Wrist Spin Bowling

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Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

You definitely will if you read the 'Eight stages of spin' all the way through from start to finish. I think we generally all agree on here that there's one really key point that Philpott makes with regards spinning the ball back into your body from an outstreched arm in front of. You'll come across it in the 'Eight stages of spin'. I don't know how old you are Spin Wiz but don't expect the book to be exciting, loads of people on here have said that they can't get through the book because it is so 'Old Skool' but honestly if you just make sure you read that section from front to back and you take on board what Philpott says and combine that knowledge with all the key videos from Warne, Jenner and Michael Freedman/Beaus Casson on-line and put in loads of practice with your Leg Break you'll get there.

Finally what's your goal - what is it you aim to be able to do in the next 3 months?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Not such a good day today. When I eventaully got my over/s I had the task of bowling out 8 or 9 blokes with them looking for only 4 more runs to win. Needless to say I failed. More of this later once I've written up my blog.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

As long as a book is about Cricket, i will read it, no matter old school or what. I love cricket. I'm gonna be 20 soon and my goal over the next few months is to try and bowl more accurately. All i have left is pure 2020 games so i'll be variating a lot more and only will bowl quick if the boundaries are short, other than that, i'll be going for a bit of flight.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Hey guys, Im 16 years old and i play in the U18 league for my club and this season i've been struggling for wickets, Ive only played two matches though and i think i've bowled reasonably but I just want wickets. I've seen fellow spinners bowl ( offies) and they've picked up a few wickets. In total i've bowled 6 wicketless overs for 25 runs in 2 20/20 matches. Tommorows i have a game tommorow and Im becoming impatient. Batsmen just seem to defend the ball and if it's outside off they leave it. Some balls which are good balls just beat the bat and don't seem to come of the edge. The only ball i have is a stock legbreak and i'm not really experienced in varying flight and speed so I need a way to get wickets.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Go for it. The following post after this shows all the stats for my team (On my blog link) and if you look at it one of the blokes that is vying for best bowler is C. Sellars and he's 14 and flights the ball and is accurate.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

That's a tricky one that Macca may have to help out with as he's the one with the experience. I faced a batsman last week that just defended my Leg Breaks for 9 overs. If I'd stuck at that I'd have conceded less runs but I explored what he was like on the Leg side and was hit for a few. I think probably you've just got to keep plugging away with your Leg Break looking for him to get frustrated, surely in T20 cricket he's got to be looking to make runs so at some point in 6 overs he's got to have a go? In the longer term you'll have to look at learning the Top Spinner at least to give you another option.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

i wonder if anyone can offer me any advice...

im a novice leg spinner, ive been spinning a ball between my hands for years, i used to mess around with friends and family playing with a tennis ball in the garden and i always bowled leg spin. but ive only just started practicing with a real cricket ball in the nets. so my wrist and finger action is pretty good, but the rest of my technique is well below par. but practice makes perfect right?

anyway, my issue (well, the biggest one) is that the nets i practice at use a slab of concrete covered in green carpet type stuff as the wicket. its super hard and generates almost no turn and exaggerates the bounce. bowling a stock leg break tends to result in almost no lateral movement at all, and my brother who is a fairly sub standard batsman (he doesnt play for a team, neither do i, yet) who only plays slog shots, hits me miles just about every time. occasionally i can get a ball to rip, but my biggest leg break will only move around a foot off the pitch.

ive tried bowling a few balls on the grass wicket, i dont like to because its not my pitch to use and i dont want to do any damage, and the ball generates a lot more turn with a more sensible amount of bounce. which makes me think that my bowling might be going somewhere. but when i can only practice on a concrete slab im not learning anything about my game.

i was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how i can improve the usefulness of my practicing, and get a better idea of whether my leg breaks are actually working? im trying my best to avoid the temptation of bowling variations, but ive been bowling flippers, sliders and toppers for years with a tennis ball on grass so they come quite naturally in terms of the bowling action (accuracy is another story however lol). the occasional topper or flipper i throw in will spin a lot more off the pitch, i can generate more lateral movement on a slightly sideways spun topper (maybe 10-20 degrees off straight) than i can on a leg break, even when i get a leg break with loads of spin and a perfect 90 degree seam. which makes me wonder if maybe i should stop trying to bowl the leg breaks so big, and should go for maybe a 45-60 degree seam on concrete? i need to adjust my action so that i dont bowl so far down the leg side as well. youd think it would be as simple as aiming slightly differently, but i try that and my arm just seems to compensate and the ball still goes leg side.

im rambling a bit, i dont really have a lot of purpose to this post, other than to see how other people go about practicing on concrete i guess. im considering maybe trying an incrediball instead of a real cricket ball to see if that behaves more naturally off of a hard surface?

