Wrist Spin Bowling (part Five)

We have just had terrible weather for 4 days here, wind and heavy rain. Daylight saving started last night so the clocks have gone forward 1 hr so that is good news. Its gives me an extra hour of sunshine after work so it shouldnt be dark til 730 tonight.
You just have to be patient with leg spin and accept for late comers like us its going to be years before you get it where you want it. I took a few videos the other day and noticed a lot of bad habits which have crept back which tallies as my bowling has become a bit more inconsistant. So now I have to work on correcting them rather than improving something else. Seems like there is about 1 and a 1/4 steps forward and 1 step back all the time but if you keep at it the little 1/4 steps start to add up.
Dave I tried to take a few videos at 1000fps with most not working out too well. I got a good one the other day but the exilim doesnt let you edit it on the camera and I don't have any editing software. So it is a long video with not much in it but I'll post it up now to let you have a look. The second delivery came out of the hand nicely, they are leg breaks but look a lot like top spinners.

Have you tried windows movie maker to edit the files or failing that 'Virtualdub' which is pretty good but still leaves you with pretty chunky sized files. With regards the FPS settings have you had a look at the 400FPS as that seems to look like a better option?

Your leg breaks looking like Toppies - that's what I'm expecting mine to look like as I get a lot of over-spin with mine, it'll be interesting to see what you got though.
 
Have you tried windows movie maker to edit the files or failing that 'Virtualdub' which is pretty good but still leaves you with pretty chunky sized files. With regards the FPS settings have you had a look at the 400FPS as that seems to look like a better option?

Your leg breaks looking like Toppies - that's what I'm expecting mine to look like as I get a lot of over-spin with mine, it'll be interesting to see what you got though.

I loaded it up to youtube but something is wrong with it. It says its playing but nothing changes with the picture. I noticed on youtube there is an editing feature. Not sure why its not working. I'll try load up some 400fps videos.

Ive managed to edit it and sort it out. There is some static on it which isnt on the camera. Ive uploaded a few others as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJ9m8sWqrQ
 
I loaded it up to youtube but something is wrong with it. It says its playing but nothing changes with the picture. I noticed on youtube there is an editing feature. Not sure why its not working. I'll try load up some 400fps videos.

Ive managed to edit it and sort it out. There is some static on it which isnt on the camera. Ive uploaded a few others as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJ9m8sWqrQ

The vids you've got uploaded, the faster full frame versions are they at the 400fps setting? They look a lot better in ways - clearer for a start, it'd be interesting to see a close up at that speed. The 1000 fps that you've got is that from the side or a slightly diagonal angle?
 
I just checked out the draw for my sons comp starting on saturday and the other teams are very stromg this season and everyone will be trying hard to win or come second and get promoted to div 1 next year.

i am reasonably happy with my sons bowling form. He has bowled really well at training. He is overpitching a little but i prefer that to underpitching. Overall he is getting a lot more drift, spin and bounce, maybe he has lost a bit in accuracy but i wont be able to tell untill he bowls in matches because he always bowls better in actual games.

In his first match he comes up against two of the biggest hitters in his age group. They are both overweight boys but they can hit the ball like grown men. He managed to get both of them out last time they met. One of them skied a catch and our best fieldsman ran a long way to grab probably the best ever catch off his bowling and he got the other one stumped. That was 2 years ago.
 
The vids you've got uploaded, the faster full frame versions are they at the 400fps setting? They look a lot better in ways - clearer for a start, it'd be interesting to see a close up at that speed. The 1000 fps that you've got is that from the side or a slightly diagonal angle?

The slow motion videos of my action from behind and side on are at 210fps. Ill try and get a 400fps video today. Its finally sunny here!! Do the videos flicker and have static when you watch them. Not sure why, they are fine on the camera.
I think your right 400fps should be good for watching the release from hand. I havent really used it because Im mainly looking at the action and it just slows it down too much for that.
The 1000fps shot is from side on so yes it really does look like top spin.
 
I just checked out the draw for my sons comp starting on saturday and the other teams are very stromg this season and everyone will be trying hard to win or come second and get promoted to div 1 next year.

i am reasonably happy with my sons bowling form. He has bowled really well at training. He is overpitching a little but i prefer that to underpitching. Overall he is getting a lot more drift, spin and bounce, maybe he has lost a bit in accuracy but i wont be able to tell untill he bowls in matches because he always bowls better in actual games.

