Don't start at 22 yards - use a far shorter distance 16 yards to start off with and just get a feel for it. I think the amount of effort to get it down there at 22 yards when you're starting out will dramatically impact on any potential accuracy and you'll probably be disheartened by accuracy inconsistency. 16 yards will be a lot easier and you'll find your accuracy might be better and it'll enable you to get a feel for the bowling action. Work like that for a while and gradually extend the distance. If starts to go wrong again - go back to shorter distance and till it comes good again.
Maybe the moderators changed it as they knew you were the same guy?
How did it go?
Mostly I bowl with a mixed or cross seam, I use to bowl it with the upright seam like the Warne and Jenner demo's, but I think in this book Wilkins suggests using the crossed and mixed seam approach and for me it works. I now find if I try and bowl with an upright seam I'm less consistent for some reason and it feels odd - but again, it's up to you to try it and see what works for you. I used to notice the up-right seamed ball swung early in certain atmospheric conditions and swung a lot. The current flippers I don't notice then doing anything in the air, but I've had batters say it 'Deviates' through the air and is tricky to play.That slow flipper sounds like it could be very useful too. Do you still bowl the offspinning flipper as well by the way? I try it every now and then as a infrequent variation, but, because I put so little work into practicing it, it's pot luck as to whether comes out right. I reckon the success rate in terms of it being a good ball is pretty much 50/50, but when it is a good ball it works well. I've taken a few good wickets with it and almost caught out so many batters, but the good ones because of the lack of pace tend to get the bat down just in time.
I'd assume not many people in Australia would know the flipper as well, which is handy. Never seen anyone bowl it, and you have to dig really deep through youtube to find any tutorials on it which are as easy to understand as yours. It's the same with most aspects of leg spin as well, you'll find there are tons more tutorials on offspin and fast bowling than leg spin. And when you do find a leg spin tutorial, they often don't go in depth on the flipper. Absolutely, I think the Flipper is a massively under-rated delivery and because of the historical context in which exists... Grimmett claiming to have worked on it for 12 years before using, Benaud 5 years I think he claims and Warne talks about working on it for years as well and then there's the whole story of how it put him out of action for a long period. All those things combined with the fact that as you say "Never seen anyone bowl it" Means no-one's ever going to teach anyone at club level to bowl it! So it's as rare as Hen's teeth. I show loads of people it and they usually try it once and say 'Nah'.
There's a good book from the 1990'swith a chapter on the Flipper and the bloke who writes the book has a go at with some success (basic versions), but he goes on to say that he doesn't understand why medium pace bowlers and even medium fast bowlers don't try it - as like me, he reckons there's something to gain from being able to bowl it.
I've got one problem with the flipper however, I've found that when you hold it in your run up and delivery your grip needs to be super loose, with the ball at the edges of your fingertips for the ball to 'flick' out properly. Am I doing this right then, because I'd assume holding it like this looks weird to the batter and they may know something is up? Or should I try bowling it through a leg spinners grip? I'm holding it like you do in your tutorial.
Being so obscure, I don't think you can say one way or the other, I think it's a case of practicing enough to make it work for you. I've only ever had one person who could pick the balls out of my hand and he was another Leggie that was a good batter and because he was a leggie - he knew what my conventional deliveries were and could pick them - but would also be able to see when it was the Flipper - he was good, he'd call them out of the hand in his trigger action. "Looks weird to the batter" is perfect. As Warne says you want them focused on what you're doing rather than on their batting! I think if you work so intently on it trying to make it look like leg-break you'll be in Grimmett mode - you'll be practicing for years and years!
PS: do you hold the ball cross seam or upright in these flippers?
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Appreciate the in-depth response. Will probably keep the off spinning flipper as something that I may try after a couple more years of bowling. Doesn't seem that important. I think it would be a lot of work for something that wouldn't work as well as a wrong'un - the only advantage the offspinning flipper haves over the googly is the fact it is unique and unknown.
Yes, I will probably see if I can get the book. Sounds like a good read. Also recently ordered the Art of Leg Spin Bowling by Philpott, so that should help me too.
