Psychology & Spin Bowling

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someblokecalleddave

someblokecalleddave

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I've just been watching videos of Warne again and the one I've just watched seemed to be all of Warnes wickets in the 2005 Ashes. The majority of the wickets were the straight balls, which obviously followed a sequence of big turning leg breaks, it's pretty much what Swanne and Ajmal have been doing of late with their finger spinning. But the interesting thing with the Warne balls and the current Ajmal wickets is the fact that the batsmen arrive at the wicket already shot to pieces, having totally bought into the idea that the bowler has a variation, that they're not going to have an answer to. I watch the Warne vids and think - well if the batsmen offered those kinds of strokes to me, I'd be taking wickets by the bag full!

Psychology and getting into the heads of the batsman is obviously a key aspect of your practice and batsman in club situations know this and in my experience the better batsmen look for every opportunity to impose themselves on you as a wrist spinner. Anyone out there got any remedies or ideas as to how we can get the upper hand?
 
Just back from a psychology workshop delivered by my county coaches association (I know two in two days, but thats just how they fell) so I ought to have an answer, particularly as one of the tutors is a spin specialist, but sadly nothing from this evening to add.

So from personal experience / observation:
  1. Don't get ruffled, as the bowler you are in control - the batsman either has to react to what you deliver or pre-empt a shot with all the risks that entails. Spin bowlers have to have that 'level headedness' to come back after being hit so poker faces come with the territory
  2. Be confident in your own ability, many on here comment about the hours of practice without a batsman - if thats how you practice, imagine that in a game. Yes, over time you need to adjust to batters but early on stick to the basics and get into your spell. I like think of it like driving a car, when you start its all levers and pedals with no real awareness of whats going on outside the car, as you become more comfortable with the 'mechanics' of driving you then are able to be far more responsive to other road users and situations and so it is with bowling
  3. This is tricky and possibly out of your control. Have an understanding captain/team mates, if it goes to the boundary the team shouldn't let their heads drop, hopefully it was a shot that carries some risk so fielders should be more on their toes not drooping their shoulders. Good body language/support from the rest of the team may well help create the illusion in club cricket, where reputations are harder to establish, that you are their secret weapon (lots of oooohs for anything that passes the bat/goes in the air, etc)
Ultimately you will come up against some batsmen who are just simply better, but hold on to the thought that you only need one good ball to send him back to the hutch, just don't go searching for it too hard and lose the basics
 
I think point three is a good one with regards reputations amongst the local teams and having the reputation of the spinners backed up by their team mates, with plenty of on-field psychology - the oohs and aahs, especially from the wicket keeper and anyone that is near the batsman. I think there's some stuff on Terry Jenners blog where he also talks about the appearance of confidence being described by the field settings - here it is - http://terryjenner.blogspot.com/2008/09/coaching-tipfield-placements.html
 
Dave, thanks for that. I had not read the article but love the quote:
"if you attack with the field then you defend with the ball. If you defend with the field, you attack with the ball."

Obviously in junior cricket their is less opportunity to have fielders around the bat with fielding restrictions applying, but even here things like fielders making yardage to balls in the air (even if no catch is possible) helps give the impression that a wicket is just round the corner - mentioning this to the batter every now and again can also help ;)
 
I suppose, being a psychologist, I should be able to help you...

However, this workshop would be even longer than one on the RC!! :D

As Tony has intimated, you are thinking back to front! When out there, you really should not be thinking about the batsman; start thinking about what he/she is thinking/planning and you have already conceded. KNOW the batsman's strengths and weaknesses by watching before your spell starts or from previous matches and then concentrate on your own craft.

You really need to practise with a good batsman. Of course, practising without one when none are available is good but this is not the be all... It goes back to why I place net practise low down in priorities. You can spend all week spinning the ball and even knocking the bails off but you must bear in mind at all times that this is out of context. It is the same with batsmen slogging here, there and everywhere in the nets... really boosts the ego but put them in the middle and first ball is caught because they have not practised enough with fielders!

Watch how the batsman compensates with every ball; the better the batsman, the quicker the compensation but do not worry about what is going on inside his top 7%. KNOW you have the skills to throw the batsman off balance and you will perform. Remember, it is not ALWAYS about taking wickets, quite often you just need the dot balls to unsettle the oppo!

