Learning to bowl off spin ?

[ringo1968]

I am a senior player but am keen to learn how to bowl off spin to become a useful member of my team. I spent a couple of hours on my own in a net and was experimenting in bowling with a strong arm and shoulder action to propel the ball at a decent pace. I have never had any cricket coaching and feel myself falling to one side occasionially. Do you have to keep your head dead still when bowling ? I find that pretty tough.

Also there is a cricket centre near me with level 2 and 3 coaches and i believe you can pay a fee for an hours guidance and coaching- do people think that is worth while ?

Thanks.

 

[Daemon]

I'm assuming you're a complete beginner. If not please ignore.

If you feel the price is reasonable then go for it. If not, try finding friends who are experienced and play cricket. Watch a couple of youtube videos on how to bowl and practice in the nets. Don't try anything fancy like a top spinner, work on your stock delivery, at most try a couple of faster ones. Accuracy, flight and revolutions on the ball are what you should be concentrating on in that order.

Try to keep your head as steady as possible, no one can keep it dead still. As for your bowling stride, make sure at the point of release your left foot (if you're a right hander) is acting like a pivot on the crease and try to release the ball as high as possible. I don't really get your problem with falling over, usually poses a problem to pace bowlers.

YouTube - Cloverdale Cricket Masterclass Spin Bowling tips 1

 

[Woodster]

I'm assuming you're a complete beginner. If not please ignore.

If you feel the price is reasonable then go for it. If not, try finding friends who are experienced and play cricket. Watch a couple of youtube videos on how to bowl and practice in the nets. Don't try anything fancy like a top spinner, work on your stock delivery, at most try a couple of faster ones. Accuracy, flight and revolutions on the ball are what you should be concentrating on in that order.

Try to keep your head as steady as possible, no one can keep it dead still. As for your bowling stride, make sure at the point of release your left foot (if you're a right hander) is acting like a pivot on the crease and try to release the ball as high as possible. I don't really get your problem with falling over, usually poses a problem to pace bowlers.

YouTube - Cloverdale Cricket Masterclass Spin Bowling tips 1

Agree with most of this, although I personally would re-arrange your order of accuracy, flight, and revolutions. I'd focus all my attention on getting a good rip on the ball, the accuracy and flight can be developed, but firstly just try and get as many revs on the ball as you can, imo.

 

[ringo1968]

I take it you need a pretty wide grip with the first two fingers and a pretty firm grip and a fast 'arm past the ear' action ?

 

[Daemon]

I take it you need a pretty wide grip with the first two fingers and a pretty firm grip and a fast 'arm past the ear' action ?

Firm grip is a yes and no, depending on what you mean by it. Not sure I can explain this very well but from what I was taught; your fingers have to tightly grip the ball to get as many revs as possible when you release, BUT when you grip it tightly, make sure the ball isn't sitting too deeply in your palm because that + a tight grip is the perfect formula for a short rubbish delivery with no flight.

Don't take my word for it though, I'm not even an offie. Try it out on your own first, and stick with whats working for you.

 

[slowfinger]

Agree with most of this, although I personally would re-arrange your order of accuracy, flight, and revolutions. I'd focus all my attention on getting a good rip on the ball, the accuracy and flight can be developed, but firstly just try and get as many revs on the ball as you can, imo.

Exactly what my coach said. And works wonders.

 

[ringo1968]

Thanks guys. I don't have big hands- should i primarily use the 1st finger to impart spin ?

 

[slowfinger]

Thanks guys. I don't have big hands- should i primarily use the 1st finger to impart spin ?

Use all three ideally. Middle to generate, index to direct and thumb (optional) to add more spin... But i to need help... I just can't get the batsmen to play at my balls and when I do they just tap it back... Im fine with that but I can never get wickets... any help?

 

[Hurricane]

give it more air and they will attack you.

 

[slowfinger]

give it more air and they will attack you.

Thanks dude... Got disttrict trials today and need to impress... Thanks...

 

[Woodster]

Use all three ideally. Middle to generate, index to direct and thumb (optional) to add more spin... But i to need help... I just can't get the batsmen to play at my balls and when I do they just tap it back... Im fine with that but I can never get wickets... any help?

Imo, I think the thumb will only take spin off the ball, if you can experiment spinning the ball without the thumb touching the ball you may find you can put more revolutions on the ball if you are using the orthodox grip.

 

[ringo1968]

Looking on youtube and watching some of Graeme Swann's wickets where he has bowled guys through the gate, i am amazed at the revs he gets on the ball and the pace he sends the ball down. Is that difficult to achieve ? Most spin bowlers at my sunday level just float the ball down slowly. Do you need a strong action and a decent follow through ?

 

[Woodster]

Looking on youtube and watching some of Graeme Swann's wickets where he has bowled guys through the gate, i am amazed at the revs he gets on the ball and the pace he sends the ball down. Is that difficult to achieve ? Most spin bowlers at my sunday level just float the ball down slowly. Do you need a strong action and a decent follow through ?

Absolutely it's difficult to get the revs on the ball Swann does, but obviously not impossible. He puts a lot of energy into his action, and gives it one heck of a rip. The pivot over the front foot is important as is the follow through to complete the action and get as much into the delivery as possible.

It's not just about the spin Swann gets, but also the drift and dip he manages to get. He is the best spinner in the world currently, so it would be exceptionally difficult to replicate what he does, but he's a great bowler to learn off.

Swann also has a slightly different grip for his orthodox off-spinner than most offies, presumably this helps him get more on the ball.

 

[ringo1968]

Yes, Swanny has big hands and he spins the ball from the inside of a knuckle and a finger. I have small hands but in practice i spread the 1st two fingers as far apart as possible and after an hour they hurt. I must be doing something right! Biggest problem is trying to keep my head still and focused on the target while bowling.

 

[srkven]

Yeah, go for it. You should be letting your fingers ripping the ball and try and get some drift and flight. Master these first on Youtube then go into your professional coaching clinics.

 

[ringo1968]

Michael Vaughn has a video on Youtube on off-spin bowling but is not actually all that good on how how he spins the ball. Although he looks like he knows what he is doing- do you actually spin the ball from the main index finger primarily ?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Michael Vaughn has a video on Youtube on off-spin bowling but is not actually all that good on how how he spins the ball. Although he looks like he knows what he is doing- do you actually spin the ball from the main index finger primarily ?

Yeah, the index finger is the main "spinning finger".