any guidance is greatly appreciated!!
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

spin wiz;355111 said:
As long as a book is about Cricket, i will read it, no matter old school or what. I love cricket. I'm gonna be 20 soon and my goal over the next few months is to try and bowl more accurately. All i have left is pure 2020 games so i'll be variating a lot more and only will bowl quick if the boundaries are short, other than that, i'll be going for a bit of flight.
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One of the things that all of the great wrist spinners say relates to practicing. Philpott goes further than most in that he almost says that unless you're totally obsessed and willing to put almost every hour of your spare time into cricket specifically bowling you're wasting your time. Another thing that they all bang on about is how you practice and I have to say that I agree with this. When you practice you have to fully commit yourself to it and really focus on what you're doing. You have to do it with a real sense of purpose and set yourself goals. It's probably best if you do it on your own and that you're not disturbed so that you can focus 100%. As for accuracy practicing, I take it this will be using your stock ball (Leg Break)? If so use a target something relatively small and aim to get the ball on the target. I used to use a thin piece of hardboard that was 225mm wide and about 3.5M long and initially focussed on my line e.g. getting it on the piece of wood. As long as it was on that wood I didn't worry how far up the wood or down the wood it was just as long as the line was correct.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Ripping-LegBreak;355463 said:
Hey guys, Im 16 years old and i play in the U18 league for my club and this season i've been struggling for wickets, Ive only played two matches though and i think i've bowled reasonably but I just want wickets. I've seen fellow spinners bowl ( offies) and they've picked up a few wickets. In total i've bowled 6 wicketless overs for 25 runs in 2 20/20 matches. Tommorows i have a game tommorow and Im becoming impatient. Batsmen just seem to defend the ball and if it's outside off they leave it. Some balls which are good balls just beat the bat and don't seem to come of the edge. The only ball i have is a stock legbreak and i'm not really experienced in varying flight and speed so I need a way to get wickets.
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Those figures look like you are doing a good job for your team ripping leg break. You mention impatience so you are aware of it but you must concentrate with patience and the wickets will surely follow a good economy rate such as yours. I would be worried if you had gone for a lot of runs.
Maybe you should try to get the topspinner or some other straight ball to throw in with the legbreaks?
Hope you have a good game today.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Apart from the amount of wickets taken across the season which is the next most significant figure amongst the stats?

Average
RPO
Strike Rate
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim2109;355466 said:
i wonder if anyone can offer me any advice...

im a novice leg spinner, ive been spinning a ball between my hands for years, i used to mess around with friends and family playing with a tennis ball in the garden and i always bowled leg spin. but ive only just started practicing with a real cricket ball in the nets. so my wrist and finger action is pretty good, but the rest of my technique is well below par. but practice makes perfect right?

anyway, my issue (well, the biggest one) is that the nets i practice at use a slab of concrete covered in green carpet type stuff as the wicket. its super hard and generates almost no turn and exaggerates the bounce. bowling a stock leg break tends to result in almost no lateral movement at all, and my brother who is a fairly sub standard batsman (he doesnt play for a team, neither do i, yet) who only plays slog shots, hits me miles just about every time. occasionally i can get a ball to rip, but my biggest leg break will only move around a foot off the pitch.

ive tried bowling a few balls on the grass wicket, i dont like to because its not my pitch to use and i dont want to do any damage, and the ball generates a lot more turn with a more sensible amount of bounce. which makes me think that my bowling might be going somewhere. but when i can only practice on a concrete slab im not learning anything about my game.

i was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how i can improve the usefulness of my practicing, and get a better idea of whether my leg breaks are actually working? im trying my best to avoid the temptation of bowling variations, but ive been bowling flippers, sliders and toppers for years with a tennis ball on grass so they come quite naturally in terms of the bowling action (accuracy is another story however lol). the occasional topper or flipper i throw in will spin a lot more off the pitch, i can generate more lateral movement on a slightly sideways spun topper (maybe 10-20 degrees off straight) than i can on a leg break, even when i get a leg break with loads of spin and a perfect 90 degree seam. which makes me wonder if maybe i should stop trying to bowl the leg breaks so big, and should go for maybe a 45-60 degree seam on concrete? i need to adjust my action so that i dont bowl so far down the leg side as well. youd think it would be as simple as aiming slightly differently, but i try that and my arm just seems to compensate and the ball still goes leg side.

im rambling a bit, i dont really have a lot of purpose to this post, other than to see how other people go about practicing on concrete i guess. im considering maybe trying an incrediball instead of a real cricket ball to see if that behaves more naturally off of a hard surface?

