1-800-CallGoughy The Technical Helpline for International Bowlers

[Craig]

Why did you go for the long run-up, trying to impersonate Shoaib Ahktar?

Mine was about 13 stesps, not sure why, but it just felt right, despite other people telling me to shorten it.

 

[Langeveldt]

Why did you go for the long run-up, trying to impersonate Shoaib Ahktar?

Mine was about 13 stesps, not sure why, but it just felt right, despite other people telling me to shorten it.

Got shredded numerous times in front of a big crowd bowling legspin a couple of years ago and decided to call it a day so decided to bowl some seam up..

 

[Goughy]

Update

Response in an earlier thread to why fast bowlers are becming increasingly injury prone and why some countries seem to suffer from more injuries than others.

http://forum.cricketweb.net/showpost.php?p=854903&postcount=817

 

[Pratters]

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth
I love his run-up and approach to the crease. He comes in with real purpose and enters his action with a lot of controlled speed and aggression.

His action is fine, the only thing I would mention that could be improved is that it is a 'clipped' and shortened action. By this I mean that his left arm never really gets high enough, often it is not much more than head height. If he extended the left arm higher he would get further back in delivery and add extra height to his action and improved weight transfer (there is no great amount of rocking from his weight being back to forward in delivery).

He hits the crease in a straight line and continues through it and that is always a great thing. His action has no easily noticable problems that weaken him as a bowler. There is however, room to add extra pace by extending his action as I have already mentioned.

Jeff Thompson was working a bit with Sreesanth in the DLF Cup. He mentioned during commentary with video footage that the foot is landing diagonally rather than straight.

Also, the effort he puts and the wieght transfer not being as effective, I dread that he might become injury prone sooner rather than later.

 

[silentstriker]

Jeff Thompson was working a bit with Sreesanth in the DLF Cup. He mentioned during commentary with video footage that the foot is landing diagonally rather than straight.

Also, the effort he puts and the wieght transfer not being as effective, I dread that he might become injury prone sooner rather than later.

Don't worry. India specializes in producing mediocre pace bowlers. Someone will take his place.

 

[Pratters]

Don't worry. India specializes in producing mediocre pace bowlers. Someone will take his place.

You act like a clown being repetitive.

 

[TT Boy]

Don't worry. India specializes in producing mediocre pace bowlers. Someone will take his place.

Nice signature by the way but Munaf Patel must be a positive, needs to work on his fitness but he bowled extremely well in the West Indies and I would not be surprised if he had success in South Africa. Also what's up with Sreesanth? I like the kid's fiery and competitive attitude but he seemingly can not play two games in a row.

 

[Goughy]

Guys,

I dont want to be all precious about this thread and be an **** but there is already the Indian bowlers thread for this type of discussion. Cheers

 

[TT Boy]

I bowl like Paul Franks could you help me?

 

[open365]

I bowl like different people every time i bowl which is really starting to annoy me.

I'm a good bowler for my age, but for the amount i play(basicaly every day in Summer and 25 hours of indoor nets last winter) i should be a lot better i think.

I'm a bit(ok, a lot) in consistent, by that i don't mean that when i'm bowling a spell i'll bowl a few good balls then a few bad ones, i mean that one day i'm bowling really well and then the next day i'm terrible.

I've noticed that i don't seem to have a natural action that i can just bowl like without thinking about it, every time i start a new bowling spell or a new net sesison, i allways feel like i'm bowling differently, it's as if i don't have any muscle memory at all.

What would help me sort this out? I've tried to keep the same action going for a few weeks before but ended in failure. It's like, i'll be bowling really well one day, keeping my action the same and getting good results, but then the next time i come into bowl i just can't bowl that way because it feels really wrong somehow, so i go and bowl differently.

 

[silentstriker]

I bowl like Curtly Ambrose, how do I fix it?


No, ok, sorry about the thread hijak, I'll move it.

 

[Goughy]

I bowl like different people every time i bowl which is really starting to annoy me.

I'm a good bowler for my age, but for the amount i play(basicaly every day in Summer and 25 hours of indoor nets last winter) i should be a lot better i think.