I think you're right about the flipper, if it looks weird to the batsmen then that must be good! Will continue trying to bowl it undisguised then. Noone will probably know what it is anyhow
So you reckon bowling with the cross seam for the flippers just comes out of the hand better than the upright seam? With more backspin or pace? Or just more control? Will send a couple videos this weekend of some leggies and flippers (fingers crossed for good weather), cross seam and upright seam. Should be interesting to see what the flippers look like from a batsman's point of view.
Also, for my traditional leg break I have made a few small changes in my technique which I hope to consolidate over the next 6 or so months till the season. I am trying to pivot more, and basically follow some technique points from this video:
Hopefully this will give me more spin and accuracy.
I also found that in that video, I am making the mistake shown at 8:28 which is probably the reason why I feel rushed, and the ball slips short with little spin often. Looking to remedy this and the changes have looked good so far from a standing start in my backyard at least.
Appreciate the in-depth response. Will probably keep the off spinning flipper as something that I may try after a couple more years of bowling. Doesn't seem that important. I think it would be a lot of work for something that wouldn't work as well as a wrong'un - the only advantage the offspinning flipper haves over the googly is the fact it is unique and unknown.
Yes, I will probably see if I can get the book. Sounds like a good read. Also recently ordered the Art of Leg Spin Bowling by Philpott, so that should help me too.
I think you're right about the flipper, if it looks weird to the batsmen then that must be good! Will continue trying to bowl it undisguised then. Noone will probably know what it is anyhow
So you reckon bowling with the cross seam for the flippers just comes out of the hand better than the upright seam? With more backspin or pace? Or just more control? Will send a couple videos this weekend of some leggies and flippers (fingers crossed for good weather), cross seam and upright seam. Should be interesting to see what the flippers look like from a batsman's point of view.
Also, for my traditional leg break I have made a few small changes in my technique which I hope to consolidate over the next 6 or so months till the season. I am trying to pivot more, and basically follow some technique points from this video:
Hopefully this will give me more spin and accuracy.
I also found that in that video, I am making the mistake shown at 8:28 which is probably the reason why I feel rushed, and the ball slips short with little spin often. Looking to remedy this and the changes have looked good so far from a standing start in my backyard at least.
Yeah I really rate MacGill, he was a superb bowler, potentially better than Warne in so many ways. Yeah give it a go, see if it helps. I think in the longer run you'll find the right way for yourself, but it'll be potentially as a result of taking on board approaches used by others. I don't think there's a lot of value trying to replicate everything anyone does, but nuggets of info tried and implemented sometime reap rewards or lead to realisations and epiphanies.
MoMole
have you got a game tomorrow?
Hey all,
First time poster (only discovered the forum a little while ago and I've learned so much from it!)
One of the lads turned up to winter nets with a back strain so he recorded our nets session and I finally got some good footage against batsmen. I've included a bunch of different deliveries (some good some bad). Is there anything I am doing wrong/could do better? Am I bowling too slow?
This will be my first season playing in about 16 years so I've been pretty nervous. I've been bowling a lot in my back garden over the winter and I'm feeling really confident about my stock leg break. I don't have any variations yet, pretty much spent six months just trying to get a consistent leg break. I reckon I'm not at the point where I might bowl a wide down leg once every now and again and a full toss is much rarer.
My concern is whether my bowling at home and nets performance will translate to an actual game. A big unknown for me is that I get a lot of turn and bounce on every surface I've bowled on, but since I haven't bowled on an actual wicket there's a big question around whether I'll get turn and bounce like I'm used to. My stock ball tends to be on leg stump (or just outside) and just short enough I can't be swept. I find this cramps batsmen up and is difficult to get away but my not be a line that can produce wickets.
I'm more worried about bowling to good top order batsmen than anything else. I've had a lot of success against your average clubbies in the net and I've been using the opportunity to work more on making adjustments and trying to outthink the batsmen but I worry about getting smashed by an actual good batsman and not having an answer. For context my club is pretty bad and I think we play in the lowest division (maybe div 8?) and last year they finished second from the bottom of the table.
Appreciate any feedback and happy to answer questions.
5 for 16 - superb start Darth! That included a stumping of a bloke that you needed as well. Love stumpings me! Wish I had keepers that could pull em off!