So as I mentioned previously, the blokes at Basildon were going to give me a chance at being a Wrist Spin coach, so this week two of the three lads that are showing a desire to bowl wrist spin were there today. One of them is Joe my younger son, who flits in and out of wanting to bowl spin and demonstrates differing levels of commitment to the discipline. The other lad Frank who I'd seen bowling before was already doing well, demonstrating an affective method of getting the ball to spin out of the hand. Following Peter Philpotts advice on not focusing on the mechanics of how they do this the only thing I felt that I needed to do was to introduce the stand start drill and get them working with this and to see whether it improved their spin and turn off the wicket. Joe's seen it before and I think already had drawn conclusions as to whether it helps him or not - his belief is that it messes up his bowling and he needs to do it without a ball or into the side of the net, so that he doesn't see the outcome, that way, he simply focuses on the stand start bowling action without concluding that it is bad for his bowling.
Frank on the other hand I think was initially flummoxed by the idea of bowling off of a standing position, as one of the other blokes (Who may be a Leggie) has got him to work with establishing a run up.
With reference to training Shane Warne, Jenner says.....
'I thought the best way to do this is to take away all the distractions that may be causing all the problems in other words the run up, maybe a bouncey, or a long run up, or an angled run up or whatever and I thought.... This is where the business is anyway - it's what you do in the crease. So, I started working from there, so I started working with Shane, trying to get him to push his hand forward, because he used to pull it a long way to the side'.
This is from an extract from a little known video, where Jenner is talking about the use of the stand start as being the key method of training kids and adults the art of wrist spin. All of the evidence that I've found over the last four years points to the stand start drill being the key thing that underpins Wrist Spin bowling. It's the thing you work with when you're learning and it's the thing that you return to if you lose you Leg Break in some way during your career as a wrist spinner. All other aspects of your bowling are secondary with the exception of the grip and release, so with the proviso that you're flicking the ball from the hand out of a cocked wrist using the conventional 2 up 2 down grip, the stand start is key to adding all the other aspects. Get the stand start sussed and all the other things should follow on in a natural succession.
My Own Bowling
I've been able to get out a bit over the last couple of days as the weather's been mild and I've been throwing the ball around a bit practicing with the bound, so today in the nets with Frank and Joe, I've been able to show them the importance of rotation and I've been bowling with the bound and it's been okay. Initial experiments outside the house over shorter distances look quite promising and it looks as though I'm getting the ball to turn fairly well, even though I'm just rolling the ball off the fingers? So tomorrow at nets I might occupy the end bay and take some training balls and a set of stumps and see if I can get the bowling action with the bound working. Maybe I'll spend 30 minutes or more (Depending on how it goes) before taking it to the nets if it comes together.
The Wrong Wrong Un
This is one of Grimmetts more obscure Flipper variations and one that he didn't pursue or use in a game. I came across the idea before I'd even read Grimmett and spent a year or so playing with it as it produced a good leg break action when I was suffering from the googly syndrome albeit very slow and loopy. But on saturday I had one of those epiphanal moments when I suddenly realised that you could bowl it without using the ridiculously contorted wrist angle that I used to use which was a dead give-away. You simply bowl out of the back of the hand with the dipped shoulder as though you're bowling a wrong un, but holding the ball in the manner of the Flipper you simply click the fingers and a ball that looks as though it's a blatant Wrong Un turns like a Leg Break. So, I've gone from the point where I'd 99% given up on this as a variation to now seeing that it has potential once again.
