Bowling action review! Any analysis and criticism is appreciated!

[thundaboult]

Hey guys, I've had quite a journey over the past year in discovering/creating a proper bowling action for me. I started out bowling as a right arm pacer but soon, I felt it just didn't feel right, although I could fire the ball at yorker length at uncomfortable pace for the batsman, I was often too leg-side despite good power coming from my upper body in the right arm action. My lower body was very uncoordinated and I would jump off the wrong leg and land on the wrong one as well. It was a mixed action to say the least.

The video underneath is the mixed action I am talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJlr3YqsYv4

I then found a drill about fixing double-hops during the delivery stride to fix that, and with the help of that, this is what I managed recently with my right arm action. (Although I still can't do it as accurately without the equipment required in the drill, and can't really use my lower body too powerfully for the jump into the delivery stride)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ddLsK3IaC8

But the double-hop fix drill had me wondering if I could bowl left arm pace, as I had always wanted to be a left arm fast bowler but never really gave it a shot because of the constant use of the right arm in the past. The drill was basically about fixing foot alignment and coordination so I decided to give it a shot. (https://mycricketcoach.com/ask-ben/double-hop/)

A month into tussling with the drill, I can finally do a left arm action without any equipment or markers. The lower body feels far more natural for the leftie action than the right arm action. The upper body doesn't feel as strong for it when I compare it to the right arm action, but then again I haven't bowled in the nets or in a match to really put the pace of my left arm bowling to the test.

Here are a few angles for what my current left arm action looks like so far. (will probably need to use the slow motion option on youtube to get a proper look)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Si9dcl9ad8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drjqB3HqEyU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5NRCoXxWZw

I have lots more videos on my channel of my leftie action if you want to get more insight.

So looking at all that, should I stick with leftie or do I have a good chance of becoming a good ambidextrous pace bowler down the line?

I really appreciate the amount of time any of you guys are willing to put into reading all that and looking at those videos! Thanks a lot!

 

[thundaboult]

Hey guys, I've had quite a journey over the past year in discovering/creating a proper bowling action for me. I started out bowling as a right arm pacer but soon, I felt it just didn't feel right, although I could fire the ball at yorker length at uncomfortable pace for the batsman, I was often too leg-side despite good power coming from my upper body in the right arm action. My lower body was very uncoordinated and I would jump off the wrong leg and land on the wrong one as well. It was a mixed action to say the least.

The video underneath is the mixed action I am talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJlr3YqsYv4

I then found a drill about fixing double-hops during the delivery stride to fix that, and with the help of that, this is what I managed recently with my right arm action. (Although I still can't do it as accurately without the equipment required in the drill, and can't really use my lower body too powerfully for the jump into the delivery stride)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ddLsK3IaC8

But the double-hop fix drill had me wondering if I could bowl left arm pace, as I had always wanted to be a left arm fast bowler but never really gave it a shot because of the constant use of the right arm in the past. The drill was basically about fixing foot alignment and coordination so I decided to give it a shot. (https://mycricketcoach.com/ask-ben/double-hop/)

A month into tussling with the drill, I can finally do a left arm action without any equipment or markers. The lower body feels far more natural for the leftie action than the right arm action. The upper body doesn't feel as strong for it when I compare it to the right arm action, but then again I haven't bowled in the nets or in a match to really put the pace of my left arm bowling to the test.

Here are a few angles for what my current left arm action looks like so far. (will probably need to use the slow motion option on youtube to get a proper look)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Si9dcl9ad8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drjqB3HqEyU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5NRCoXxWZw

I have lots more videos on my channel of my leftie action if you want to get more insight.

So looking at all that, should I stick with leftie or do I have a good chance of becoming a good ambidextrous pace bowler down the line?

I really appreciate the amount of time any of you guys are willing to put into reading all that and looking at those videos! Thanks a lot!

 

[aloo paratha]

Your action is fine for the most part. The only thing I would look to change is the amount of time that you take in that jump leading into the delivery. You come in at a decent pace but then suddenly slow down. Try running in the quickening the jump. It will give you more pace. Anyways try that but remember what works for you works for you.


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[Maaz Ahmed]

This is kind of what happened with me, I started out as a right arm medium-fast but had no variation. Then, I switched to lefty and was much better with both spin and pace!

