Bonnell’s unique preparation for World Bowls Indoor Championships
The impending World Bowls Indoor Championships will see a few more Australians take part than the normal allotment of two, after four fill in players were announced to take part in the mixed pairs event to assist nations with just a solitary representative.
One of those players is Right at Home Para Jackaroo Serena Bonnell, who will be fronting up with Hungary’s Zoltan Pavelka at the Warilla Bowls Club at the beginning of next month.
Speaking on Bowls Australia’s (BA) ‘The Right Line’ podcast, the Queenslander revealed that the preparation has been unique considering the language barrier between the pair, who have needed to communicate through Google Translate.
“I’ve reached out to Zoltan and we’ve set up a pretty unique relationship and interaction,” Bonnell said.
“He’s of a small community of bowlers, there are only 20 members in all of Hungary that play bowls and he sent me a photo of the carpet which is just the size of one rink that they train on, and in turn I forwarded him some videos of the BPL.
“We’ve discussed a few things and it’s all been via Google Translate so our communication on the green may not be to the same standard and it may be non-verbal but it’s been brilliant so far.
“I’ve actually had to give a lot more thought on how to communicate non-verbally on the green and how to make some more adjustments because we’re so used to being quite verbal,” she added.
“It’s been interesting and I cherish the relationship so far.”
When it comes to her own preparation on the green, Bonnell has been utilising her home club in Club Tweed’s tremendous indoor facilities to hone her skills for the upcoming tournament, as well as absorbing advice from experienced heads within the sport.
“The preparation has been good, my home club Tweed Heads has an indoor green that I haven’t previously spent much time on but now that the Multi-Nations is over I’ve been on it quite regularly and they’ve embraced the opportunity to train on it,” she said
“I’ve also had opportunities to speak to Lynsey Clarke and Claire Turley, as well as Karen Murphy and Ellen Falkner.
“I have a session with Claire on the indoor green so preparations are going really well.”
The World Bowls Indoor Championships runs from May 7-12 at Warilla Bowls & Recreation Club, and will be live-streamed on World Bowls’ Facebook page on the final two days of the competition.