I'm a bit(ok, a lot) in consistent, by that i don't mean that when i'm bowling a spell i'll bowl a few good balls then a few bad ones, i mean that one day i'm bowling really well and then the next day i'm terrible.

I've noticed that i don't seem to have a natural action that i can just bowl like without thinking about it, every time i start a new bowling spell or a new net sesison, i allways feel like i'm bowling differently, it's as if i don't have any muscle memory at all.

What would help me sort this out? I've tried to keep the same action going for a few weeks before but ended in failure. It's like, i'll be bowling really well one day, keeping my action the same and getting good results, but then the next time i come into bowl i just can't bowl that way because it feels really wrong somehow, so i go and bowl differently.

How old are you open?
The best advice I can give you (without seeing you in person) is talk to someone knowledgeable about developing an action that will last you through your adult career.

As the body grows and muscle develops, the action you have (or actions as you state) will run in to problems unless you are sorted out with a consistent, natural and comfortable action.

You should work closely with someone to enhance your natural delivery and make minor tweaks to improve consistency and simplicity.

If you are have issues with it feeling different each time, work in the nets to make your action simpler and based on a few key aspects. Concentrate on your foot position and where your left arm goes in delivery. Think about these 2 areas every ball you deliver in the nets.

When it comes to the game, just run up and bowl. Thats not the place to try to work issues out.

Sorry I cant be much help but, again I stress on keeping things simple and concentrating on one or two areas rather than making too many changes or worrying about too many things at once.

 

[open365]

How old are you open?
The best advice I can give you (without seeing you in person) is talk to someone knowledgeable about developing an action that will last you through your adult career.

As the body grows and muscle develops, the action you have (or actions as you state) will run in to problems unless you are sorted out with a consistent, natural and comfortable action.

You should work closely with someone to enhance your natural delivery and make minor tweaks to improve consistency and simplicity.

If you are have issues with it feeling different each time, work in the nets to make your action simpler and based on a few key aspects. Concentrate on your foot position and where your left arm goes in delivery. Think about these 2 areas every ball you deliver in the nets.

When it comes to the game, just run up and bowl. Thats not the place to try to work issues out.

Sorry I cant be much help but, again I stress on keeping things simple and concentrating on one or two areas rather than making too many changes or worrying about too many things at once.

I'm 14, 6'1 and still growing apparently.

I've noticed my front foot in delivery seems to splay a bit towards 3rd slip which some time opens my body out a la James Anderson(i think), do you think i should work on on getting it pointed more straight down the pitch?

Cheers Goughy

 

[Goughy]

I'm 14, 6'1 and still growing apparently.

I've noticed my front foot in delivery seems to splay a bit towards 3rd slip which some time opens my body out a la James Anderson(i think), do you think i should work on on getting it pointed more straight down the pitch?

Cheers Goughy

Sounds promising, you need an agent?

Where you front foot should point is heavily dependant on what is going on with your upperbody. If you are getting side-on then it should not be pointing towards the slips.

However, Im not telling you it is wrong. My left foot when planted also points towards 2nd/3rd slip, as do a number of other quicks. However, my foot is pointing towards fine leg/ backwards square in delivery and then swings through to point to the slips giving the body more rotation and enabling more pace to be put on the ball.

I would recommend finding a coach/mentor or someone you can trust who is capable of making tweaks and adjustments. DO NOT trust anyone that makes you bowl in a completely different way than you already do. Many people will point to a coaching book and tell you "this is how you must bowl". These people are dangerous. Bowling is a natural thing and that is why, in the earlier post, I suggest you just look at one or 2 aspects of your action rather than rebuild it.

Good Luck

EDIT- If your foot points to the slips it is easy for your left arm to get dragged that side of the wicket. It doesn't really matter that much if you open up in your action as long as when you bowl you bring your left arm down in the line of off-stump (as it comes down, think of your arm as an axe splitting off-stump in half). This will keep you straighter and forces your right arm through in the same line which improves consistency and accuracy.

 

[open365]

Sounds promising, you need an agent?

Where you front foot should point is heavily dependant on what is going on with your upperbody. If you are getting side-on then it should not be pointing towards the slips.

However, Im not telling you it is wrong. My left foot when planted also points towards 2nd/3rd slip, as do a number of other quicks. However, my foot is pointing towards fine leg/ backwards square in delivery and then swings through to point to the slips giving the body more rotation and enabling more pace to be put on the ball.