In your action, you should try a slower ball out of the side of the hand. This won't take much training/practice, however you will have to get the basics down put as on your first few tries the ball will go full, wide etc.

Another variation you should try, BUT NOT JUST YET!!, is a slinging arm. As a lefty this allows my Yorkers to be harder to play because the more you sling your arm (bring your arm in to bowl at an angle like Malinga but not to angled) has, the less bounce and more the ball stays low and hard to play. This also allows me to effectively swing the ball both ways, at full-Yorker length.
Don't use the sling on every ball as it won't allow you to take advantage of the bounce on pacey, bouncy wickets, but use it on dusty wickets or in the death. Make sure you have few variations to keep the batsman guessing. If you have any questions then feel free to ask!!

 

[thundaboult]

Thanks man! Those are some great tips indeed! I will try to variations as soon as I can get my basics right. Funny enough, it seems like the slinging arm variation you're talking about appears a LOT easier to me at the moment than the slower ball from the side of hand....I've never ever tried to bowl a slow ball in my life before hahahaha. I've still to try to this new lefty thing in the nets and in a real match. Don't even know what the length of my ideal run-up is yet. Everything is a work in progress at the moment.

I am really trying to emulate as much as I can from Boult and starc's actions, I want to be a swing bowler but still be quick enough in pace so I don't get smacked around the park. Hitting 140 would be a dream come true for me lol. Going hard in the gym right now and will continue to, but its the construction of an ideal bowling action that keeps me worrying.

 

[thundaboult]

Thanks man! And your username is hilarious LOL. Yeah I tend to do that from two things, right now I'm bowling in a closed space and I don't even know the length of my ideal run-up lol. Will try some drills to get that sorted. If you have any suggestions on that please let me know. I also want to slam my front foot hard and lock/brace that knee at the crease, but whenever I try that, I keep slipping and tumbling over in a rather painful manner because of my spikeless/gripless normal running shoes. Surprised I haven't picked up a injury as of yet. So from that I've developed this bad habit of landing pretty weak with a bent front leg. Once I get proper fast bowling boots I think the paranoia of that problem will be gone. But if you know of any exercises or something to help me fix that as soon as possible, once again I would love to find out.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

[MENTION=138980]TalentSpotterPk[/MENTION] [MENTION=134608]Hawkeye[/MENTION] [MENTION=138379]#GreenRoars[/MENTION] [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] will be able to help

 

[thundaboult]

Good to see so much potential help!

 

[thundaboult]

nvm then lol

 

[Chief Destroyer]

With all due respect, you should stop fast bowling for the time being and shift your entire focus on body coordination and balance. Start playing sports that require multi-directional body movement, work on lateral movement, run short sprints, bodyweight exercises like skipping rope on one leg, sideways shuffle, high knees etc.

Read more in detail here: http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/coordination-training-for-future-champions

With better coordination and balance, your rhythm and body movement will become more fluid. It will give you greater command and control over your body, naturally everything will fall in place and you'll be able to figure what action is best for you.

 

[thundaboult]

With all due respect, you should stop fast bowling for the time being and shift your entire focus on body coordination and balance. Start playing sports that require multi-directional body movement, work on lateral movement, run short sprints, bodyweight exercises like skipping rope on one leg, sideways shuffle, high knees etc.

Read more in detail here: http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/coordination-training-for-future-champions

With better coordination and balance, your rhythm and body movement will become more fluid. It will give you greater command and control over your body, naturally everything will fall in place and you'll be able to figure what action is best for you.

I have been doing crossfit for a month and find it extremely challenging to all the things you've mentioned above, and its more than motivating enough to keep me continuing it while seeing obvious improvements in this month already. Should I stick to it or do some specific exercises instead to improve balance and coordination?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

I have been doing crossfit for a month and find it extremely challenging to all the things you've mentioned above, and its more than motivating enough to keep me continuing it while seeing obvious improvements in this month already. Should I stick to it or do some specific exercises instead to improve balance and coordination?

Crossfit is very good. Continue on. What you can do is start playing sports that require multi-directional movement like soccer/football, basketball or any sport of your choice.

 

[Maaz Ahmed]

Fitness is also very important, however, practice makes perfect and it is best if you practice bowling too

 

[thundaboult]

Crossfit is very good. Continue on. What you can do is start playing sports that require multi-directional movement like soccer/football, basketball or any sport of your choice.