any guidance is greatly appreciated!!
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We normally can get the ball to turn on the concrete with the matting on top. But sometimes if it is slightly wet it wont turn.
Are you bowling topspinners by accident? I have to go now but I will come back with some ideas later on mate.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Legspin requires more practise than all the other crafts in cricket. Philpott and Grimmett were both bowlerholics and child prodigys that set themselves the task of trying to bowl a couple of hours every day of their lives.
That is the goal but of course even they could not of achieve it . Both Philpott and Grimmett had to take days off for all the same reasons we would. Sickness, exams, holidays etc.
Grimmett gave up cricket for 12 months when he was in his teens because his apprentiship as a signwriter took so much practise out of work hours. But if you can set that as your goal, 2 hours every day you will give yourself the chance, provided you have the talent, to suceed at the higher levels.
They always call legspin bowling an "art" and all the arts require lots of practise. Every day if possible.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim have a look at one of my blogs here - Wrist Spin Bowling: Diary in the winter I bowl on concrete/tarmac surfaces and I use plastic hockey balls (see the blog 15th Nov). I use a the Hockey balls all the time just outside my house rather than go over to a field. But I reckon if you're bowling on mats over concrete and you're getting it to turn you're probably doing well.

With regards your brother it's obvious that he's going to get used to your bowling so don't get put off by that. I'd suggest you do your serious training without your brother there and just practice on your line and length. Get some kind of marker and put in the place that you want to bowl onto - I use a couple of balls and as long as I can land it on the line give or take a few inches and between the balls I'm happy (See the link). Hope that helps?

What country do you live in?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Dave , do you muck around with the ball (flipper)that you get by rotating the wrist 90 degrees so the back of your hand faces you and your palm points down the wicket at the batsman.
This ball is an off break but looks similar to the legbreak from the batsmans pont of view. Grimmett describes it well in his books. You know the one.
Well that ball is the one Grimmett and Pepper both tried perfect as they saw it as probably the best way to use the "flipper" at first.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

do you mean top spinners by accident when im trying to spin leg breaks? id say no, i can see the seam as it goes down the wicket and its usually a perfect 90 degrees (e.g spinning totally sideways) or very close to it. occasionally it has some overspin as well but never much. i have control over my wrist to impart more or less overspin though, next time i practice this is something i am going to play with to see if more overspin works better on the hard surface. the matting has been 100% dry every time ive practiced so far (i only started a couple of weeks ago) as England has had a heatwave lately with no rain at all until the past couple of days.

if you meant am i top spinning by accident when im bowling toppers, then again no, i can consciously bowl top spinners and occasionally do. but im trying not to, i need to figure out leg breaks first. no point running before i can walk.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

I reckon that's the most difficult one from my experience. And you're probably right because it looks like the palm of the hand coming over straight as with the leg-break. It's relatively easy over shorter distances and it breaks like an offie, of all the Flipper variations I think this is the one I've looked at the least partly because my Wrong Un is pretty solid. But on a more positive note all of the these variations I seem to have been able to pick up pretty quickly because unlike Grimmett I've got the fore-knowledge that they are possible and all they require is some committment and practice. That and the fact that when I roll em out it's against a club side and not the Poms!!!

This one doesn't have a name does it?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

someblokecalleddave;355470 said:
Jim have a look at one of my blogs here - Wrist Spin Bowling: Diary in the winter I bowl on concrete/tarmac surfaces and I use plastic hockey balls (see the blog 15th Nov). I use a the Hockey balls all the time just outside my house rather than go over to a field. But I reckon if you're bowling on mats over concrete and you're getting it to turn you're probably doing well.

With regards your brother it's obvious that he's going to get used to your bowling so don't get put off by that. I'd suggest you do your serious training without your brother there and just practice on your line and length. Get some kind of marker and put in the place that you want to bowl onto - I use a couple of balls and as long as I can land it on the line give or take a few inches and between the balls I'm happy (See the link). Hope that helps?

What country do you live in?
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im in England, Basingstoke to be precise. what kind of hockey balls do you use, i seem to remember from school that they were either bouncy rubber or rock solid plastic? or air balls with loads of holes in, im guessing its not that type, hard to tell from the pictures in your blog.

