Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

Still bowling well in practice scenarios, I've been re-writing bits of my legspin blog and the bit I'm working on at the minute I'm discussing the need to get off on a good start right from the outset, whereas I'm sure we're all aware, if we bowl 2 poor overs we can kiss a long spell goodbye unless we take 2 or three wickets in the 3rd over. I watched a youtube video last night where Joe Denly and Michael Vaughn talk about Warnes field when he starts off his spell, and they reckon that he sets his initial field in such a way to account for getting smacked about a bit till he gets settled. That's one way of dealing with the initial wayward balls, but does anyone else consistently start out right on the money when they bowl and if they do - what's the secret?
 
I'd probably have to say confidence is the main thing. Keeping the fingers working in the overs coming up to when id bowl, making sure i got my hand on the ball a few times throughout the innings - and instead of tossing it on i'd bowl it lightly on the full to the next guy. I say confidence because that was the main thing ray bright stressed to me, and looking back i was basically certain that i would come in and bowl on the spot. I remember one day thinking to myself "im not going to bowl well today" and i'm sure you can guess the outcome.. horrible! Warney himself says he just removed all thoughts from his mind and focused on nothing but where the ball was going to land, not thinking about his action as he bowled.

The days i can remember being on the spot from ball 1 were all when i was simply confident, which really does come from having accuracy - you might find you can do this accurate from ball 1 more often in the nets than in match situations, i think this is the reason warney was so good - no matter the pressure of the situation, or the field set - he bowled his best. My confidence nowadays isn't as good simply because i get a mixture of releases out of my fingers which results in a few bad ones. It's a hard thing to build up i think.. you should read the recent interview from harbajan on cricinfo admitting some very similar issues with bowling and confidence levels. I'll post it in the links thread
 
what's happenin dudes ? We have had a break from cricket but my young bloke will have to trial for the 1sts again this year although i think the coach might keep the same side that won last years comp.

Had a good session this arvo so here we go again.
 
what's happenin dudes ? We have had a break from cricket but my young bloke will have to trial for the 1sts again this year although i think the coach might keep the same side that won last years comp.

Had a good session this arvo so here we go again.

Good to see you back Macca, thought we'd lost you! It's been quiet on here for a while, but there's a few new blokes chipping in which is good. Jim's got back issues and is busy with his work, so he's not been getting a game and his indoor game has had a negative impact on his bowling as I recall. Spiderlounge is having a nightmare with his season. I've only played 2 games this season so far, but because of my on-going knee issues I've not been that fussed about that and I seem to recall I got a lot more games towards the end of the season last year, so that may happen again, but if it don't I may be looking at changing clubs again, because if it wasn't for my knee I'd be gutted to have had only 2 games so far!

I'm currently doing a survey on here where I'm looking at the ratio of how wickets are taken and it looks like more than 66% of a wrist spinners wickets are gained through catches, what's your thoughts on that?
 
Played against former Pakistan Test cricketer Hasan Raza ( http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/40378.html) I bowled a bunch of rubbish balls in between some good stuff at him. He was unhurried, but didn't seem intent on putting away the bad balls either. Guess it was just the stage of the game when he felt he couldn't take a chance. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the match as they left almost immediately.
To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by his batting and even though he made 73 (76), it didn't seem like the chasm between top players in our league and him was all that wide. Only difference is I guess temperamental.

Anyway the scorecard for that game is up at :
http://www.midwestcricket.org/newweb/asp/Score88.asp?id=4435

We had a second leggie in the team too - He bowled very well got 8-0-30-3 Two caught from long off and one at cover (All three skiers)
 
Played against former Pakistan Test cricketer Hasan Raza ( http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/40378.html) I bowled a bunch of rubbish balls in between some good stuff at him. He was unhurried, but didn't seem intent on putting away the bad balls either. Guess it was just the stage of the game when he felt he couldn't take a chance. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the match as they left almost immediately.
To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by his batting and even though he made 73 (76), it didn't seem like the chasm between top players in our league and him was all that wide. Only difference is I guess temperamental.

Anyway the scorecard for that game is up at :
http://www.midwestcricket.org/newweb/asp/Score88.asp?id=4435

We had a second leggie in the team too - He bowled very well got 8-0-30-3 Two caught from long off and one at cover (All three skiers)

I'll add your mates catches to the wickets thread, it's obvious that catches are the key to a spinners success.
 
Good to see you back Macca, thought we'd lost you! It's been quiet on here for a while, but there's a few new blokes chipping in which is good. Jim's got back issues and is busy with his work, so he's not been getting a game and his indoor game has had a negative impact on his bowling as I recall. Spiderlounge is having a nightmare with his season. I've only played 2 games this season so far, but because of my on-going knee issues I've not been that fussed about that and I seem to recall I got a lot more games towards the end of the season last year, so that may happen again, but if it don't I may be looking at changing clubs again, because if it wasn't for my knee I'd be gutted to have had only 2 games so far!

