Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

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Our team has started indoor winter nets but I am finding it hard to be motivated to go. Bowling 30 balls in a session just doesn't do it for me when I can go to the outdoor nets and bowl five times as many without a batsman in the way. Only reason to go would be to get feedback on progress and say hello to the guys.

I've enjoyed having a bit of a break from all this over the darkest period of the year and think I'll be fresh when restarting.
 
Indoor net session bowling is part of my preparation. Bowling on my own is to groove the action. Bowling in the nets with a batter looking to slog is to practice keeping calm when there are a lot more things going on (run ups next to you/balls flying through the air - they are all distractions you need to filter out). Its akin to coming in to a 'set' batsmen halfway through an innings.

When I was doing seam bowling I would sometimes also ask someone to stand in the umpire position just to make sure I was used to that during my run up. Sure its not totally realistic as its not consequences based but you can still focus and make the session useful. You are correct that you would still need to practice on your own time as well, but there are social niceties you have to engage with as well. Getting time on the field can be a lot easier if you show up, fit in with the team (plenty of good cricketers who just don't seem to 'fit in' to the National teams but who have the skills) and if you can bowl a few good deliveries you can start to make a good reputation. In nets, just like people don't remember how many times you were bowled when batting, they don't remember the dodgy deliveries, just the good ones that turned a mile.

Maybe its different with the teams you play for but I still get some good value out of team nets. I'm not good enough for it to worry my ego if someone starts smashing it. I'll focus on execution (did I hit my line and length, did it turn) before looking at the outcomes. In the nets I'd rather bowl a good ball that does what I intended than a bad one that hits the stumps.
 
MagicDave said:
Indoor net session bowling is part of my preparation. Bowling on my own is to groove the action. Bowling in the nets with a batter looking to slog is to practice keeping calm when there are a lot more things going on (run ups next to you/balls flying through the air - they are all distractions you need to filter out). Its akin to coming in to a 'set' batsmen halfway through an innings.

When I was doing seam bowling I would sometimes also ask someone to stand in the umpire position just to make sure I was used to that during my run up. Sure its not totally realistic as its not consequences based but you can still focus and make the session useful. You are correct that you would still need to practice on your own time as well, but there are social niceties you have to engage with as well. Getting time on the field can be a lot easier if you show up, fit in with the team (plenty of good cricketers who just don't seem to 'fit in' to the National teams but who have the skills) and if you can bowl a few good deliveries you can start to make a good reputation. In nets, just like people don't remember how many times you were bowled when batting, they don't remember the dodgy deliveries, just the good ones that turned a mile.

Maybe its different with the teams you play for but I still get some good value out of team nets. I'm not good enough for it to worry my ego if someone starts smashing it. I'll focus on execution (did I hit my line and length, did it turn) before looking at the outcomes. In the nets I'd rather bowl a good ball that does what I intended than a bad one that hits the stumps.
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Absolutely. The entire point of playing cricket is to be part of a team. If you never practice with your teammates, they're never going to be particularly interested in playing with you. They'll pick a dodgy player who at least actually turns up and interacts ahead of a talented bowler who is a bit aloof and prefers to practice by himself, every time.

Even if we forget about the team player bit, the entire point of bowling, especially spin bowling, is to pit your wits and test your skills against a batsman. That contest of bowler vs batsman IS what cricket is all about. Cricket is not a solo activity.
 
boogiespinner said:
Our team has started indoor winter nets but I am finding it hard to be motivated to go. Bowling 30 balls in a session just doesn't do it for me when I can go to the outdoor nets and bowl five times as many without a batsman in the way. Only reason to go would be to get feedback on progress and say hello to the guys.

I've enjoyed having a bit of a break from all this over the darkest period of the year and think I'll be fresh when restarting.
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Do you ever actually intend to progress to bowling in nets and games with a full bowling action, or are you just going to continue to bowl 8 billion balls against a wall off one step until you permanently injure your shoulder and have to retire?
 
MagicDave said:
Tagged along to my first net of the year - and first ever bowling spin. Went about as well as might be expected for an indoor net (took a while to find my rhythm, balls flying everywhere as the batter looks to slog).

Was the first time I have ever seen a spin carpet. We 'bagsied' the spare lane next to us after the spin lessons for the youngsters finished. On the track was a felt sheet with a load of dimples on the surface. The best way I can describe it is a bit like those clear plastic carpet protectors - but made of a hard-wearing felt material. It certainly made a big difference to the surface. Balls could really turn on that - although the bounce was still pretty high in comparison the wickets I have played on.

Plenty to work on but if I can get into the rhythm I had at the end of the session, from the start of a session, I'll be happy to take that into a game. I still have 4 months before the first fixtures so hopefully still time to refine things and be ready.
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I don't know about you, but I always find stopping to bat really messes up my bowling rhythm - for one thing, batting in nets is absolutely shattering, especially if you are up against some quick bowlers, and its hard to bowl with the same energy immediately after having a bat.