maybe il have to try practicing more on my own. i like having a batsman there because it means less walking to retrieve the ball after every delivery! also the nets have holes at the back in some places, with fields behind them. if the ball gets through and nobody is there to spot where it lands its potentially several feet inside shoulder high crops!! i like the idea of setting some markers down though and aiming to land the ball in a specific place. what is a good length for leg spin? relative to the batsmans crease?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim, I use different hockey balls slazenger brand and Atta - the Atta ones are better on concrete as they have a more realistic bounce. I think I now know the kind of surface you're working with. It sounds as though you're being to harsh on yourself at the minute and if you were given the chance to bowl against someone other than your brother on a real cricket pitch or two you'd get some real sense of how well you were doing or not doing? You have to realise cricket pitches respond in all sorts of different ways, some bounce and turn others offer no turn whatsoever or no bounce. Others are pitted with holes you can bowl into later in the season, some are dust bowls and then when it's been raining they change in characteristics again. So just as long as you can put the ball on the length and line that you choose and bowl a leg break be it a biggun or a small turning one you're going to start to take wickets in a game situation. You've got to realise that if you get to do this in a team it's a war out there and a little bit of confidence, skill and control goes a very long way in the battle and you're quite likely to win.

I'd say while the weathers good buy yourself 12 of those crap davidson cricket balls off off ebay, get yourself a set of stumps, find a playing field that's relatively flat or a cricket pitch and set up on the outfield and start chucking the balls, it doesn't have to be the wicket, normally cricket pitches are reasonably flat and counicl owned and no-one minds you practicing on the outfield. If you're worried go and see the teams that play there at the weekend and ask if you can practice on the outfield? Then chuck your 12 balls back and forth one end to the other and monitor your results and bit by bit correct and improve through self evaluation.

Good line is the middle and off-stump and a few inches wide of it. Length is 3-5 yards in front of the stumps.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

someblokecalleddave;355125 said:
I reckon that's the most difficult one from my experience. And you're probably right because it looks like the palm of the hand coming over straight as with the leg-break. It's relatively easy over shorter distances and it breaks like an offie, of all the Flipper variations I think this is the one I've looked at the least partly because my Wrong Un is pretty solid. But on a more positive note all of the these variations I seem to have been able to pick up pretty quickly because unlike Grimmett I've got the fore-knowledge that they are possible and all they require is some committment and practice. That and the fact that when I roll em out it's against a club side and not the Poms!!!

This one doesn't have a name does it?
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It would be hard to do, the concept is a bit like the slider. The other one where you turn it upside down and get a legbreak would be a good doosra for an offspinner but not much good for a legspinner dont you reckon?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

macca;355128 said:
It would be hard to do, the concept is a bit like the slider. The other one where you turn it upside down and get a legbreak would be a good doosra for an offspinner but not much good for a legspinner dont you reckon?
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Glad you've said that about turning the hand upside down and producing the Doosra because that was my thoughts exactly and on my Flipper page on the other blog I've suggested that perhaps this is how Murali puts the spin on the ball. I've said the same thing on youtube as well where I demonstrate it but everyone as far as I can recall (and I no longer look at the comments on youtube) said that I was talking out of my a**e. I think I had it out on here with someone called 'schwabtoclarkson' and they also got quite upset at my questions and suggestions if I remember rightly, but I also remember I was a bit mixed up as to how Murali bowls. But yeah you're right and this is the stuff that Grimmett was exploring back in 1929-1930. The man was a genius.

Yeah and you're right about it's potential for a Right Arm Leg-spinner because in order to bowl it you have to turn the wrist form an inwards position like Murali does.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim2109;355466 said:
i wonder if anyone can offer me any advice...

im a novice leg spinner, ive been spinning a ball between my hands for years, i used to mess around with friends and family playing with a tennis ball in the garden and i always bowled leg spin. but ive only just started practicing with a real cricket ball in the nets. so my wrist and finger action is pretty good, but the rest of my technique is well below par. but practice makes perfect right?

anyway, my issue (well, the biggest one) is that the nets i practice at use a slab of concrete covered in green carpet type stuff as the wicket. its super hard and generates almost no turn and exaggerates the bounce. bowling a stock leg break tends to result in almost no lateral movement at all, and my brother who is a fairly sub standard batsman (he doesnt play for a team, neither do i, yet) who only plays slog shots, hits me miles just about every time. occasionally i can get a ball to rip, but my biggest leg break will only move around a foot off the pitch.

ive tried bowling a few balls on the grass wicket, i dont like to because its not my pitch to use and i dont want to do any damage, and the ball generates a lot more turn with a more sensible amount of bounce. which makes me think that my bowling might be going somewhere. but when i can only practice on a concrete slab im not learning anything about my game.

