someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
Looks pretty good to me.
Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)
- Thread starter Richard the Third
- Start date
Looks pretty good to me.
someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/34925321 some interesting stuff re spin bowling and the development of them here in England with regards getting rid of the toss.
GoldenArm
Member
Had a bit of a bowl this evening, I set up a little practice area at work in our warehouse when everyone had gone home. Did the job at least and cheaper than paying for a net! Onto the bowling, was it perfect? No. But the grip is starting to feel more natural as is the walk in. Long way to go and plenty more to improve in terms of the action. I'm a very chest on bowler, I'm not sure if this is something I should even try to change. If I were a seam bowler it would be perfectly acceptable to be either side on or front on wouldn't it. Does spin bowling have to be so rigid? It feels so strange if I try and get totally side on. If you have a look on my channel there's another leg break and a flipper on there. I've found with this grip change its proving ridiculously hard to bowl my googly, that's going to take a lot of work to get back i think, but the flipper comes out just great. It's not the best footage of the flipper, I'll have to get another one on film.
someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
I did the same thing at work in a photography studio! We've got a massive space at our college that is perfect for this, but I think most people think I'm off my head as it is without starting to set cameras up in a massive atrium and spending 15-20 minutes bowling every day. Well done very resourceful. I think I'll stick to practicing outside my house for he moment and just have the neighbours think I've lost it. Anyway as promised this where I'm at...Loving the fact that you're wearing a cricket jumper!
GoldenArm
Member
Sod everyone thinking you're crazy I say! It takes daily practice to really see improvements. Certainly three times a week minimum. I do love the fact spinners are willing to let everyone think they've gone totally potty for the sake of their art. They'll never know the joys of the spinning ball. Don't know what they're missing do they. I'm forever flipping a ball from hand to hand just when I'm sat thinking or watching something. Drives people nuts. I nicked that old carpet off my mum at the weekend, it's perfect just to roll out for a quick bowl, and they have massive tape measures out in the warehouse to mark it all out which is handy. And as far as the jumper goes I never play or practice without one haha, it gets me in the right frame of mind. What did you think of the action generally Dave?
Cleanprophet
Active Member
I can see why the flipper would be well disguised because, at first glance, that looks just like a flipper action. I think the key thing is what the ball does through the air and off the pitch. It's easy to get bogged down in technique, but if it is accurate and is turning then that's all that matters.
Cleanprophet
Active Member
Just a question of settling on an approach you are most happy and confident with and sticking with that for the next few months. I've also found that my action is different when I don't have a ball in my hand. I don't know if working at home without the ball is the way forward or not. That's the one thing that sticks out, the inconsistency in your action. As you highlight, the use of the front arm without the ball and then the use iof it with the ball. Personally, I would think it would be better to work on that front arm with the ball because there's a danger that you do lots of work on the front arm without the ball and then simply go back to not really using it when you go back to using a ball.
Incidently, I also have people think I'm a bit odd going down to the outdoor nets all through the winter, in wind, rain and snow!
Cleanprophet
Active Member
I noticed Shahid Afridi bowling a version of the googly today that was very off-spin like in its action. I'm sure I've seen it described before and talked about before, but it was interesting to see it. I've got some footage of it in real time and in slow motion. I'll post it later, but I can't leave it up for too long because I don't own the copyright for it and might have the ECB on my back 
someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
To be honest I'm increasingly inclined not to comment on people's bowling, as I'm only too aware that my own bowling isn't that good. The only thing I might say is that you pull up quite sharply in the follow through, and you do that thing that offies do where the leg swings out during the pivot. Everything I'm reading and hearing at the moment suggests that's wrong. But it may be that you bowl well with these actions, so why change it if it works? I kind of think that however you bowl, it is going to be the case that if you really want it, you're going to change and adapt things consistently until something clicks and you're able to do the things you want to be able to do. I think most of us are realistic on here and realise these things aren't going to come good in two seasons and that we're going to have to develop our bowling in terms of several years.
I've never been happy with my bowling for any period over 4 weeks it seems, something has always gone awry after a short period of doing well, but I've always felt that my basic action was flawed - hence the conversations over the years where I've asked advocated focus on a basic bowling action - line and length first and then add the spin later. I've realised what I was meaning to say is have a sound, consistent bowling action first and then focus on the spinning.
boogiespinner
Active Member
Dave your bowling is looking a lot tidier to my eyes in latest videos
boogiespinner
Active Member
On an aside... I have been really working on my body composition the last three months and have some pretty encouraging results! I started doing alternate day fasting around late august, think did around six weeks of that, then switched to ketogenic (low carb plenty of fat & protein) and also hit the gym with weight training. Luckily I've had loads of free time... have learnt so much about nutrition and have been weighing my food and tracking macros using a phone app. I am now in better shape than I was ten years ago and not stopping there 
Cleanprophet
Active Member
Here we go. I've heard this delivery talked about before. Not sure how people refer to it. But it is pretty much a legspinner's offspinner:
GoldenArm
Member
Yeah looks like an offie spun off the ring finger so he doesn't have to change his grip. Useful variation for 20/20 when you're trying to change it up constantly I guess but not one I'd use.