Take another look at http://www.pitchvision.com/do-you-have-the-mental-toughness-to-be-a-great-cricketer/
 
warne used to say that you have to create an illusion that the ball is spinning more than it is. A classic example is the bell dismissal in ashes 2005. And as a spin bowler rhythm is the most important thing then bring a couple of fielders close in. This shows the batsmen that we are on top not them
 
Yeah good stuff, I'd love to get into a situation where that happens with me, my older son may end up as the captain of our U13's this year and his team includes Frank Farrington - right arm wrist spinner (left hand bat). Frank's a massive asset to their team, exceptionally good batsman, but his wrist spinning is very promising and yet in terms of potential development and improvement, there is loads of scope. For the minute as he's on the ball and turns it a mile without any interference, so we just let him get on with it, but there's the potential for that whole Ricky Ponting/Shane Warne psychology thing to happen between my son Ben and Frank. If the wicket keeper Anthony got into it as well and a few of the others, there's massive potential for Frank to be feared in that same way as he's already quite well known in the district. Franks Dad was saying today that he'd been to the district trials and that not only was he one of only 3 boys out of 24 + that was LH Bat, but he was the only wrist spinner (RH). As it is, when we play teams locally there's always a ripple of 'something' that goes round the lads when they discover the oppo has 'District Players' in their team. I might have to look into this as a tactic?:)
 
I think psychology in spin bowling is MASSIVE... and it is a shame that this thread hasn't gotten some more action... the thing that i always loved about warne was after being hit for a boundary... he would groan, but not in a disheartened way... in a way that said to the batsman... ooh close, you are doing what i want you to, keep playing that shot buddy.
The stare down the wicket and cheeky smile after being hit for 6 did as much for his aura as his big ripping leg break on a length i believe.
 
Andrew Bourne said:
I think psychology in spin bowling is MASSIVE... and it is a shame that this thread hasn't gotten some more action... the thing that i always loved about warne was after being hit for a boundary... he would groan, but not in a disheartened way... in a way that said to the batsman... ooh close, you are doing what i want you to, keep playing that shot buddy.
The stare down the wicket and cheeky smile after being hit for 6 did as much for his aura as his big ripping leg break on a length i believe.
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That seven over spell I had at the weekend just gone, started with a wide that landed on the very edge of the cut strip. I could have easily internalised it as I used to years ago, but with a little more experience these days I just shut it out and got on with the next ball which was much better. Additionally despite the fact that the SA bloke was hitting me for regular 4's -again I felt that there was the chance of his wicket being taken and I just went about my bowling in a really relaxed way... In fact I was humming a tune as I gathered myself together and run into the bowling action. Similarly my 13 year old son bowled exceptionally well a couple of nights ago, with his coach saying that it was the best he'd ever seen him bowl and this was in the age group above his U15's. He took two wickets 13-0-4-2 and I asked him how he'd bowled so well, accurately and fast and yet it looked effortless. He said that he did it without having any pre-conception and because it wasn't his team, he didn't feel the weight of expectation and therefore bowled with a sense of being really relaxed and indifferent to the outcome.
 
it is amazing what that correct level of arousal does for your physical performance, i think it is something that many cricketers in general tend to neglect.
 
You have to just focus on the things you can control - spinning the ball hard and pitching it in the right areas. The exact same spell could go for 5-20 or 1-40 depending entirely on luck, so you should never get too caught up in the end results. What was it Kipling said?
 
SLA said:
You have to just focus on the things you can control - spinning the ball hard and pitching it in the right areas. The exact same spell could go for 5-20 or 1-40 depending entirely on luck, so you should never get too caught up in the end results. What was it Kipling said?
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SLA you're crediting me with too much skill, I never know from one spell to another whether I'm going to be blessed with either accuracy or the ability to spin the ball hard! The days when both come together tend to be about this time of the year when I played a few games and even then it's pretty certain to be more like one or the other, very rarely both!
 
For me TonyM's #1 sums it up, you dictate the terms and it is your job to set the scene. Beyond that it is important to keep reassessing and revaluating your gameplan based on what's happened, without going crazy of course.

Something I try and teach when coaching is for the bowler to forget about why you've been hit to the fence but what that means from here on in for you to execute your plan, by that I mean:

1. Is there something from the way the batsman played that shot that tells you about how the batsman plays? (insight into how to get him/her out)
2. Looking at where the ball was hit, is a field change actually required? (remembering of course that you don't set fields for rubbish bowling)
etc.

By doing that I feel that your focus remains on the job in front of you, which is to get the batsman out, and by remaining focussed on that you will keep the 'arousal' factor that AndrewBourne is talking about even if you're getting boomed.

