Bowls: Edwards refreshed by 18 month long break

Canterbury bowler Jo Edwards is ready to get back into competitive bowls after a 18-month layoff. Photo / Supplied

Jo Edwards had grown stale and took a break from bowls 18 months ago. She has come back refreshed.

Edwards, 40, a member of the Black Jacks for 12 years, had notched up an impressive international record.

But the edge had gone off her game and she needed a rest from the constant grind of regular practice and constant games.

Her last time in the Black Jacks uniform was in the transtasman series last year.

"I just felt I needed a break," said Edwards, who is competing at the national championships which began in Dunedin yesterday.

"I was young enough to have a year off and then try to get back in the Black Jacks."

She enjoyed her time off.

"It was nice not having to be at the green each weekend," Edwards said.

"I had a very lazy year."

Edwards still played some bowls but did not play for her club, the Canterbury province or New Zealand.

She won the Golden Nuggets on the Gold Coast and the world indoor singles in 2009 and this year.

"I picked the events I wanted to compete in and played in a few tournaments," she said.

Edwards adopted a more relaxed approach during the few events she played during her 18-month break.

"I had a different attitude and just went out to enjoy myself," she said.

"I used to be very hard on myself and pushed to do more training. But in my time off I have become more relaxed and want to take that into my game.

"I'm still as competitive as hell," Edwards said. "But I take things in my stride more now."

The gold medals she won in the pairs with Sharon Sims at World Bowls in England in 2004 and with her best mate Val Smith at Christchurch in 2008 have been the highlights of Edwards' bowls career.

"A lot of people think the Commonwealth Games gold medal would be my highlight," Edwards said. "But for a bowler world bowls is the Olympics of our sport and winning those two gold medals was great."

- NZPA