Awesome. Felt it was way too early to leave crossfit just yet lol. Btw, in my left arm bowling action, I feel that my non-bowling arm falls way too waywards to the side, is there a way for me to use it more efficiently to gain pace. And also is there something I can do to make sure that when my front foot lands on the crease, the knee is locked/braced and not bent. Thanks for all your help so far btw!

 

[thundaboult]

Fitness is also very important, however, practice makes perfect and it is best if you practice bowling too

Oh yeah there's no way in hell I'm putting fast bowling aside while I do everything else lol. I have to make it to my university's cricket team during september/october and kill those tryouts. Been giving it everything the past month and trying to make these next three count as much as possible.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Awesome. Felt it was way too early to leave crossfit just yet lol. Btw, in my left arm bowling action, I feel that my non-bowling arm falls way too waywards to the side, is there a way for me to use it more efficiently to gain pace. And also is there something I can do to make sure that when my front foot lands on the crease, the knee is locked/braced and not bent. Thanks for all your help so far btw!

Regarding the front arm falling wayward, that's because you're bringing it down at an angle across your body. Make a conscious effort to keep the arm high and bring it down vertically at 90 degrees, straight as possible. If doing this makes your body feel stiff and limits range of motion with your current action then make your action slightly more side-on for cleaner arm rotation and greater range of motion.

The collapsing of the front leg is due to weakness in the lower core and back, glutes and hamstrings. Strengthen the muscles around your pelvis(lower core and glutes) to keep it leveled. This will improve your posture making hip extension and abduction easier. You need to fix your posture, running form and strengthen your legs by single leg workouts. Glutes, hamstrings and calves having slightly more importance than quads not that they should be denied.

http://physioworkshsv.com/the-importance-of-your-butt/

http://physioworkshsv.com/the-importance-of-good-hip-extension/

https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/hip-strengthening-for-runners/

 

[thundaboult]

Regarding the front arm falling wayward, that's because you're bringing it down at an angle across your body. Make a conscious effort to keep the arm high and bring it down vertically at 90 degrees, straight as possible. If doing this makes your body feel stiff and limits range of motion with your current action then make your action slightly more side-on for cleaner arm rotation and greater range of motion.

The collapsing of the front leg is due to weakness in the lower core and back, glutes and hamstrings. Strengthen the muscles around your pelvis(lower core and glutes) to keep it leveled. This will improve your posture making hip extension and abduction easier. You need to fix your posture, running form and strengthen your legs by single leg workouts. Glutes, hamstrings and calves having slightly more importance than quads not that they should be denied.

http://physioworkshsv.com/the-importance-of-your-butt/

http://physioworkshsv.com/the-importance-of-good-hip-extension/

https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/hip-strengthening-for-runners/

Man, these are great tips! The stuff you've provided in this thread is exactly what the doctor ordered. I feel so confident being able to identify and then also have the solutions because of your knowledge and insight of the human body? If you don't mind me asking....are you a physiotherapist? Or do you just happen to have some knowledge in the biomechanics of bowling? If you were in Canada training me one on one, I would pay you for your help lol.

Another thing I would like to pick your brains on for now is the current state of my bowling arm. Right now when I load up my bowling arm for my delivery, it goes a bit higher than my head and goes outwards at an angle, in other words, the bowling arm's elbow is facing completely to the side. When I look at lets say, the likes of modern top left arm quick like a mitch starc, his bowling arm does go a bit higher than his head (except boult and johnson who keep the ball near their chin for the most part), his elbow is pointing towards off stump or straight ahead towards the batsman, so his bowling arm is tight and close to his body and not all opened up and sideways like mines. So what do you think the ideal positioning of the bowling arm is? Close to the body/not so high over your head and elbow pointing straight forward or is my bowling arm's positioning fine as it is? I feel like if the positioning of the bowling arm is right, the bowling action can become more compact and quicken the action itself, releasing the ball quicker and gaining pace through that....what do you think?

Another thing I noticed in the video below was that Johnson's action is more compact than Starc and even tho he releases the ball before Starc.....their speeds are still pretty similar. Are they just two different types of athletes or does range of motion doesn't account for much when it comes to bowling quicker. Because even tho Starc's action is pretty tight in a straight vertical line (his arms and legs dont fall waywards to the side), his action is still pretty open compared to johnson and yet his speeds are right up there with mitch j.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brPu9FYDXn0

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Man, these are great tips! The stuff you've provided in this thread is exactly what the doctor ordered. I feel so confident being able to identify and then also have the solutions because of your knowledge and insight of the human body? If you don't mind me asking....are you a physiotherapist? Or do you just happen to have some knowledge in the biomechanics of bowling? If you were in Canada training me one on one, I would pay you for your help lol.