One thing I don't recommend is concentrating on too many things to do with your action, some key things like a batsman does with a trigger movement but no more. If you are heavily reliant on concetrating on numerous thing with your action you're just a short step from developing the yips.
 
leftie600 said:
For me TonyM's #1 sums it up, you dictate the terms and it is your job to set the scene. Beyond that it is important to keep reassessing and revaluating your gameplan based on what's happened, without going crazy of course.

Something I try and teach when coaching is for the bowler to forget about why you've been hit to the fence but what that means from here on in for you to execute your plan, by that I mean:

1. Is there something from the way the batsman played that shot that tells you about how the batsman plays? (insight into how to get him/her out)
2. Looking at where the ball was hit, is a field change actually required? (remembering of course that you don't set fields for rubbish bowling)
etc.

By doing that I feel that your focus remains on the job in front of you, which is to get the batsman out, and by remaining focussed on that you will keep the 'arousal' factor that AndrewBourne is talking about even if you're getting boomed.

One thing I don't recommend is concentrating on too many things to do with your action, some key things like a batsman does with a trigger movement but no more. If you are heavily reliant on concetrating on numerous thing with your action you're just a short step from developing the yips.
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The last thing Leftie has mentioned is something that has effected me in the past, if you're bowling and thinking about even one aspect of your action it starts to get in the way. Macca made a good point a few months back, my best bowling came about when I simply bowled using what was a very unorthodox action, it worked for me with 3 games back to back getting 4 -fers. Once I started looking at my action and correcting it to prevent injury, things have in the short term gone backwards.
 
practicing today in the nets(i have shifted and joined a club leaving my backyard)well bowling to the batsman.some batsman do attack and play.i bowled googly,topspin,legspin but still he was hitting every ball.bowled a zooter and he got bowled round the legs and after that he started playing every ball every variation respect fully.one more batsman was hitting every ball.i just bowled a straighter ball just threw it.and mistakenly it drifting and turned and the batsman got shocked and was bowled.after that he was not hitting.well other batsman,i can get them out very easily...........:cool:
 
Shivam_ipl said:
practicing today in the nets(i have shifted and joined a club leaving my backyard)well bowling to the batsman.some batsman do attack and play.i bowled googly,topspin,legspin but still he was hitting every ball.bowled a zooter and he got bowled round the legs and after that he started playing every ball every variation respect fully.one more batsman was hitting every ball.i just bowled a straighter ball just threw it.and mistakenly it drifting and turned and the batsman got shocked and was bowled.after that he was not hitting.well other batsman,i can get them out very easily...........:cool:
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Bowling the batsman, the best psychological weapon of all! :D This all goes back to just having faith in your bowling and your variations, even if a batsman can pick your deliveries it doesn't mean it's going to do what he/she thinks.
 
So far it seems that I'm our teams best bowler and I've been thinking about what's different this year. I think it might be down to a psychology thing and something both Terry Jenner and Warne have talked about in the past. One of the things they've both advised in the past is having faith in your leg-spinner and giving the bloke a chance. Shane Warne puts it in a different way and is primarily talking about kids when he says "You need a lot of love from everyone because sometimes it can be embarrassing". Our 4ths team this year is different and there's one key player who I have a lot of respect for (Batsman) who actually takes time out to give you snippets of advice. When I say 'you' I actually mean me specifically because as a rule no-one ever offers me any advice, but this bloke Mike Blerkom does. I think having this bloke in the team has made a significant difference, he also does stints as a wicket keeper and his son is a wicket keeper and he just generally seems to know a lot about the game. A couple of weeks ago he kept to my bowling and he did something that I've not had done since my days at Grays under Neil Samwell. He came down the wicket and had a chat about my bowling saying that I should bowl a bit faster (My medium speed method) as it was more effective. Whilst this might not sound like much, it is significantly different to the wicket keeper cursing and swearing and going on about his byes and leg byes and giving the impression that he thinks I'm an utter joke. As a consequence, I've felt far more at ease when bowling and as a result my bowling has been a lot better this year and last night my older son Ben was at a do with the captain and he also said that he was really impressed with my bowling so far this year. So at the moment I'm feeling that team confidence in me and it seems to be having a positive influence. Whether I can sustain it or not remains to be seen, but I do seems to be bowling well and feeling as though I'm the real deal rather than a complete learner.
 
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