More Lawn Bowls Instructors for Alicante & Murcia Provinces

A group of very enthusiastic would-be bowling Instructors gathered at Vistabella BC, in southern Alicante, for a 3 day intensive course, directed by Ruth Compton, Spanish National Bowls Coaching Coordinator and ably assisted by Pat Metcalfe, all under the auspices of the Spanish National Bowls Coaching Scheme, (SNBCS). Also attending were 2 qualified Instructors, John Rudkin, Vistabella BC and John Carr, Benavista BC, who took the duel role of assisting Ruth and at the same time working to qualify as regional coaches and thereby enabled to direct Instructors courses in their home regions.

The syllabus includes teaching all the skills that will enable a beginner bowler to join the mainstream bowling community with a strong sense of confidence. During the first 2 days all the trainee Instructors were required, at times, to double up as “mock” beginners. On the last day, 2 volunteer beginners, Katrina & Richard, braved the extremely hot weather to provide very useful “real life” experience for the course members.

Probably the most important lesson learned was that being a competent bowler is not the only qualification for being a successful Instructor. The need to study the beginner’s delivery technique, rather than concentrating on watching the progress of the bowl was a skill that was emphasised throughout the practical sessions.

The challenges presented to the participants were confronted with much relish and everybody accepted that they had learned a great deal about teaching new bowlers and encouragingly many features that had improved their own bowling skills.

Use the Navigation Buttons to Pause/Play/Forward/Back as required.
You need Adobe Flash Player to see slideshow.
Click here to download, (free).

At the conclusion of the course, Ruth Compton, thanked her colleagues and all the participants and announced that all trainees had passed the course, thereby “leashing” 12 new Instructors on the Murcia/Costa Blanca bowling community. Several members of the group expressed their gratitude to Ruth, Pat and the 2 Johns for their professional support.

Finally I urge club officials and members to make use of this valuable new resource for raising bowling standards in your area.

Instructors course participants.