Googly Help

[Poison]

HALP ME WITH MY GOOGLY

I can't bowl one without it being a full toss or a half tracker. I have bowled about 3 in the last 5 games I've played which have actually landed ok and they've all got the batsmen bowled. Need consistency, tips?

 

[Cover Drive]

Try bowling more in nets.

 

[Cover Drive]

From PitchVision;

How to Bowl a Googly​

Watching a good leg spinner operate against an average batsman is like watching a lion play with its prey before going in for the kill. The helpless beast has no idea what’s going on and no way to combat it.

The googly is the lethal blow for the poor creature.

Spin is all about outsmarting the batsman and the googly puzzles batsman by turning the wrong way with the same action, leaving him walking back to the pavilion with a confused look and spread-eagled stumps.

Grip and wrist position​

Hold the ball in the identical way as you would hold for a usual leg spin delivery:

Ideally, the grip of a leg spinner should be placing index and middle finger on the seam while thumb place adjacently to them along the seam. The ring finger should be placed slightly wide of the seam and used for holding the ball.

From here you’ll see the difference between a googly and a stand leg break. When you are going to deliver the ball, the palm of your hand carrying the ball should be pointing skywards. The back of your hand should be facing towards batsman so he cannot point out the difference. If the googly is picked, it is very unlikely that it be going to be effective.

Twisting the wrist at around 180 degrees towards the ground will cause the ball to spin into the batsman. The ring finger plays an important part as it rotates the ball in an anti-clockwise position. This will cause the ball to turn like an off spinner after pitching.

Avoiding the ‘googly syndrome’​

The control, precision and accuracy in bowling a googly come with time and practice. However, there is a risk associated with too much googly practice.

You can lose your leg break and end up only being able to bowl googlies.

This has been coined the googly syndrome and has been recognised by leg spinners and their coaches for many years.

The best way to avoid it is to be careful how much you practice. A typical club leggie should bowl 8-10 overs a week in the nets. Of that, 1-2 overs at most should be googlies (and always finish with 2-3 overs of pure leg breaks with no variations).

This limited practice time is why it is so hard to master the googly, especially for young spinners.

If you stick with your practice, keep firing the ball at a target without a batsman and be confident with it in the middle your team-mates will consider you some kind of leg spin genius when you bowl the hapless batsman with a perfect bosie.

 

[Cover Drive]

BBC

The leg-spinner's prize weapon - bowled properly, a googly is almost undetectable.

A googly, or "wrong'un", is a delivery which looks like a normal leg-spinner but actually turns towards the batsmen, like an off-break, rather than away from the bat.
Unlike a normal leg-break, a googly is delivered out of the back of the hand, with the wrist 180 degrees to the ground.

STEP ONE

Hold the ball as if you're about to bowl a normal leg-break.
The top joints of the index and middle fingers should be across the seam, with the ball resting between a bent third finger and the thumb.

STEP TWO

At the point of release, the palm of your hand should be open upwards, towards the sky, with the back of your hand facing the batsman.

Your wrist should be 180 degrees to the ground, while the seam of the ball should point towards fine leg.

Again, it should be your third finger which does most of the work, turning the ball anti-clockwise on release.

You'll probably find it goes horribly wrong the first few times you give the googly a try, but don't give up.

As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Use a tennis ball to help improve the flexibility of your wrist.

 

[Bullet Drive]

You need to practise this a lot. I am pretty good with my googly however I bowl fast instead. I reccommend bowling in the nets for a long long time onto a marker for consistency.

I bowl mine from the back of the hand, a bit like Afridi and I also have a similar action.

 

[Poison]

Yeah that's the back of the hand technique ... I know how to bowl it it's just that when you let it go from the back of your hand it's very hard to consistently pitch it in one area. I think might be a practise issue

 

[Bullet Drive]

Yeah that's the back of the hand technique ... I know how to bowl it it's just that when you let it go from the back of your hand it's very hard to consistently pitch it in one area. I think might be a practise issue

Yes definitely a practise issue however don't overdo bowling it in the nets.

Read the above article on the 'googly syndrome'

 

[Poison]

It's a bit strange to read about the googly syndrome ... I know many people (at least 4) who have a leg spinners action but ONLY bowl googlies, and they never remember bowling any differently ... I envy those people

 

[Poison]

Also with regard to playing bouncers ... I only go after short balls if the bowler is very slow, otherwise I duck all the time :raina

It's different in T20s though, I had one on the weekend (I take a Chris Gayle stance in T20s, back in the crease and open-stanced) and pulled my first ball for a massive six (no gloat). Should I take the same stance in normal games?

 

[Cover Drive]

Also with regard to playing bouncers ... I only go after short balls if the bowler is very slow, otherwise I duck all the time :raina

It's different in T20s though, I had one on the weekend (I take a Chris Gayle stance in T20s, back in the crease and open-stanced) and pulled my first ball for a massive six (no gloat). Should I take the same stance in normal games?

Does that stance affect your other shots too? If no then go for it, no harm.

But I fear front foot shots might not work out properly, no ?

 

[ElRaja]

HALP ME WITH MY GOOGLY

I can't bowl one without it being a full toss or a half tracker. I have bowled about 3 in the last 5 games I've played which have actually landed ok and they've all got the batsmen bowled. Need consistency, tips?

the only thing i can think of is you may not be following through completely, as benaud used to say, your bowling hand should end up on your left hip.

also you could try altering your grip a bit, pulling your fingers together so that your ring and pinky finger also touch the ball a bit reduces spin but increases accuracy ive found.

just dont make drastic changes, the last thing you want to do is ruin your leggie.

 

[Sledger]

My google used to be better than my legbreak.

The best way I find to visualise it is to forget thinking about the back of the hand stuff but imagine it's bowled by your thumb pushing the ball up through your middle and fourth finger.

 

[shirazi_r]

Drop your left shoulder! Almost every time I see someone with this problem, it has to do with their body being too upright which won't allow you the flex to get your arm around.

 

[Hasnain_786]

Practise make perfect

 

[shahrukh619]

surprise, usually a leg spinner finds it easy to bowl the googly first then the actual leg spin.



Put ur fingers on the ball sideways. Right way of the ball, and when you realize the ball from ur hand, move ur fingers sideways to creat some spin.

That's how i bowl and always get it right.

 

[Bullet Drive]

surprise, usually a leg spinner finds it easy to bowl the googly first then the actual leg spin.



Put ur fingers on the ball sideways. Right way of the ball, and when you realize the ball from ur hand, move ur fingers sideways to creat some spin.

That's how i bowl and always get it right.

If you read the OP, he said he can bowl a googly however he is failing to land it on the right spot consistently.

 

[Justcrazy]

Try and get some loop into the googly , and try and pitch it on middle stump.

 

[shaz619]

i can bowl the googly perfectly with two different drips from the side of the hand and the back of the hand and can land it in the desired area consistently and can flight it to, i can also bowl the delivery which just sought of skids on and stays low don't know what its called but guys i cannot bowl a leg break at all! i think i have the googly syndrome because every since i have picked up a ball from childhood i naturally have been bowling googlies but have never been able to bowl a leg break i have tried to bowl a legbreak but a googly always comes out, i read on the net that its because upon relase of the ball my elbow needs to be downwards as if i am performing a karate chop which could be the problem, what do you guys think? also i put my head a bit down when i bow (paul adams) maybe the action is something to do with it to?