I would recommend finding a coach/mentor or someone you can trust who is capable of making tweaks and adjustments. DO NOT trust anyone that makes you bowl in a completely different way than you already do. Many people will point to a coaching book and tell you "this is how you must bowl". These people are dangerous. Bowling is a natural thing and that is why, in the earlier post, I suggest you just look at one or 2 aspects of your action rather than rebuild it.

Good Luck

EDIT- If your foot points to the slips it is easy for your left arm to get dragged that side of the wicket. It doesn't really matter that much if you open up in your action as long as when you bowl you bring your left arm down in the line of off-stump (as it comes down, think of your arm as an axe splitting off-stump in half). This will keep you straighter and forces your right arm through in the same line which improves consistency and accuracy.

I've noticed that there seem to be far too many coaches that have told me to bowl in completely different ways because apparently i'll get loads of injuries when i'm older.

Now i've thought about this and talked about it with the only coach/mentor person i acctualy think is any good and we both think that i won't be left with one workign leg by the time i'm 25. When i bowl without thinking about it i don't get many niggles/injuries, it's only when i try to do what some coach who's seen me bowl 3 balls in nets tells me how many things i should change that i start getting hurt.

I'll work on getting my front arm coming down straight in nets this winter and let you know how it goes, in fact, i might even start my cricket blog up again.

Thanks mate.

 

[Neil Pickup]

DO NOT trust anyone that makes you bowl in a completely different way than you already do. Many people will point to a coaching book and tell you "this is how you must bowl". These people are dangerous.

These people should be shot.

 

[open365]

These people should be shot.

I have a feeling Harry already has.

 

[Kweek]

inconsistanscy, sounds familiar...although my problems are more 'mental'(yes i am)
my main problem is that in a net session im usually bowling absolute dire, sometimes when the pressure is up a bit or bowling against a good/awesome batsman, I start bowling well out of nothing!
and in games, im very consistant, know what im doing, can land it on the same spot etc. etc.
our coach took footage of my bowling back to Australia, unfortunately ! anyway..my action is windmill-ish...typical dutch
i'll see if I can get hold of the footage..would like to know what you think goughy.
any ideas on the mental part?

 

[adharcric]

Goughy, I started out in league cricket as a seamer around 65 mph or so (17 years of age back then). One day in practice, my captain and a few others pointed out that I jump off the wrong foot (right foot, I'm a right-armer) while bowling. Apparently, I was losing pace and accuracy because of that. I have more of a front-on action. It's too late for me to change now (tried but it was very uncomfortable) and my run-up has always looked good and straight on the whole. Anyways, I lost my line and length in one match and my captain lost confidence in me and told me to pursue spin bowling. So basically, I can now bowl seam (probably in the low 60s with bounce), leg-break and off-break. This is what happens when you learn to bowl on your own without any guidance.

Anyways, how big of a problem is it to jump off the right (wrong) foot?

 

[Goughy]

Anyways, how big of a problem is it to jump off the right (wrong) foot?

Its hard to visualise what you are saying without seeing it in person. But Ill give it a go.

If you jump off your right foot and then land on your right foot it is a huge problem. In fact, Im working with a boy that does just that at the moment. He will never he a quality cricketer but he enjoys it and its not always about helping the good quality players.

If you jump off your right and land on your right (ie hop) it completely makes your run-up irrevelvant and kills all momentum through the crease. It also reduces balance and stability in delivery.

To bowl quick (or seam) you use your run-up to develop rhythm amd momentum and your coil and leap transfers those aspects into the final delivery of the ball. If someone hops (ie right to right) before the coil and delivery they negate the effort used in getting to the crease. It leads to a very inefficient action and a massive loss of pace. It also makes you force the ball and this leads to problems with accuracy.

A small boy that 'hops' into delivery and makes the ball bounce 3-4 times whilst getting to the other end can be made to bowl accurately and with one bounce in less than a session of coaching. This also carries through into adulthood.

'Hopping' or jumping off the right foot makes it difficult to get the ball to the other end with any type of velocity

I hope that helps and that Ive addressed the correct issue