Leg Spin tips

[BlackCap_Fan]

My other thread in off topic is dead now, and I should've posted it in Cricket chat in the first place.

The story is I'm trying to bowl leg spin, I am currently working on the stock delivery. I think I've got my grip sorted out (question about that below), but I'm just having problems with release. I'm getting better though (thanks to the tennis ball), so I just need some tips on bowling leg spin and I'll be asking questions about specific things too.

Now, my first question is about the grip. Most places I look at tell me to hold the ball loosely, on the third joint of my index and ring finger and with my third finger bent. I grip it harder though, with the ball around the second joint; closer to the hand. I find I have flick it out my fingers better this way (I.E give it more revolutions). Will I find this grip to be a hinderance to any future variations I want to bowl?

 

[SJS]

My other thread in off topic is dead now, and I should've posted it in Cricket chat in the first place.

The story is I'm trying to bowl leg spin, I am currently working on the stock delivery. I think I've got my grip sorted out (question about that below), but I'm just having problems with release. I'm getting better though (thanks to the tennis ball), so I just need some tips on bowling leg spin and I'll be asking questions about specific things too.

Now, my first question is about the grip. Most places I look at tell me to hold the ball loosely, on the third joint of my index and ring finger and with my third finger bent. I grip it harder though, with the ball around the second joint; closer to the hand. I find I have flick it out my fingers better this way (I.E give it more revolutions). Will I find this grip to be a hinderance to any future variations I want to bowl?

OK. Let me try and address your grip problem.

When people say you need to grip the ball loosely when bowling leg spin, it is a relative statement. In orthodox off spin, the spin is obtained by the tweak you provide to the ball during the process of release. Thus the the fingers hold the ball in a vice like grip and strong fingers are a must. Most great off spinners get badly deformed fingers for this reason.

The same does not apply to leg spin where the wrist does more work. Hence the statement. But how tight is tight or how loose is loose.

Well, you will find best for yourself over time but let me tell you what will happen if it is too tight oe too loose.

If you hold the ball too tight you will tend to release it late and will end up bowling shorter than intended. If you hold it too loose the opposite will happen and the ball will baloon. If I was to give a method to assess whether you are holding it too tight, I will say, if your fingers hurt from a longish spell of leg spin bowling , fingers only mind you, then chances are you are holding too tight.

Generally, its your shoulder that will hurt most from long spels of leg spin bowling. Fingers dont.

You will be surprised to see how leg spinners tend to have softer and fleshier fingers while off spinners have thin, skinny and deformed fingers. This comes from the grip and the work the fingers put in ball after ball after ball.

Hope that was some good.

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

How much do you bend your wrist inwards? (there is a word for it which is censored; not too difficult to figure out what I'm talking about)

 

[SJS]

How much do you bend your wrist inwards? (there is a word for it which is censored; not too difficult to figure out what I'm talking about)

I am not sure if I understand the question. But let me tell you about the hand position for the leg break.

In the normal leg break grip you would grip the ball so that the seam is held between the thumb and the tips of the first two fingers. If you held your hand out above your shoulder at an angle of 45 degrees from the body (90 degrees meaning the arm would be brushing the ear and 0 degree the arm would be parallel to the ground at shoulder level. At this 45 degree angle of the arm, the seam, as seen from the batsman's side, would be vertical and point towards the slips.

The palm would be facing the square leg umpire.

Then if you twist the ball during delivery in the direction the seam is pointing, it will turn towards the slips on pitching.

If the same ball were held with the palm pointing towards a short mid on placed exactly in line with the bowler end stumps and the seam were pointing directly towards the batsman (still vertical mind you), this would go straight on pitching and give the impression of going faster after pitching. This will go straight on and unless pitched far too short will have the batsman in trouble if he did not play forward.

Does that answer the query ?

 

[SJS]

How much do you bend your wrist inwards? (there is a word for it which is censored; not too difficult to figure out what I'm talking about)

Okay. Sorry for being dense. I got the word you are avoiding.

If you mean by ****ing the wrist to be the angle at which the wrist bends backward so that the back of the hand is turned towards the forearm. let me answer that.

I do not have access to a scanner or would have sent you pictures from Grimetts lovely little coaching book.

Hold the cricket ball in your right hand with the leg break grip. then firmly support the base of your wrist (the lower side same as the palm) with the palm of your left hand. I mean ZERO angle of the wrist from this side (the palm side). The way our hands are structured this will automatically give an angle to the back of your hand (holding the ball all the time) which is close to 30 degree I would say. But the exact angle will depend on your hand structure. A shorter hand will lead to a greater inward bend and a longer one will lend to a slightly lesser angle at the wrist.

Basically this means that you are holding your hand up staright in line with your arm (straight in the sense that the base half bone of the thumb is in straaight line with your arm bone). This will give an automatic bend to the wrist when seen from the back of the hand side. Thats all.

Okay ?

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

So, to go through the basic leg break, you bend your wrist backward, so that the back of your hand faces your forearm, straight (as in, not bent towards the right or the left), and on delivery you twist your wrist 90 degrees anti-clockwise whilst flicking your fingers to put spin on the ball?

I always thought you bend your wrist inwards, so that your palm faces the bottom of your forearm. Which is correct?

 

[SJS]

So, to go through the basic leg break, you bend your wrist backward, so that the back of your hand faces your forearm, straight (as in, not bent towards the right or the left), and on delivery you twist your wrist 90 degrees anti-clockwise whilst flicking your fingers to put spin on the ball?

I always thought you bend your wrist inwards, so that your palm faces the bottom of your forearm. Which is correct?

The conventional grip and wrist position that I wrote about comes from the somewhat round arm action that was/is used by most leg spinners. If you were to bring the arm right next to your ear (vertical arm) in delivery, you would then need to **** the wrist in the manner you mention (palm turned slightly towards the arm). This would be required in a vertical arm action so as to achieve the same position of the seam being verticle at the point of delivery as I described in the earlier post.

The net effect is the same. The ball comes out of the hand rotating on its seam which is verticle and facing the slips.

You can take a cricket ball in your hand and actually try out and you will see what I am saying.

But bowling with a slightly round arm action is much easier on the shoulder. If you bowl with a straight arm your shoulder will give in over time.

Also you will find that those who bowl with a round arm action tend to have the torso much straighter (vertical). With a vertical arm and the strain on the shoulder, your body will tend to fall away to the off side to ease the strain.

 

[Kweek]

aah being left arm orthdox ( ) makes leg spin so much easier

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

Does having a round arm action increase or decrease the amount of spin you get compared to vertical arm?

Round arm is gonna be pretty tough to get used to. Time to put in some hard work in the nets.

 

[Smudge]

Does having a round arm action increase or decrease the amount of spin you get compared to vertical arm?

Round arm is gonna be pretty tough to get used to. Time to put in some hard work in the nets.

As a rule, round arm actions increase the spin. Vertical increases the bounce.