In his first match he comes up against two of the biggest hitters in his age group. They are both overweight boys but they can hit the ball like grown men. He managed to get both of them out last time they met. One of them skied a catch and our best fieldsman ran a long way to grab probably the best ever catch off his bowling and he got the other one stumped. That was 2 years ago.

Bowling better in matches than in the nets! Thats certainly rare, especially for spinners. Its good that the comp is strong to help him improve and not become complacent.
 
Bowling better in matches than in the nets!

So far he always has, so i hope it holds true this season. Probably because he is a kid and doesn't ever place himself under pressure compared to adults. Most of his team mates are the same, they play a lot better than they train.

I am forever trying to get him to bowl in the nets like he does in matches. In a match he seems to get higher in his action and it just looks more co-ordinated.
 
We have had some good bowling sessions over the last few days, plenty of drift, spin and bounce on my sons legbreaks.

Had to knock off a bit of topspin and get his wrist set up for more legspin and now he is bowling some real beauties and landing in a nice cluster, right down the guts to righthanders and outside off to lefties.

I know though, from batting against him, that if he drops just a touch short or a little too wide he will get smashed by some of these guys he has to bowl to in this higher division this year, so its all about 'recovery'. Everbody bowls a 'bad' ball but a legspinner has to recover instantly. You can be like stuey macgill and almost allow yourself one long hop or full bunger an over, especially if you are spinning the ball hard, but the rest of the time you need to be able and 'land it in a shoebox on a good length'
 
We had our first training session tonight and Ive come away thinking we are set for a good season. The team is pretty young ,18-23 with a few of us older ones too. There is a good banter too which is always a good sign so the season should be fun.
I think batting will probably be our weakness although I think that is common with most teams at our level. There were only 2 blokes with good technique. There another two that look ok but have no patience and just want to slog everything.
Bowling wise there are a couple of guys with good pace but poor accuracy. One bloke looks really good and bowls nice away swing, but Im not sure if hes highly rated because hes not quick. Unfortunately it seems like most young blokes they think pace equals good bowling. We had fielding practice too which is a good sign that they are all keen. We had about 30 odd outfield catches and not a single catch was dropped. Then we did close catches and the catching was incredible, some of the blokes have lightning reactions and it was almost getting dangerous at one stage, but great fun.
On the downside the keeper from last season wasn't there but he is hopeless apparently which isn't good for a leggie.
I was really happy with my training too. I'm making a concious effort to improve my batting this year,especially as for the first time I won't be opening the bowling. I didnt get out once and felt solid in defence and played a couple of nice drives.

I was really nervous bowling, wanting to make an impression straight up so I get a bowl in games. I got a stumping first ball and a skyed drive to cover 3rd ball, which eased the nerves a bit. I got 8 wickets from about 30-40 balls which is amazing. About 4 were stumpings from slogs which I guess wont happen in matches as much but the other 4 were genuine edges or spooned up shots. I beat the bat another 6-7 times too. I bowled the best ball to the captain, just turning enough to take the edge which should put me in good stead.
The thing was it wasnt really ripping out of the hand or turning much but I was landing it on a good length and that was enough to trouble them. No one plays for the turn which is surprising after seeing the first few turn!!
On the other side I bowled 3 bad balls that would have gone for 4 and another 3-4 marginal balls that would have gone for a few. All in all though very satisfying.
 
We had our first training session tonight and Ive come away thinking we are set for a good season. The team is pretty young ,18-23 with a few of us older ones too. There is a good banter too which is always a good sign so the season should be fun.
I think batting will probably be our weakness although I think that is common with most teams at our level. There were only 2 blokes with good technique. There another two that look ok but have no patience and just want to slog everything.
Bowling wise there are a couple of guys with good pace but poor accuracy. One bloke looks really good and bowls nice away swing, but Im not sure if hes highly rated because hes not quick. Unfortunately it seems like most young blokes they think pace equals good bowling. We had fielding practice too which is a good sign that they are all keen. We had about 30 odd outfield catches and not a single catch was dropped. Then we did close catches and the catching was incredible, some of the blokes have lightning reactions and it was almost getting dangerous at one stage, but great fun.
On the downside the keeper from last season wasn't there but he is hopeless apparently which isn't good for a leggie.
I was really happy with my training too. I'm making a concious effort to improve my batting this year,especially as for the first time I won't be opening the bowling. I didnt get out once and felt solid in defence and played a couple of nice drives.