Cleanprophet
Active Member
It seems to just go on with the angle rather than turning. Yeah, a useful ball but I suppose if you can bowl a decent orthodox googly, why would you bother with this one?
someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
Yeah putting a lot of work into it cheers. A bit more to tidy up, but it's coming together bit by bit, it's just chances to practice that is the issue at the moment. Looking around for people to share the cost of nets - found a brilliant venue care of Tony M, dirt cheap, but would prefer to get four of us there to share the cost.
Cleanprophet
Active Member
Did some more work today using the thumb on the ball. What I've found is that if that thumb doesn't stay on the ball for as long as possible, I will go back to the ball slipping out with minimal or no sidespin. I've got to really keep the thumb on the ball and focus on keeping it there.
I tried bowling some googlys today for the first time in 5 or so months. Mostly, they came out quite well. But I think I will go back to not bowling them for a bit longer because I want to focus on legspinners only until they are absolutely were I want them.
Legspinner:
Googly:
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GoldenArm
Member
Got to say I think this is looking pretty great, don't know how consistently you can reproduce that shape and spin on a good line and length but if you can get to that stage boy you'll take a bag of wickets. Googly is well hidden as well and rips! I'm really having to relearn my googly with the thumb on the ball, it feels totally wrong. May have to bowl it without the thumb on to be honest. I had a long bowl against a mate in the nets today and it was mission accomplished for the most part. Feel like I've turned a corner and settled on the run up and grip. It was really spinning a lot for the first time since I made the changes. It was a relief to see the ball really turning past the bat and beating that edge convincingly. I had him stumped, caught a couple of times and bowled and he's generally a good player of spin who's faced me a heck of a lot in practice. So I know if I've got him out its because I've bowled genuinely well. There were a lot of full tosses in there so that's something I'll have to cut out. I'm still trying to master this state of mind of controlled aggression. Generating power without getting tight. I've got a little mental exercise the coach gave me where if I feel it happening (which usually results in me straining and bowling short and flat) I imagine just lobbing the ball into the keepers hands rather that visualising the delivery I want to bowl. The same way golfers imagine underarming a ball onto a green by hand rather than picturing the difficult chip/flop they want to hit from a tight lie over a bunker or something.
Cleanprophet
Active Member
Those videos would suggest this is normal for me in terms of line and length. It isn't. Not yet anyway. I tend to put a lot of balls outside legstump. In fairness, most of them are turning to the stumps from that line. But it's not a good line. I probably need to get my front arm a bit more at 1st slip (it's slipped back to pointing towards legstump, which is probably why I'm putting a few balls there). There's scope to be a bit more upright too. These are changes that I think I can bring without too much of a problem.
The googly turned as much as any googly I've ever bowled. Plus, because of my normal position for the legspinner (that pull/lean to the left) it is, as you say, well disguised. I bowled about 10 of them and that was the pick. Some were too full and a couple were a little too far outside off. I tend to drop short with the legspinners too, but the googly tends to be a bit full. I focused on trying to bowl it flat in that video and it ended up coming out nicely flighted and on a good length (not at all flat, but that was my mindset).
Yeah, that thinking about getting the ball to the keeper if you are dropping short sounds like it would be helpful. I find that if I just think about flighting it (ie focusing on spinning the ball up), I get that good length most times. The dropping short happens when I'm trying to really spin it hard. That ball that is flighted, even it it is maybe 5mph slower or more, is actually an awkward ball to face if it's played from the crease. Of course, you have to get your length right if you do give it a bit more air and bowl it a touch slower, but there's probably no better way to bowl spin than to do just that. Watching Parry bowl his left-arm finger spin in the UAE is very interesting. He's bowling lots of balls around 42mph-43mph and getting the length right most of the time. As a result, some of the balls he is bowling are beautifully flighted and beating a lot of batters in the air. He still fires the odd one in at close to 60mph, as you would have to to avoid the batters using their feet every ball. But when he gets that slower, flighted ball right, it's great to see.
boogiespinner
Active Member
I miss bowling googlies... 
someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
I'm not fussed, prefer to have a dipping top-spinner myself, they occasionally come out with a some googlyness. I don't think I'd ever go back to putting any effort into resurrecting mine, so damaging.I miss bowling googlies...