Another thing I would like to pick your brains on for now is the current state of my bowling arm. Right now when I load up my bowling arm for my delivery, it goes a bit higher than my head and goes outwards at an angle, in other words, the bowling arm's elbow is facing completely to the side. When I look at lets say, the likes of modern top left arm quick like a mitch starc, his bowling arm does go a bit higher than his head (except boult and johnson who keep the ball near their chin for the most part), his elbow is pointing towards off stump or straight ahead towards the batsman, so his bowling arm is tight and close to his body and not all opened up and sideways like mines. So what do you think the ideal positioning of the bowling arm is? Close to the body/not so high over your head and elbow pointing straight forward or is my bowling arm's positioning fine as it is? I feel like if the positioning of the bowling arm is right, the bowling action can become more compact and quicken the action itself, releasing the ball quicker and gaining pace through that....what do you think?

Another thing I noticed in the video below was that Johnson's action is more compact than Starc and even tho he releases the ball before Starc.....their speeds are still pretty similar. Are they just two different types of athletes or does range of motion doesn't account for much when it comes to bowling quicker. Because even tho Starc's action is pretty tight in a straight vertical line (his arms and legs dont fall waywards to the side), his action is still pretty open compared to johnson and yet his speeds are right up there with mitch j.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brPu9FYDXn0

It's just lack of coordination. You want to move linearly as possibly towards the batsman without leaking energy. So you want the elbow pointing in the same direction, close to the body. How far(in front of the body) and high you want to extend depends on comfortability.

Starc is the longer, more elastic athlete relying on greater range of motion to generate pace. Whereas Johnson is compact, strong and powers through the crease using his muscle mass/strength to generate pace.
Johnson releases the ball earlier because of greater core/leg strength. His body holds up better therefore his action completes earlier whereas Starc's core collapses a bit before resulting in the ball being released later. It's also one of the reasons why Johnson gets more lift than Starc.

 

[thundaboult]

It's just lack of coordination. You want to move linearly as possibly towards the batsman without leaking energy. So you want the elbow pointing in the same direction, close to the body. How far(in front of the body) and high you want to extend depends on comfortability.

Starc is the longer, more elastic athlete relying on greater range of motion to generate pace. Whereas Johnson is compact, strong and powers through the crease using his muscle mass/strength to generate pace.
Johnson releases the ball earlier because of greater core/leg strength. His body holds up better therefore his action completes earlier whereas Starc's core collapses a bit before resulting in the ball being released later. It's also one of the reasons why Johnson gets more lift than Starc.

Thanks again! The sciency stuff behind fast bowling is making a lot more sense to me now. Kinda simple really but overthinking has always clouded my mind in the past. By the way, I am finally practicing the left arm action in the nets now, not really doing it off a full run up yet....just tryna bowl off a couple steps into the jump and really focusing on keeping the bowling arm and non-bowling arm as linear as possible facing off stump. I also plan on trying to have a nice big jump and landing on the crease with a possibly stretched or at least braced front leg. But like you said, it will become better as the lower core and the legs become stronger.

All in all, I hope I will get these flaws corrected and bowl off a proper long run-up soon.

 

[Spookiewookie]

Great thread thundaboult - like your tenacity


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[thundaboult]

Thank you! The next few months are decisive as hell!

 

[thundaboult]

Well, its been 3 months since i last posted and i thought it was time time for an update!

Fitness: Getting better as time goes on, I've gone from a 175 pounds to 158 in the last 4 months, and plan on going all the way down to 140-142 ibs before putting on some proper weight aka lean muscle mass. The reason why I want to drop to the low 140's in weight is because that's what I feel will be the perfect weight to start building a lean but explosive and muscular platform on for me. I used to be lean in the mid 140's couple years back and could run fast and not tire at all (well i was doing boxing at that time).

