Swing Bowling help - Left handed bowler.

karan000

New Member
Swing Bowling help - Left handed bowler.

Hi there,

I'm a left handed bowler, Bowling Over the wicket and bowl between 95-105kmph,

The question is how do I make the ball swing in (mainly) or swing out.

I have read a number of instructions but I jut don't seem to understand,

It's said that to bowl an in-swinger I must position the ball on the right side of the right hand batter, towards leg slip.

The problem is that being a left hander, and bowling over the wicket, If I was to place/aim the ball at the leg side of the batter the ball would only swing even further to the batters leg side which would either make the ball a wide or be easily hit for runs.

So is there another method to bowl in-swing?

Currently, This is how I bowl :

crick1.jpg



When I finally get the ball to swing :

circk2.jpg



Its hard for me to bowl out side the line of off stump and make the ball come back towards the stumps... I do a bowl like that once every 1 or 2 games (not very often :(), So for the past year I've just been using my pace and bowling at the stumps.

But before that, when I used to bowl around the wicket to right handers I was able to make the ball move into the right handers off stump and get more amount of wickets....


So how do I make the ball swing in to the right hander in an easier way?

Is there a way I can make it more effective than just having to bowl around the wicket?

Thanks in advance :)
(Btw, I'm kid so I might be doing some things wrong with my bowling methods haha)
 
Re: Swing Bowling help - Left handed bowler.

well when i used to bowl i was always taught not to actually bowl to a direction but rather to angle the seam to the slips for an outswinger or to fine leg for an inswinger... dunno could help cause it worked for me. good luck.
 
Re: Swing Bowling help - Left handed bowler.

it sounds like youre misunderstanding how swing bowling works a bit.

firstly, the ball ideally needs to have a shiny side and a rough side, and on a new ball it is very important to keep the shiny side as smooth as possible.

secondly, you need to position the ball correctly in the hand. the ball will swing in the opposite direction to the shiny side. so to bowl inswing to a right hander you need the shiny side on the left. you then need to angle the seam towards leg slip in your hand, but keep the seam upright. you then just bowl your normal line, you dont bowl a different line, youre confusing the seam angle with the bowling line here. its only the seam position that really matters. for away swing you put the shiny side on the right and angle the seam towards 1st slip.

thirdly, you need to keep the seam upright in the delivery. this is the hardest part that most people struggle with. there are various methods that people subscribe to (wrist position, grip, etc), but it doesnt matter how you hold the ball or how you bowl it, all that matters is that the seam stays upright. get yourself one of those practice balls with one side red and the other side yellow. its easier to see what youre doing then. your target is to keep the seam upright!! if you dont then it wont swing. how you achieve it is just experimentation. have a read on the internet for how the pros do it, there are quite a few guides out there.

with regards the line you bowl, just bowl your normal line. if you get the ball swinging then you can adjust it.

there is a kid at my club who bowls fast left arm, and as far as ive seen he doesnt swing the ball much. against adults he is ok, nothing amazing, but very good for his age. he probably bowls up around the 70mph mark at a guess, hes quick! but against kids he causes them huge problems. he bowls from over the wicket, and almost all of the other kids are right handed batsmen, and he bowls a full length at middle stump (e.g. straight at their legs, just short of a yorker length). its so difficult to play against. if you stand on your stumps like normal then youve got to play across the line of the ball, which brings LBW into play (some players are good off their pads, these are the only kids who can play him well from what ive seen). if you step off the stumps to free yourself up to drive the ball then if you miss it youre clean bowled. and because its always on a full length that brings more difficulty into playing a shot.

if i was left handed id probably favour this line having seen how effective it is at club level. the problem with left handed in-swing is that your basic line is always missing the stumps, so your only chance of getting someone out is caught or an inside edge onto the stumps. away swing would be more useful, and if you keep the ball on a good to full length inline with the stumps then you could cause huge problems for batsmen. and even if the ball doesnt swing, its still going to be difficult to play against.
 
Re: Swing Bowling help - Left handed bowler.

I've seen bowlers with the perfect seam position, with the perfect ball, in the perfect conditions, not swing it...

I have seen baseball players swing the ball with nought but the rotation of the ball.

What science you believe is up to you. But my advice to you is to listen to what has been said by convention wisdom.

YouTube - Cloverdale Cricket Masterclass Fast Bowling tips 1

That youtube link will pretty much set you up for everything you need.

In case you didn't understand that video -- emphasis on in case -- its all about learning how to bowl with an upright seam for a straight ball that can seam, then learning how to tilt that seam slightly toward the on or off side, or respectively in or away from the batsman. That tilt gives you swing.

Going the step further, when you bowl that swinging delivery, really try to rip it with your fingers. You know you are "ripping" when you feel a slight burn on your fingers, caused by the seam of the ball. When you rip the ball, if you can keep the seam in a stable upright position then you know you have the correct technique.

Going even further, when you bowl that swinging delivery, bowl it as late as you can. This increases the amount of time the ball is in your hand as you deliver, which increases the amount of time the ball has "ripping" force applied to it by your hand, and hence increases the overall "rip" and the theoretically the overall swing you may perceive.

And to be EVEN nicer, for in-swing... put your arms in your lap. Look at them. See your elbow? You have the inside of your elbow and then the uglier outside of the elbow. When you bowl, and when you bring your arm past your ear have the inside of your elbow point to the batsman. This will mean the outside of your elbow points directly backwards, and your wrist and fingers pointing to the leg side. I was bowling with this action the other day -- unless it was reverse swinging with a 9 over old ball -- I got it to swing from outside offstump to just outside leg stump. Poor batsman.
 
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