I always find the best bet is to try to bat right at the start of the session, then have a 10 minute break, and then a long uninterrupted bowling stint.
 
I can't say about it messing up my bowling rhythm? Not something I have noticed yet. I know that fatigue would previously tend to set in by the end of a session when I was bowling seam and that's common with everyone I play against. We bought a couple of those sidearm dog throwers to give people a break pretty much for that reason (expect 15 minutes of solo practice before using against a batsman though as the length can be tricky to get sorted).

But, yes, I do prefer to be batting first or second (and would tend to turn up early to help set up in order to get the chance to go in first). At my level you tend to get the best bowling at the end of the first batsman's spell or start of the second batsman's spell. The energy is highest and the initial wayward balls are out of the way. By the time the third guy goes in you start to see fatigue setting in and people rubbing shoulders and elbows and its nowhere near the same standard whey you are facing.
 
MagicDave said:
I can't say about it messing up my bowling rhythm? Not something I have noticed yet. I know that fatigue would previously tend to set in by the end of a session when I was bowling seam and that's common with everyone I play against. We bought a couple of those sidearm dog throwers to give people a break pretty much for that reason (expect 15 minutes of solo practice before using against a batsman though as the length can be tricky to get sorted).

But, yes, I do prefer to be batting first or second (and would tend to turn up early to help set up in order to get the chance to go in first). At my level you tend to get the best bowling at the end of the first batsman's spell or start of the second batsman's spell. The energy is highest and the initial wayward balls are out of the way. By the time the third guy goes in you start to see fatigue setting in and people rubbing shoulders and elbows and its nowhere near the same standard whey you are facing.
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We normally have 10-15 at nets, which means 5-7 pairs of batsmen. As you say, the best bowling is early on, in the first 30-40 minutes. The last few pairs really do face a right load of old dross. Spinners trying to bowl bouncers, seamers bowling spin, the wicket keeper lobbing some down... Generally it will be 2nd XI tail enders in by this point, so they probably don't want to be facing the 1st XI opening bowlers anyway.
 
SLA said:
Do you ever actually intend to progress to bowling in nets and games with a full bowling action, or are you just going to continue to bowl 8 billion balls against a wall off one step until you permanently injure your shoulder and have to retire?
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We already discussed this, I intend to play for England! So I will practice accordingly.

Happy new year to you
 
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SLA said:
I don't know about you, but I always find stopping to bat really messes up my bowling rhythm - for one thing, batting in nets is absolutely shattering, especially if you are up against some quick bowlers, and its hard to bowl with the same energy immediately after having a bat.

I always find the best bet is to try to bat right at the start of the session, then have a 10 minute break, and then a long uninterrupted bowling stint.
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That's exactly what I do, much rather face the ferocity of fresh bowlers - it's potentially nearer the experience I have to face when going out into the middle at no.10 or 11.
 
Don't know if anyone else is following Ben Williams on youtube?

But he has put up some really nice videos recently - ostensibly on running a coaching session - that culminate in some interesting games. The idea is that he creates a fictional player and then gets his student to pick a field and pick a target to hit with his bowling. The bit about this I like is that it moves on that little bit from just bowling at a target to become a bit more meditated. Kind of - 'don't just hit the target but work out where the target should be before you even start'. And then he talks about consequences from each delivery. Its a simple but nice idea to incorporate.

Here is his leg spin tutorial:

and similar thing for off-spin:

He goes through the strategy a bit longer in the off spin tutorial so thats worth watching even for the leggies.

Also interesting is the kneeling leg spin warm up for the variations. Wondering why kneeling rather than the standing Beau Casson style drill?
 
MagicDave said:
Also interesting is the kneeling leg spin warm up for the variations. Wondering why kneeling rather than the standing Beau Casson style drill?
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I think I tried it once, but struggled to find value in it as I needed some more freedom to rotate. But looking again, I didn't have my legs set up as in that video so maybe that was upsetting things. I think one thing is that it is practicing off a short distance and the result looks pleasing, like a regular delivery just on a small scale. If you do the same slow technical practice from 12 yards, from a full height, just standing, it does look a bit weird and people might think you are strange. I don't have a problem with the latter myself.
 
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Watching it again, my guess is that by kneeling, you are putting the focus into warming up the wrist and the shoulder without putting too much explosive energy through too early. Bearing in mind he has already done drills to warm up the legs so its now a case of warming up the upper body. Its clearly just a warm up drill rather than something to spend much time on and I'm speculating that by restricting the hip movement you stop an athlete from attempting to bowl full out before he has had a chance to warm up the joints.
 