I was really nervous bowling, wanting to make an impression straight up so I get a bowl in games. I got a stumping first ball and a skyed drive to cover 3rd ball, which eased the nerves a bit. I got 8 wickets from about 30-40 balls which is amazing. About 4 were stumpings from slogs which I guess wont happen in matches as much but the other 4 were genuine edges or spooned up shots. I beat the bat another 6-7 times too. I bowled the best ball to the captain, just turning enough to take the edge which should put me in good stead.
The thing was it wasnt really ripping out of the hand or turning much but I was landing it on a good length and that was enough to trouble them. No one plays for the turn which is surprising after seeing the first few turn!!
On the other side I bowled 3 bad balls that would have gone for 4 and another 3-4 marginal balls that would have gone for a few. All in all though very satisfying.

Well done mate, first impressions are so important for spinners and you would have smashed them with th'at performance, they would be like, "strewth this new bloke can bowl a bit". I would also bet that form carries over to the first few games as well.
 
We have had some good bowling sessions over the last few days, plenty of drift, spin and bounce on my sons legbreaks.

Had to knock off a bit of topspin and get his wrist set up for more legspin and now he is bowling some real beauties and landing in a nice cluster, right down the guts to righthanders and outside off to lefties.

I know though, from batting against him, that if he drops just a touch short or a little too wide he will get smashed by some of these guys he has to bowl to in this higher division this year, so its all about 'recovery'. Everbody bowls a 'bad' ball but a legspinner has to recover instantly. You can be like stuey macgill and almost allow yourself one long hop or full bunger an over, especially if you are spinning the ball hard, but the rest of the time you need to be able and 'land it in a shoebox on a good length'
Macca, what do you reckon the secret is to him getting good drift?
 
We had our first training session tonight and Ive come away thinking we are set for a good season. The team is pretty young ,18-23 with a few of us older ones too. There is a good banter too which is always a good sign so the season should be fun.
I think batting will probably be our weakness although I think that is common with most teams at our level. There were only 2 blokes with good technique. There another two that look ok but have no patience and just want to slog everything.
Bowling wise there are a couple of guys with good pace but poor accuracy. One bloke looks really good and bowls nice away swing, but Im not sure if hes highly rated because hes not quick. Unfortunately it seems like most young blokes they think pace equals good bowling. We had fielding practice too which is a good sign that they are all keen. We had about 30 odd outfield catches and not a single catch was dropped. Then we did close catches and the catching was incredible, some of the blokes have lightning reactions and it was almost getting dangerous at one stage, but great fun.
On the downside the keeper from last season wasn't there but he is hopeless apparently which isn't good for a leggie.
I was really happy with my training too. I'm making a concious effort to improve my batting this year,especially as for the first time I won't be opening the bowling. I didnt get out once and felt solid in defence and played a couple of nice drives.

I was really nervous bowling, wanting to make an impression straight up so I get a bowl in games. I got a stumping first ball and a skyed drive to cover 3rd ball, which eased the nerves a bit. I got 8 wickets from about 30-40 balls which is amazing. About 4 were stumpings from slogs which I guess wont happen in matches as much but the other 4 were genuine edges or spooned up shots. I beat the bat another 6-7 times too. I bowled the best ball to the captain, just turning enough to take the edge which should put me in good stead.
The thing was it wasnt really ripping out of the hand or turning much but I was landing it on a good length and that was enough to trouble them. No one plays for the turn which is surprising after seeing the first few turn!!
On the other side I bowled 3 bad balls that would have gone for 4 and another 3-4 marginal balls that would have gone for a few. All in all though very satisfying.

Sounds good Ben, the fact that your blokes are good at catching and fielding is going to be a massive benefit and the fact that they're young and get across a lot of ground fast to catch the balls is always going to help. I've been focusing on my batting a bit and I've got a couple of shots now that I play on really safe balls. I've had almost all 'Not outs' this season batting at No.10 usually with the No.11 being a better batsman than me and he's the one that's finished the innings! I've seen a bloke through to his 100 coming it at No.3 and I had to see it out from about 87 - surviving 3 or 4 overs, so that's all given me some confidence, I'm beginning to get a bit Jimmy Anderson and it really p*****s off the bowlers when they can't get the game finished bowling at me.