i was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how i can improve the usefulness of my practicing, and get a better idea of whether my leg breaks are actually working? im trying my best to avoid the temptation of bowling variations, but ive been bowling flippers, sliders and toppers for years with a tennis ball on grass so they come quite naturally in terms of the bowling action (accuracy is another story however lol). the occasional topper or flipper i throw in will spin a lot more off the pitch, i can generate more lateral movement on a slightly sideways spun topper (maybe 10-20 degrees off straight) than i can on a leg break, even when i get a leg break with loads of spin and a perfect 90 degree seam. which makes me wonder if maybe i should stop trying to bowl the leg breaks so big, and should go for maybe a 45-60 degree seam on concrete? i need to adjust my action so that i dont bowl so far down the leg side as well. youd think it would be as simple as aiming slightly differently, but i try that and my arm just seems to compensate and the ball still goes leg side.

im rambling a bit, i dont really have a lot of purpose to this post, other than to see how other people go about practicing on concrete i guess. im considering maybe trying an incrediball instead of a real cricket ball to see if that behaves more naturally off of a hard surface?

any guidance is greatly appreciated!!
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I've never had a problem turning it on matting, at least when I get the release right.

I would definitely trying bowling with less side-spin. Sometimes a totally side-spun ball can have trouble gripping.

Another possible explanation could be that you are not reving the ball as much when you spin it s completely sideways.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim2109;355471 said:
do you mean top spinners by accident when im trying to spin leg breaks? id say no, i can see the seam as it goes down the wicket and its usually a perfect 90 degrees (e.g spinning totally sideways) or very close to it. occasionally it has some overspin as well but never much. i have control over my wrist to impart more or less overspin though, next time i practice this is something i am going to play with to see if more overspin works better on the hard surface. the matting has been 100% dry every time ive practiced so far (i only started a couple of weeks ago) as England has had a heatwave lately with no rain at all until the past couple of days.

if you meant am i top spinning by accident when im bowling toppers, then again no, i can consciously bowl top spinners and occasionally do. but im trying not to, i need to figure out leg breaks first. no point running before i can walk.
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The perfect 90 degrees seam seems a little suspect to me. I always heard commentators claim that the seam should point towards the slips or third man.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

someblokecalleddave;355126 said:
Macca did you have a look at the link to my blog and look at those stats I posted up as it appears that I'm possibly (stats wise) currently the best bowler in the club?

Have a look - Wrist Spin Bowling: Stat Wars what do you reckon?
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Mate, you are way ahead on those figures even without seeing the number of overs bowled. If you kept that up you could end up playing for Essex!
I wouldn't worry about runs per over, you have to get the other bastards out and back in the f****ing sheds. That is how you keep the runs down and win games.
Who wants to play or watch cricket when the scoring rate is below 4 runs an over?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

shrek;355483 said:
The perfect 90 degrees seam seems a little suspect to me. I always heard commentators claim that the seam should point towards the slips or third man.
Click to expand...

90 degrees will be exceptionally good on a sticky turf wicket but on matting or a very hard and flat pitch, the ball will simply skid through as it will not grip. on matting, seam should be around 2nd and 3rd slip.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Oh that's good then, I'll try and keep doing what I'm doing and learning as I go along. I'm expecting it to be different this Saturday slightly because it is league cricket and they'll be looking to get runs on the scoreboard. So that'll be interesting as it suggests they'll be playing in a far more aggressive manner and looking to dominate over my bowling - which might mean more wickets for me?
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

ok thanks guys, lots of helpful information there for me to be going on with. just need more practice now. sounds as though the biggest reason behind the balls not turning is me trying to produce a "ball of the century" every time on a concrete wicket that has no turn lol. its worth noting also that the matting is incredibly "polished". polished isnt really the word, but its quite old and has obviously been walked up a down a lot of times and had a lot of balls bounced off of it. so its really smooth and slightly shiny. this obviously doesnt help either. i think if it was newer matting then it would be easier still.

as for places to practice, im outside of Basingstoke town by about 5 miles, but theres plenty of playing fields around me. the cricket ground i practice at is a 5 minute drive, but there is another cricket pitch (its also got a few football pitches) about 30 seconds drive (or a few minutes walking if im not being lazy lol) up the road that had a new pavillion built a few years back. i used to play football up there, but i havent been there since it got rebuilt. i really ought to in case they have brand new nets up there as well. the old nets were about the worse condition i think is actually possible without it just being a pile of poles and netting stacked up on the floor! theres plenty of places i could set up some stumps, so i just need to get myself some more cricket balls (so im not walking back and forth every 10 seconds) and go and practice that way. setting the stumps up 10 yards in front of a wall might not be a bad idea either to save balls running away.

thanks again for all the suggestions. il check back with progress later.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

someblokecalleddave;355130 said:
Here it is YouTube - Doosra affect
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It looks as though there is straightening of the arm. Would it be deemed a no ball. I stated before, that when I try to bowl the 'mystery ball I get the impression that I straighten the elbow, I presume it would automatically be called a no ball.