I'm currently doing a survey on here where I'm looking at the ratio of how wickets are taken and it looks like more than 66% of a wrist spinners wickets are gained through catches, what's your thoughts on that?

just had computer probs, thats all.

time for my young bloke to really get back into full on bowling because he will have to trial for the 1sts again this year. Pretty sure he will make it but you just never know.

with catches you know a lot of soft catches, so called, are the results of previous good tight bowling. Like a baseball pitcher you have always got credit for skied catches and mishits for age old reasons, like it is a very old thing isn't it ?
 
I'm flirting with the dark side now. Got hit on my spinning finger while keeping last weekend. Apparently the ligament on the second knuckle has taken a hit and while bowling it is unable to take as much pressure and consequently I'm unable to bowl at my best. Our team also lacks any medium pacing options, so for this weekend's match I will be bowling medium- I don't know how fast I am, but one of our batsmen played me yesterday and mentioned that I didn't give the batsmen any time to play a shot if I'm bowling short of good length. So, thats what I will do for this weekend. Hopefully it won't hurt my leg spin as it is a completely different action altogether, not to mention I really sprint in, instead of the walk I'm used to.
 
I'm flirting with the dark side now. Got hit on my spinning finger while keeping last weekend. Apparently the ligament on the second knuckle has taken a hit and while bowling it is unable to take as much pressure and consequently I'm unable to bowl at my best. Our team also lacks any medium pacing options, so for this weekend's match I will be bowling medium- I don't know how fast I am, but one of our batsmen played me yesterday and mentioned that I didn't give the batsmen any time to play a shot if I'm bowling short of good length. So, thats what I will do for this weekend. Hopefully it won't hurt my leg spin as it is a completely different action altogether, not to mention I really sprint in, instead of the walk I'm used to.

Bowl 'em out of the back of your hand - fast wrong uns, you may be one of those very rare fast spinners!
 
Bowl 'em out of the back of your hand - fast wrong uns, you may be one of those very rare fast spinners!

I was very tempted to do that yesterday itself, but I won't for two reasons - 1) the strain it puts on my shoulder. 2) I got over my googly syndrome only last year, I don't want to have to work one year to get my turn back. For now, I'm bowling fast off cutters, maybe mix a few leg cutters in and chuck em as fast as I can. Ofcourse, putting all the body mechanics that Dr.Tran taught us here actually helped me get up in pace.
 
I was very tempted to do that yesterday itself, but I won't for two reasons - 1) the strain it puts on my shoulder. 2) I got over my googly syndrome only last year, I don't want to have to work one year to get my turn back. For now, I'm bowling fast off cutters, maybe mix a few leg cutters in and chuck em as fast as I can. Ofcourse, putting all the body mechanics that Dr.Tran taught us here actually helped me get up in pace.
Probably best not to then if you've had the Googly syndrome!
 
Macca, what's that stuff you put on your finger/blisters to help prevent the blister problems or heal it faster?

I've used manuka honey that healed things up really quickly. Calamine lotion has also been suggested.

Btw my dibbly-dobblies were quite effective- got 8-0-26-1 which should have been 8-0-21-3 really. But, I'm back to bowling legbreaks this week as my spinning finger has regained strength and I should be able to start from tomorrow
 
Gday guys,
Its been a while since I have been on here. With work and no internet at home I just don't get the time.
I see from you all on here that you are having varying degrees of sucess.
In the last three months I have been working doubly hard on my bowling and getting ready for the upcoming season here in Australia. Ive been training every day for an hour and 3 to 4 hours every day on the weekends.
I finally cracked and said Right! if Im going to be any good at this spin bowling lark I have to really put in some serious effort.
Every minute at home I m spinnig the ball, getting the release right and consistant, and driving my Mrs nuts. Ive trained in the freezing cold and in the rain. I cover the pitch in the nets so its reasonably dry each day to bowl on and really just made a big effort to keep training. Not that its that hard because I love it.
Secondly I went back through all the fundamentals of my bowling and watching Warne bowl. The main point was my transfer of weight and once I got that right the difference was amazing. Quite a few other things have followed on from that, that have added more improvement.
Ive been bowling consistly well and accurately for 3 weeks now without losing it which is what has happened before. I feel like I am really on the cusp of finally becoming a leg spin bowler, and more importantly becoming confident that I can bowl well.
The other massive thing which I urge you all to do is buy some decent balls that are red and white, or whatever colour so you can easily see what you are bowling. I bought 6 Gray Nic balls for $20 each. I immediatly saw where I was going wrong and had I bought these 6 months ago I would be so much more advanced in terms of wrist position and release. If the balls were $50 each I reckon they would still have been I bargain for me.
Lastly, I'm just bowling the leg break. Thats all. Until I can bowl that well every time thats all Ill do. Boring but I am trying really hard to just be focused on that.
60 days til the season starts and I cant wait.
 