Loose fast balls on the off-side I just have this little glance where I angle the bat with soft hands down in between cover and slips, if the bowlers fast the speed gets it almost to the boundary. I'm developing a shot off the legs when it's on the leg-stump, just a little flick that goes to the boundary off fast balls as well, but the best one off medium or slow bowlers is the 'Ian Bell' Paddle sweep http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZqeghVSGfA love this one, it takes people by surprise and I find it relatively easy. Can't wait till winter nets and try it out pre-season.
 
Macca, what do you reckon the secret is to him getting good drift?

Just the revs he can get on his big legbreak and utilising any breeze helps but also as I am keeping wicket at his training i can really pick it up clearly. I know his bowling back to front after countless deliveries i can tell how much it is going to turn by the drift and no drift usually heralds his topspinner.
 
I fractured my thumb while taking a caught and bowled so can't bowl for the next 5 weeks.:(. I fear i might lose my release.
You'll be alright - just take it easy, follow the doctors advice and don't bowl, it'll come back if not this season, certainly by the next season if it's a straight forward fracture.
 
Just the revs he can get on his big legbreak and utilising any breeze helps but also as I am keeping wicket at his training i can really pick it up clearly. I know his bowling back to front after countless deliveries i can tell how much it is going to turn by the drift and no drift usually heralds his topspinner.

My bowlings massively improved over this year and I've noticed exactly as you've said - if you see the drift, then expect something a bit special off the pitch, so as SLA and you've said it must be that the ball has far more side spin. Another thing I noticed tonight was that if when you bowl and you get up on the toes in the pivot, you get more bounce and turn, so then if you want to bowl something does a lot less in the case that the bats playing for the spin I found all I had to do was bowl with exactly the same action except that you don't get right up on the toes, for me tonight this mean the ball more or less went straight on.
 
My bowlings massively improved over this year and I've noticed exactly as you've said - if you see the drift, then expect something a bit special off the pitch, so as SLA and you've said it must be that the ball has far more side spin. Another thing I noticed tonight was that if when you bowl and you get up on the toes in the pivot, you get more bounce and turn, so then if you want to bowl something does a lot less in the case that the bats playing for the spin I found all I had to do was bowl with exactly the same action except that you don't get right up on the toes, for me tonight this mean the ball more or less went straight on.

Yeah if you can see the drift as you bowl you know it will almost certainly do a fair bit because it is a lot harder to detect the drift from bowlers point of view compared to what i can pick up from down low behind the stumps.

That getting up on your toes and generating more spin, etc, is exactly what goes on with my sons bowling. He will pivot higher in a match with umpires and a bit of a crowd and his mates egging him on. The past fortnight i have been getting him to bowl his full match action every single ball in practise.

His final over of practise yesterday we put a pepsi can on a good length on leg stump and he hit it twice within 3 balls. It was a great way to end his final hit out before season start and something we will do every session till season ends. Hitting the can is somehow far more spectacular than hitting a chalk mark especially with some drink still in it. Can was well crushed too.
 
We have had massive thunderstorms dump inches of rain overnight so no cricket today. My young bloke was fully prepared but another week wont hurt him. So many times the first round wash out favours the bowlers next week . Its almost like batsman psyche themselves up for that first game but cant do the same 2nd round after a washout.

The average young batsman has trouble facing the ball well pitched up earlier on in the season. They take a few weeks to come out and drive and are easy pickings. Lucky for us the best player of spin bowling in the comp is in our team.
 
We have had massive thunderstorms dump inches of rain overnight so no cricket today. My young bloke was fully prepared but another week wont hurt him. So many times the first round wash out favours the bowlers next week . Its almost like batsman psyche themselves up for that first game but cant do the same 2nd round after a washout.

The average young batsman has trouble facing the ball well pitched up earlier on in the season. They take a few weeks to come out and drive and are easy pickings. Lucky for us the best player of spin bowling in the comp is in our team.

Thats dissapointing, I hope its not like last year weatherwise. All but 6 matches were washed out in the competition here last year.
 
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