Spotlight On ... Sean Mawdsley: Lawn Bowls

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday September 18, 2008

Age: 14. Suburb: Dapto.

Club: Dapto Bowling Club.

School: Year nine at Illawarra Sports High.

Goals in sport: Make NSW under 18s.

Career goals: Represent Australia and play Premier League lawn bowls.

Academy goals: Become better and learn more about my sport.

Interest: Computer games - Age of Empires.

Dislikes: Interviews.

Most like to meet: Michael Phelps.

How did you start? My uncles Alan and Mark got me involved - I used to watch them play and I just wanted to get into it.

What motivates you to train? To be the best and to become the best.

Your biggest achievement? Probably making the finals of the junior Zone 16 finals at Oak Flats or making the semi-finals of the NSW Junior Fours.

Biggest influence on your career and why? My mum, Fiona. She has encouraged me to keep going and lets me know when I am getting cocky. She helps me pull my head in when I need to.

How does the academy help you achieve your goals? I've become far more consistent. We do drills working on different aspects such as driving, drawing and the on-shots - that means playing just past the jack. It's basically just extra training, but there are a few sessions where you learn about health and the mental side of things.

What are your strengths as a bowler? My draw shots. I'm not so good on my drives -something I'm working on a lot at the academy.

How important is the mental approach to lawn bowls? It's quite important because if you get too over-confident or cocky you can lose your concentration and your rhythm, then you don't bowl as well. You can't be too psyched up.

How often do you practice? I try to practice three or four times per week on weekdays and compete on Saturdays and Sundays.

You made it to the third round of the Zone 16 open singles championships - what was it like playing guys like Mick Duprez from Albion Park and former South African international Eric Johannes? I was nervous going into it, wondering if I was going to get beat to nil, like 31 to nothing. You have to put a few bowls close, but playing against Eric, he would just drive them out. In the end it was 31-17 and I was quite happy with that. He's the head coach at the academy.

What is your mindset when you go into big games like that? Don't drive too much - just draw, draw, draw - and just go out there and have fun. There's no point going out there and thinking, "I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose," because you will if you think like that.

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