Boycott called to legalise the doosra, which the video seems to show, and he stated that there is no way it can be bowled without elbow straightening. I think , Murali is the only one that can bowl it without any straightening, as he can get excess flexion and extension at the wrist ie he is a 'freak' with hypermobile joints. Apparently he can nearly dislocate the shoulder when bowling.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

someblokecalleddave;355132 said:
Oh that's good then, I'll try and keep doing what I'm doing and learning as I go along. I'm expecting it to be different this Saturday slightly because it is league cricket and they'll be looking to get runs on the scoreboard. So that'll be interesting as it suggests they'll be playing in a far more aggressive manner and looking to dominate over my bowling - which might mean more wickets for me?
Click to expand...


Was reading grimmetts book and he states that the legspinner should always be attacking the batsman, if he has confidence that he can get ball after ball at the length he wants. Sounds really simple.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

right, i had a practice today for an hour or so. bowled at my brother again, but it was more productive this time. i started where i left off, just bowling a stock leg break but trying to put a bit more overspin on it. it had mixed results, i was struggling to generate spin out of the hand for some reason, couldnt get my fingers to do what i wanted them to. but the ball was turning a little anyway, so that was progress.

one delivery i, without thinking about it and more by accident, took a much larger final step into my delivery (and at the same time managed to get my fingers and wrist working properly). this resulted in a much more animated body action, more like a fast bowler than a spinner. i rotated more, had a much faster arm action and follow through, and generated about 2-3 feet of movement off the pitch with a fairly average leg break!!!! unfortunately i pitched it 2 feet outside leg stump and my brother still slogged it, but i carried on working on that large final step. ive noticed that Shane Warne has a similar approach, with a step and a planted front foot, as opposed to the hop step that some people prefer. Warne is much more relaxed in his method than i am, i tend to be a lot more tense and heavy in my step. but that will ease up when i get more comfortable with the technique. i am gradually decreasing the size of the step and seem to be able to maintain the follow through technique. so thats progress.

i think maybe my lack of spin was more about my body action and the follow through than anything else, as by the end of the session i am able to get 90 degree seam balls to move around quite well now too. i managed to bowl my brother a couple of times which ive not managed before, one of them pitched well outside leg stump. im struggling with line and length big time, but thats just a matter of practicing without a batsman i think.

and temptation is too hard to resist, so i threw in a flipper occasionally. its by far my best delivery, i find it incredibly easy (against all suggestions that its the hardest delivery to master. i think years of messing around with a tennis ball is to thank, i used to bowl flippers all the time because i wanted to be Shane Warne lol). i can generate tons of spin, my line and length is almost always perfect, and it has about a 75% wicket rate lol. if i ever start playing for a team i think the flipper could be VERY effective for taking wickets. its faster, it doesnt bounce that much, and it always comes back in at the stumps from inline with off stump. i think it will be especially useful in situations where a batsman is just expecting the leg break every delivery and is going after it, and then that incredibly different variation can just catch people totally off guard. thats exactly what my brother did. he played a slog across his pads and the ball stayed low, slowed up and went the other way and he missed it by miles.

altogether a very productive session, thanks mostly to the suggestions you guys made earlier! so thanks for that. i tried bowling some fast deliveries just to see what happened and because my brother wanted to pratice batting against some fast and straight balls. when i played cricket at school occasionally, probably 9-10 years ago now, i was always a medium pace bowler, affectionately known as "wide-ball" by my team mates and actually referred to as that to opposing batsmen by our coach. one time a batsman asked him for middle stump as he was umpiring as well, and he said "i wouldnt bother mate, we call him wide-ball for a reason". and i bowled him first ball haha. followed by several wides and an 11 ball over. but my fast bowling is now very accurate with a decent technique (i think) without ever practicing it, and i can bowl a decent line and length all day long and i think i even managed a small amount of inswing!! this can only be helpful to my spin bowling cause, i just need to nail a consistent approach and follow through technique for my spin bowling and line and length will surely follow. most bowlers at club level bowl medium-fast pace, so i figure leg spin is a better way to get into a team and to get wickets. plus its more fun and i love the intelligence involved. sizing up an opponent, getting under their skin, and beating them with mind games before you even bowl a delivery.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Macca in his book grimmett also shows him with his wrist straight and then in hyperextension, and the delivery seems to be for a seamer rather than a leg break. Unfortunately I do not have the book here, and so have no idea which plate it is.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

