I have realised that whenever I try to visualise my bowling action, that is, what I'm doing, it never works, but when I visualise the ball I am bowling, I can bowl it where I want to. Is it necessary to visualise my bowling action? Also, I can visualise the ball from different angles, like side on, how should I visualise?
How To Visualize
- Thread starter big kev
- Start date
Kiran Rajkumar
Member
Each person has a different method. I like to close my eyes, take a few deep breaths and try to 'feel' my action.
A bit old now but http://www.pitchvision.com/do-you-have-the-mental-toughness-to-be-a-great-cricketer/ may help a little 
someblokecalleddave
Well-Known Member
Yeah I'm not sure it's going to be something that works for everyone and if it works for you on one ocassion it may not another time and the impact it has on what you do may be minimal and then again might be really useful. I'd say if you feel it's not getting you anywhere, then perhaps leave it be as it may be putting you in a negative state of mind? Things like this are just tools in your kit bag of options, some work better than others. It can get to a point where your expectations may not come to fruition and that particular tool might not work for you as an individual. People work and learn in different ways, I'm what's called a Kineasthetic learner which means I learn in a way that is very practical and find it harder to learn from diagrams and written information. So for instance at the minute I'm trying to come to terms with how drift is produced and I'm trying to fathom the physics behind it and this involves primarily reading and understanding written material, diagrams and video illustrations and I'm finding it very difficult to convert all the theory into something that is useful to me. At the moment I'm kind of reaching a point where I'm thinking 'Am I over-thinking this and is it really useful and necessary for me to analyse all the information to arrive at the end result?' When the end result can simply be acquired by simple instructions such as - get side on, spin it hard and get up tall on your braced leg.
Spiderlounge
Member
It's impossible for your conscious brain to process all these different aspects fast enough, as it can only really process one thing at a time, while your subconscious can process a lot of things simultaneously so it allows you to bowl in a relaxed, effective way. Find a copy of "Bounce" by Matthew Syed for an explanation as to why.
There's a fantastic description in one of Neville Cardus' books about this. You are, to paraphrase Cardus, like a millipede that has come to a dead stop because he's started to think about which leg he has to move next...
I think most people, and I count myself among them, think about the sort of delivery they want to bowl, although Warne says he thinks about what shot he wants the batsman to attempt. The trick I think is to make the conscious mental command quite a simple one (length, line and variation only), and to have practised long and hard enough that your subconscious is able to reliably and effortlessly execute any command you are likely to give it.