Gday guys,
Its been a while since I have been on here. With work and no internet at home I just don't get the time.
I see from you all on here that you are having varying degrees of sucess.
In the last three months I have been working doubly hard on my bowling and getting ready for the upcoming season here in Australia. Ive been training every day for an hour and 3 to 4 hours every day on the weekends.
I finally cracked and said Right! if Im going to be any good at this spin bowling lark I have to really put in some serious effort.
Every minute at home I m spinnig the ball, getting the release right and consistant, and driving my Mrs nuts. Ive trained in the freezing cold and in the rain. I cover the pitch in the nets so its reasonably dry each day to bowl on and really just made a big effort to keep training. Not that its that hard because I love it.
Secondly I went back through all the fundamentals of my bowling and watching Warne bowl. The main point was my transfer of weight and once I got that right the difference was amazing. Quite a few other things have followed on from that, that have added more improvement.
Ive been bowling consistly well and accurately for 3 weeks now without losing it which is what has happened before. I feel like I am really on the cusp of finally becoming a leg spin bowler, and more importantly becoming confident that I can bowl well.
The other massive thing which I urge you all to do is buy some decent balls that are red and white, or whatever colour so you can easily see what you are bowling. I bought 6 Gray Nic balls for $20 each. I immediatly saw where I was going wrong and had I bought these 6 months ago I would be so much more advanced in terms of wrist position and release. If the balls were $50 each I reckon they would still have been I bargain for me.
Lastly, I'm just bowling the leg break. Thats all. Until I can bowl that well every time thats all Ill do. Boring but I am trying really hard to just be focused on that.
60 days til the season starts and I cant wait.
Ben, this transfer of weight is this where you get up on to your toes in the bowling action? I doubt if you've had much time if you're in an internet cafe to look through everything, but like you my bowlings gone through some fundamental changes, some of the changes have been picked up on here, but some of the finer tweaks have come through uploading my videos to siliconcoach, where Liz and a couple of blokes that I don't think you know have been commenting and analysing what I'm doing and making some suggestions with the aid of graphics that they and you are able to draw onto your frozen video frames from your videos. Another bloke on here a month or so back wrote some big pieces on different aspects of bowing some of which I initially was sceptical about, but then when I tried some of it it worked out really well, the main point being that 'Arm speed' was important and as a result my 'Arm speed' has increased and is more explosive. With his suggestion and some ideas about getting up on the toes and getting tall I'm now seeing drift and dip, which I've been after for years and not been able to produce all that coupled with the fact that my bound is coming together nicely.
 
Ben, this transfer of weight is this where you get up on to your toes in the bowling action? I doubt if you've had much time if you're in an internet cafe to look through everything, but like you my bowlings gone through some fundamental changes, some of the changes have been picked up on here, but some of the finer tweaks have come through uploading my videos to siliconcoach, where Liz and a couple of blokes that I don't think you know have been commenting and analysing what I'm doing and making some suggestions with the aid of graphics that they and you are able to draw onto your frozen video frames from your videos. Another bloke on here a month or so back wrote some big pieces on different aspects of bowing some of which I initially was sceptical about, but then when I tried some of it it worked out really well, the main point being that 'Arm speed' was important and as a result my 'Arm speed' has increased and is more explosive. With his suggestion and some ideas about getting up on the toes and getting tall I'm now seeing drift and dip, which I've been after for years and not been able to produce all that coupled with the fact that my bound is coming together nicely.

Hey Dave, I don't really have time to go into details here sorry. Hopefully I get the internet up and running in the next week or two here and I can get back on to big cricket more often. My bowling is going bloody brilliant at the moment and I really want to share what I have found in the hope it may help others on here. I'm thinking of trying to make some videos to explain it all if I can as it takes ages writing it down and even then it can be confusing.
Im so excited about the upcoming season here if I can maintain my good form. Im hitting the spot most of the time and its all come down to consistency of my action which is finally where I want it, give or take a few minor tweaks and through just hours of practice.
I'm just so satisfied that after 2 years or more of constant practice its starting to pay off because 6 months or so ago I wasn't so sure Id ever make it as a leggie.
 
Hey Dave, I don't really have time to go into details here sorry. Hopefully I get the internet up and running in the next week or two here and I can get back on to big cricket more often. My bowling is going bloody brilliant at the moment and I really want to share what I have found in the hope it may help others on here. I'm thinking of trying to make some videos to explain it all if I can as it takes ages writing it down and even then it can be confusing.
Im so excited about the upcoming season here if I can maintain my good form. Im hitting the spot most of the time and its all come down to consistency of my action which is finally where I want it, give or take a few minor tweaks and through just hours of practice.
I'm just so satisfied that after 2 years or more of constant practice its starting to pay off because 6 months or so ago I wasn't so sure Id ever make it as a leggie.

Chippy I'm in the same boat, my bowling after 6 years has suddenly all come together and I'm bowling like I've never bowled before - accurate with, dip, spin and drift and the ball turns off the pitch viciously and guess what - I get a sore finger which kind of for me indicates I'm doing it correctly. And I'm taking wickets!!!

Totally new action as well, videos are the order of the day, but so little time at the minute.
 
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