from commencing of the first end (Not including trial ends).
5. In all competitions (except Ladies and Gents singles and Over 55 Singles) all ‘killed’ ends will result in the jack being placed on the nearest re-spot to where the jack left the green.
6. Playing dates will be advertised on the noticeboard, competitions will either have a play by date or a play on date (set date).
Where there are set dates for competitions, matches can be played before these dates by agreement of all parties involved. The reception team must be notified of any changes to set date matches in order that the rinks can be re-let out for other players.
Deadline for all Games
All games MUST be played no later than the play by date/set date. Failure to play games on time will result in the offending team/singles player, forfeiting the game and being responsible for ALL rink fees.
There will be no extension of the deadline date for any reason.
7. In all competitions up to and including the final, in the event of a tie at the completion of the required number of ends one extra end only will be played. On the extra end the right to cast the jack will be decided by the toss of a coin. (The two wood set pairs is an exception to this ruling).
See also paragraph 4.
8. Trial ends are permitted in all singles competitions.
9. Correctly filled in scorecards, signed by both parties, must be left in the scorecard box at the end of the wooden shelf just outside the reception area.
10. Dress for all competitions shall be:-
All rounds up to and including semi-finals – white top or club shirt and grey bottoms
Finals –
Novices – white top or club shirt and grey or white bottoms
Open and Over 55s – white top or club shirt and white bottoms
11. In the case of the finals of the Men’s and Ladies singles matches the Club Men’s President and Ladies President will mark or alternatively a representative of the Bowls Executive Committee.
12. All questions and disputes shall be referred to the Bowls Manager and the Bowls Executive Committee.
13. In rounds up to the semi-final, it is permissible in the event of a need to visit the head that one visit to the head per end is permitted and shall be only used by the skip of the team.
In Semi-finals and Finals players are allowed to visit the head on more than one occasion per end if it is deemed appropriate to do so. Competitors are encouraged to use their discretion when considering the need to visit the head to ensure that games remain free flowing and can be played to a completion within the allocated maximum time limit of 3 hours 30 minutes.
14. In all singles games competitors are permitted to visit the head after their 3rd and 4th bowl. If a visit to the head is required before a competitors 3rd bowl permission to visit the head must be obtained from the marker of the game. If the marker deems the visit unnecessary the request to visit the head before the competitor’s 3rd bowl will be declined. The markers decision in this instance is final.
15. Format of the 2 bowl sets pairs.
The game will consist of the best of two sets of nine ends per set. The winner of each set will be the team with the most shots at the completion of the 9th end. If at any point it becomes impossible for one team to draw or win the set the number of ends remaining then no more bowls will be delivered and the set concluded.
The right to cast the jack in the 1st set will be determined by the toss of a coin. The team that wins the toss shall decide whether to cast the jack or not. The team that lost the toss of the coin in the first set shall have the choice of whether to cast the jack or not in the second set.
If the shot scores are tied after the last end of a set, the set is drawn. If a match is tied (two drawn sets or one set each) after the two sets have been completed, a best of three ends match tie breaker will be played to determine the winner.
In the tie break, the right to cast the jack on the 1st end will be determined by the toss of a coin. The team that win the toss shall have the choice of whether to cast the jack on the 1st end and 3rd end of the tie break, should a 3rd end be required. The team that did not win the coin toss for the 1st end will have the choice of whether to cast the jack or not on the 2nd end of the tie break.
In the 3 end tie break only the winner of the end will matter and not the number of shots scored. Should the match tie break still be tied after 3 ends then a fourth end will be played to determine the outcome of the match. If a winner is still not determined at the end of a fourth tie break end then a further end shall be played and so on until a match winner is determined.
16. In the Over 55 competitions competitors must have attained the age of 55 before 30th September in the season in which the competition is played. e.g. for season 2020/2021 competitors wishing to enter the Over 55 competitions must have attained the age of 55 on or before 30th September 2020.
17. All trophies remain the property of the club and must remain on the premises at all times.
Published by the NIBC Bowls Executive Committee 24.07.2023.