The only thing I find with the Flipper is that it's the ball that is most like a fast bowlers ball as it's generally bowled without tossing up above the batsmans eye-line in a loop (Although you can do that). Because it's back-spinning it holds it's line through the air and I find batsman generally deal with it quite easily. The biggest advantage with it is the fact that I can bowl it so much faster than my other deliveries and the approach and movement initially coming into the crease doesn't give it away, but the bringing the arm down and over is increased massively in speed and whips the ball in so much faster and then the skid in low sometimes causes them problems.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

sadspinner;355135 said:
Was reading grimmetts book and he states that the legspinner should always be attacking the batsman, if he has confidence that he can get ball after ball at the length he wants. Sounds really simple.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think that I'm on board with the idea that you attack. Any ball that is heading for the stumps causes them to have to make decisions about what they're going to do and then they make mistakes. If you bowl a variety of different ways I'm finding that as long as it's all on the off-stump they're lost at club level as to what they should do. If they dig in and just keep defending their wicket as the bloke did on Sunday a stale mate then seems to occur and I tried to break it bowling legside which is what he wanted as that was his strong side and I conceded a lot more runs than I needed to trying to figure out how to get at him. I honestly don't think that I've come up against a good batsman yet and I reckon a good LH bat such as our 1st XI captain would cause me all sorts of problems. But yes - attack! Attack! Attack! I say.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim2109;355545 said:
right, i had a practice today for an hour or so. bowled at my brother again, but it was more productive this time. i started where i left off, just bowling a stock leg break but trying to put a bit more overspin on it. it had mixed results, i was struggling to generate spin out of the hand for some reason, couldnt get my fingers to do what i wanted them to. but the ball was turning a little anyway, so that was progress.

one delivery i, without thinking about it and more by accident, took a much larger final step into my delivery (and at the same time managed to get my fingers and wrist working properly). this resulted in a much more animated body action, more like a fast bowler than a spinner. i rotated more, had a much faster arm action and follow through, and generated about 2-3 feet of movement off the pitch with a fairly average leg break!!!! unfortunately i pitched it 2 feet outside leg stump and my brother still slogged it, but i carried on working on that large final step. ive noticed that Shane Warne has a similar approach, with a step and a planted front foot, as opposed to the hop step that some people prefer. Warne is much more relaxed in his method than i am, i tend to be a lot more tense and heavy in my step. but that will ease up when i get more comfortable with the technique. i am gradually decreasing the size of the step and seem to be able to maintain the follow through technique. so thats progress.

i think maybe my lack of spin was more about my body action and the follow through than anything else, as by the end of the session i am able to get 90 degree seam balls to move around quite well now too. i managed to bowl my brother a couple of times which ive not managed before, one of them pitched well outside leg stump. im struggling with line and length big time, but thats just a matter of practicing without a batsman i think.

and temptation is too hard to resist, so i threw in a flipper occasionally. its by far my best delivery, i find it incredibly easy (against all suggestions that its the hardest delivery to master. i think years of messing around with a tennis ball is to thank, i used to bowl flippers all the time because i wanted to be Shane Warne lol). i can generate tons of spin, my line and length is almost always perfect, and it has about a 75% wicket rate lol. if i ever start playing for a team i think the flipper could be VERY effective for taking wickets. its faster, it doesnt bounce that much, and it always comes back in at the stumps from inline with off stump. i think it will be especially useful in situations where a batsman is just expecting the leg break every delivery and is going after it, and then that incredibly different variation can just catch people totally off guard. thats exactly what my brother did. he played a slog across his pads and the ball stayed low, slowed up and went the other way and he missed it by miles.

altogether a very productive session, thanks mostly to the suggestions you guys made earlier! so thanks for that. i tried bowling some fast deliveries just to see what happened and because my brother wanted to pratice batting against some fast and straight balls. when i played cricket at school occasionally, probably 9-10 years ago now, i was always a medium pace bowler, affectionately known as "wide-ball" by my team mates and actually referred to as that to opposing batsmen by our coach. one time a batsman asked him for middle stump as he was umpiring as well, and he said "i wouldnt bother mate, we call him wide-ball for a reason". and i bowled him first ball haha. followed by several wides and an 11 ball over. but my fast bowling is now very accurate with a decent technique (i think) without ever practicing it, and i can bowl a decent line and length all day long and i think i even managed a small amount of inswing!! this can only be helpful to my spin bowling cause, i just need to nail a consistent approach and follow through technique for my spin bowling and line and length will surely follow. most bowlers at club level bowl medium-fast pace, so i figure leg spin is a better way to get into a team and to get wickets. plus its more fun and i love the intelligence involved. sizing up an opponent, getting under their skin, and beating them with mind games before you even bowl a delivery.
Click to expand...