Now onto the good stuff, here's my tweaked bowling action after 3 months of butting heads with all sorts of problems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB5N8WR7kSk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_AVi9ywfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB5N8WR7kSk

Besides the gains from improved fitness, the run-up's rythm feels a lot better, and it feels quicker as well due to the little ritual have before I start my run-up, which is basically me running in a stand-still without moving, a few of those stomps into the ground get rid of any stiffness in my legs and gets my knees driving. That little unusual habit has really helped my run-up in general. Another area of improvement is that now, I keep my hands and arms very tight and close to my body, and I keep my hands high, up to my chest. So when I'm running towards my delivery stride, the ball is always close to my chin and chest. Its made my action more compact and I feel that my line and length and improved because of it, especially my fuller length deliveries. The action where I was very loose, which had my hands down to my hip and waist, was very good for shorter length bowling as I could bowl accurate short balls at the shoulder or chest of a batsman, and even a few bouncers right at the badge.

The video below is me using that action for the shorter length/loose arms bowling but I have completely stopped using that action now, as I feel my fuller length will be better as a the wicket-taking option. Although I might start practicing the loose arms action again to develop my short length bowling into something more useful as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKwfChEbPns

Another simple tweak I made was that now, my run is tight and in a straight line, and close to the stumps. Before, I was a lot farther from the stumps and run-up was at an angle and not in a straight line. As of yet, I haven't fiddled with using the crease too much, like going wider to use it for swing.

The problems that I still have in my bowling action are pretty clear. My line and length is not consistent and sometimes I release the ball too late, causing the pace to drop and going leg-side.

My non-bowling arm arm still falls way over to the side instead of going tight into my body or close to it. So if someone can help me or give me a drill to fix this problem, I would appreciate it greatly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNrdAS0_U70

Another issue is the front leg, the one that is supposed to land on the crease to finish the bowling action. my front leg still keeps bending and I am finding it difficult to brace it and keep it straight upon slamming it down onto the crease. I am certain that I am losing pace and bounce due to this problem just like the non-bowling arm falling waywards to the side. I know [MENTION=141557]Chief Destroyer[/MENTION] above recommended me to develop my leg muscles to fix that already. But if there is any other drill I can do to fix this issue, It would do me a world of good. Here is a video below of my bent front leg at the crease. Use the slow-motion option on youtube to get a better look at it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsORiDxUKSU

All in all, I feel better with my bowling action overall, but it feels like 2 different parts right now, being the run up and the delivery stride. I want both to feel more in sync, so it becomes one big rhythmical part overall, into a complete bowling action.

Anyone who took the time to read all this and watch the videos, I really really appreciate it, you have no idea how important this is to me!

As always, any tips, analysis, or criticism is welcome! I can use allllll the help I can possibly help from you guys here at Pakpassion. This is the one forum where I receive quick and actual help unlike cricketweb, where a good reply or recognition comes after 6 weeks lol.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

[MENTION=141575]thundaboult[/MENTION] Looking much better from every aspect.

Regarding drills for your front bowling arm, start from a standstill position. Use your front to aim at your target, extend your leg, head stable pointing towards the target(make a conscious effort to keep it stable that throughout your action) and deliver the ball with a strong follow through. Then add a few steps and bowl, gradually increase steps until you reach your run up. Do not add steps at any stage until you're comfortable with driving the front arm from that position.

Here's a drill for practicing the front leg brace. The same concept here, gradually increase steps as you become more comfortable. Your front arm drive doesn't have to be the same as the one in the video. Everyone is different but it is necessary to drive the front arm back as your torso comes over the front leg to keep your body in linear motion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V00h2kKq_wU

 

[Slog]

Saw all the videos

definite improvement from the videos in OP

I'd work on the run up first. Your initial strides seem too long to me.

The first few should be very small and almost like walking an you gradually build them up and on 3/5ths way towards the crease you want to be at full tilt and jump.

a useful video which i found was following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKjWsWg2p2s (really liked this and helped me a lot to get rythym which did increase my pace too)

Infact id HIGHLY encourage to watch all the videos in this series by Geoff lawson be it gather, release etc


I think timing the jump perfectly personally leads to an increase in effort and hence speed

Ive recently restarted hard ball cricket after many years and after working on run up, delivery aspects have been working on swing, ball grip, release, seam etc and that def has been getting me results. At the end of the day you can have the most proper bowling action from technical standpoint but if youre delivering 120k-130k (which is abt average for a guy who doesnt play and train professionally imo) deliveries at poor line and length it wont get you wickets. Which is why work on other aspects as well