NOT AN OLD MAN’S GAME.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4505, 16 September 1930, Page 4

NOT AN OLD MAN’S GAME.

BOWES IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY.

(ißy a Doctor). The English Daily Express liad the following iu a series of articles -on ‘Health and Your Sports >’■— Howls lias, until recently, been looked down on as a sport, and it has been dubbed contemptuously “the old man’s game." That attitude is unjustified. Bowls is a game suitable for everybody —man and woman, old or young. Bowls gives something which no other game seems to give in the same measure —those elusive qualities of pa.lience, determination, and perseverance. Probably that .is why Scotsmen play so well. It makes no great demand on strength or agility, hut it requires a good eye, a steady hand, a delicate touch, and considerable skill. Nicety of judgment is the keynote of bowls. It needs a kind of ■ logged courage of the ‘‘batik-to-the-wall” kind to play successfully. Single-handed bowls teaches self-reliance, arid the team spirit is inculcated by club play. The mental gam is immense, the physical gain no less. Bowls provide [valuable exercise—no less valuable because it is a slow game. There are times when gentle exercise is preferable to the more vigorous sort. The sedentary brain worker with his youth behind him, accustomed to an indoor life for six days in the week, will find that Ibowls does him more good than a more active sport. People suffering from nervous exhaustion or brain Lug, for instance, should go in for either howls or walking as an exercise.. No other outside pursuit, except walking', offers so little stress and strain. Effort is smooth and rhythmical. The body movements are easy, yet sufficient, to keep slack muscles iu tone. The corpulent person wilt find no game so beneficial.

•Bowls, too, lias the great advantage of being the cheapest of all outdoor sport®. Unfortunately, the season —about six months is too short. ,