MagicDave said:
Watching it again, my guess is that by kneeling, you are putting the focus into warming up the wrist and the shoulder without putting too much explosive energy through too early. Bearing in mind he has already done drills to warm up the legs so its now a case of warming up the upper body. Its clearly just a warm up drill rather than something to spend much time on and I'm speculating that by restricting the hip movement you stop an athlete from attempting to bowl full out before he has had a chance to warm up the joints.
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Yes, we do these drills with our kids, and the point is to try to simplify things as much as possible, to reduce the number of moving parts and things that can go wrong, to fix them in the right body position (side on for leg spin, front on for offspin) so that it is easier for the kids to at least just get the ball spinning in vaguely the right direction, just so they get the feel for the ball coming out of their hand with spin on it and then seeing it move off the pitch.

Using it in warmups, its designed to encourage the players to remember how the ball is supposed to feel coming out of the hand when released correctly before he starts trying to bowl with a full action. Again, its just about building muscle memory - make sure they get the wrist and fingers right, and then build to full bowling action.

As you might expect, this is something that would incorporate 50-100% of the session for a complete beginner as we try to get that muscle memory locked in. For an experienced bowler, its something you might do for half an hour at the start of the season after a long break, and then maybe just a dozen times at the start of a net session. You don't necessarily need to be on your knees at this point - at the start of a net session I might warm up by throwing the ball against the wall a few times with different angles of spin just to remind myself of the feel for it.
 
MagicDave said:
Don't know if anyone else is following Ben Williams on youtube?

But he has put up some really nice videos recently - ostensibly on running a coaching session - that culminate in some interesting games. The idea is that he creates a fictional player and then gets his student to pick a field and pick a target to hit with his bowling. The bit about this I like is that it moves on that little bit from just bowling at a target to become a bit more meditated. Kind of - 'don't just hit the target but work out where the target should be before you even start'. And then he talks about consequences from each delivery. Its a simple but nice idea to incorporate.

Here is his leg spin tutorial:

and similar thing for off-spin:

He goes through the strategy a bit longer in the off spin tutorial so thats worth watching even for the leggies.

Also interesting is the kneeling leg spin warm up for the variations. Wondering why kneeling rather than the standing Beau Casson style drill?
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Yeah I like his vids and he answers all your questions, he's a good bloke.
 
Hi all, hope everyone is well. Started pre season this last couple of weeks and have so far been doing well, only problem I have encountered so far is bowling a bit leg side, but when I step back and relax more and dont rush through my action im more accurate. Plus a huge thing for me that has helped is that I appear to be presenting the seam and have more control spin wise than I have done previous seasons. There is a video on my channel but it isnt the best quality as I didnt realise my GoPro would look so far away, but you can still see the ball (just) and also the follow through and rotation, which is also much better.

 
I had my first team net at the weekend too (and only second of the year).

Slightly dispiriting as I had thought my accuracy was getting sorted but what doesn't look so bad against a static target can be pretty poor against a moving target. On top of that the pressure then built each time I came to bowl and I had plenty of time in between delivery slots to build more pressure on myself. Not the most fun of experiences when you aren't on form.

However, I'll definitely be going to the next session. Being able to perform with the distractions going on either side of you and each ball you bowl feeling like the first one of your over is a skill I NEED to be able conquer. Its eye opening about my accuracy but on the back of that I got some chalk out to narrow down my target area and actually, my acceptable target area in practice before was just too generous.

Its not the same pressure as match pressure but if I can start to perform in a busy net session its a step in the right direction. Glad I went even if it did expose my technique. At least I know what I need to do to reach the next stage now.
 
TomBowler97 said:
Hi all, hope everyone is well. Started pre season this last couple of weeks and have so far been doing well, only problem I have encountered so far is bowling a bit leg side, but when I step back and relax more and dont rush through my action im more accurate. Plus a huge thing for me that has helped is that I appear to be presenting the seam and have more control spin wise than I have done previous seasons. There is a video on my channel but it isnt the best quality as I didnt realise my GoPro would look so far away, but you can still see the ball (just) and also the follow through and rotation, which is also much better.
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It's looking pretty good. You're getting more of a rotation in that you used to. You are tending to move towards legside a bit too much though. That is possibly why some balls of going legside. If you could get that follow through more towards the target, it should help.
 
Cleanprophet said:
It's looking pretty good. You're getting more of a rotation in that you used to. You are tending to move towards legside a bit too much though. That is possibly why some balls of going legside. If you could get that follow through more towards the target, it should help.
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This is the only problem I have found so far, the tendency to throw it down leg side, not sure how to stop this happening, do I go wider of the crease? I am not sure without changing things.
 
TomBowler97 said:
This is the only problem I have found so far, the tendency to throw it down leg side, not sure how to stop this happening, do I go wider of the crease? I am not sure without changing things.
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You release the ball before your upper body has rotated fully. Maybe you could try using that front arm a bit more to help the upper body rotation speed up a little bit. This should help you follow through more at the target.
 
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