I think I've said it before, that if your wrist spinning isn't working it might be an idea to revert to medium pace to reassure yourself that you can bowl in a straight line and length, but I've just thought about it again having read your entry here and realised that in taking that approach you'd be adopting a different run in technique and now I think that perhaps that may end up being a backwards step? You yourself here have said that you possibly have improved due to your rotation/follow through and what's going on with your feet and legs having improved. It is this kind of self analysis that leads to big improvements. I think Peter Philpott would be mortified if he was to hear that you finished up bowling seam up balls to end the session and Clarrie Grimmett must be turning in his grave. Grimmett would end his sessions only once he'd landed the ball on a hankerchief consecutively 5 times bowling wrist spin.

Keep it up, get yourself a bucket of balls 12 - 18 of them and set your stumps up on playing field or an outfield and just bowl back and forth focussing on getting one aspect of your bowling right. Work at it with real focus and conviction and you'll get there. Keep it basic - stick to your Leg Break get that right and bowl the odd flipper once every 6 balls or something to keep that going well.
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Talking of doing lots of practise . Sometimes you don't notice your improvement until you have a few days off and when you bowl next time you think, "wow, I am better than i thought."
But if you have too much time off you get rusty and the next time you bowl you think "bloody hell, I've gone backwards."
 
Re: Wrist Spin Bowling

Jim2109;355545 said:
right, i had a practice today for an hour or so. bowled at my brother again, but it was more productive this time. i started where i left off, just bowling a stock leg break but trying to put a bit more overspin on it. it had mixed results, i was struggling to generate spin out of the hand for some reason, couldnt get my fingers to do what i wanted them to. but the ball was turning a little anyway, so that was progress.

one delivery i, without thinking about it and more by accident, took a much larger final step into my delivery (and at the same time managed to get my fingers and wrist working properly). this resulted in a much more animated body action, more like a fast bowler than a spinner. i rotated more, had a much faster arm action and follow through, and generated about 2-3 feet of movement off the pitch with a fairly average leg break!!!! unfortunately i pitched it 2 feet outside leg stump and my brother still slogged it, but i carried on working on that large final step. ive noticed that Shane Warne has a similar approach, with a step and a planted front foot, as opposed to the hop step that some people prefer. Warne is much more relaxed in his method than i am, i tend to be a lot more tense and heavy in my step. but that will ease up when i get more comfortable with the technique. i am gradually decreasing the size of the step and seem to be able to maintain the follow through technique. so thats progress.

i think maybe my lack of spin was more about my body action and the follow through than anything else, as by the end of the session i am able to get 90 degree seam balls to move around quite well now too. i managed to bowl my brother a couple of times which ive not managed before, one of them pitched well outside leg stump. im struggling with line and length big time, but thats just a matter of practicing without a batsman i think.

and temptation is too hard to resist, so i threw in a flipper occasionally. its by far my best delivery, i find it incredibly easy (against all suggestions that its the hardest delivery to master. i think years of messing around with a tennis ball is to thank, i used to bowl flippers all the time because i wanted to be Shane Warne lol). i can generate tons of spin, my line and length is almost always perfect, and it has about a 75% wicket rate lol. if i ever start playing for a team i think the flipper could be VERY effective for taking wickets. its faster, it doesnt bounce that much, and it always comes back in at the stumps from inline with off stump. i think it will be especially useful in situations where a batsman is just expecting the leg break every delivery and is going after it, and then that incredibly different variation can just catch people totally off guard. thats exactly what my brother did. he played a slog across his pads and the ball stayed low, slowed up and went the other way and he missed it by miles.

altogether a very productive session, thanks mostly to the suggestions you guys made earlier! so thanks for that. i tried bowling some fast deliveries just to see what happened and because my brother wanted to pratice batting against some fast and straight balls. when i played cricket at school occasionally, probably 9-10 years ago now, i was always a medium pace bowler, affectionately known as "wide-ball" by my team mates and actually referred to as that to opposing batsmen by our coach. one time a batsman asked him for middle stump as he was umpiring as well, and he said "i wouldnt bother mate, we call him wide-ball for a reason". and i bowled him first ball haha. followed by several wides and an 11 ball over. but my fast bowling is now very accurate with a decent technique (i think) without ever practicing it, and i can bowl a decent line and length all day long and i think i even managed a small amount of inswing!! this can only be helpful to my spin bowling cause, i just need to nail a consistent approach and follow through technique for my spin bowling and line and length will surely follow. most bowlers at club level bowl medium-fast pace, so i figure leg spin is a better way to get into a team and to get wickets. plus its more fun and i love the intelligence involved. sizing up an opponent, getting under their skin, and beating them with mind games before you even bowl a delivery.
Click to expand...

Grimmett and Warne both used a tennis ball to work on their flippers at the beginning. So if you have been using a tennis ball for a few years bowling it no wonder you can do it with a cricket ball so well.
 
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