Again using the Gibbs Reflective Practice method
(1). What Happened - This morning having watched the Beau Casson video here several times and taking on board the advice about getting your left hand up around your right ear in the gather so that you look down your forearm towards the batsman I went over the paddock to video the action without a ball...
Click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFBwG6i6Bag
Having quickly looked at the video it looked as though this held some real promise so Joe and I went over to Mopsies Park and used the artificial surface again and I tried the new action.
(2). Feelings - I felt that this might herald further development as there was an obvious improvement in the dynamism of the bowling action. I did feel though I've tried similar things before having noticed that without the ball the bowling action looks better for some reason. So there was reason for optimism tinged with the suspicion that I may be able to add the 'Explosion' aspect to the action, but my accuracy and spin would almost certainly be lost as has been my previous experience.
(3). Evaluation (Good & Bad) - In this instance there was negligible aspects that were bad. Almost everything that happened today was good along with some very surprising outcomes that I was not expecting. The whole session from virtually the first ball was good, the idea of this gradual re-construction of my bowling action seems to be working perfectly.
(4). Analysis - Looking at the video above and comparing with advice that I've had previously and then having that re-confirmed, one of the things I noticed in the ball-less delivery action was that my shoulders and my hips appear to be far more synchronised, whereas in the old flailing around arms version, there appears to be a separation component in that the spine/torso twists as the shoulders and hips are not in unison. I'm lead to believe and it rings true that this in the longer term is bad for your back. So that in itself was good to see.
Another observation was that despite the more dynamic action, I wasn't fading off to the left as seen from the front. But there is that sudden abrupt stop which might be an issue?
As mentioned above, the plan was to take this all to Mopsies and try it with the new run-up with a ball and see how it would pan out. The expectation was that I would be spraying the ball everywhere because it's not what I do?
I turns out that this wasn't the case at all. Firstly from the very start my 'Line' accuracy immediately improved and the feeling was that it was faster and more dynamic. Then I noticed in addition without even thinking about it I wasn't veering off to the left as viewed from the batsman as I have been.
(5). Conclusion - The leading arm now seems more organised and it's as though I now know what to do with it and because it's now compact and it has become another aspect that is far more consistent and repeatable - it seems as though this follows through into the bowling outcome. I bowled very few down the legside in the way that I would normally expect to do in 24 balls. So overall this feels like another massive development in my bowling.
The only thing I may look at is, to take this a stage further by extending the arm out and forwards, but I'm not entirely convinced it's necessary. But I will try it and see.
See the video here...
(6). Action Plan - Continue with the action as it stands here in the video, but explore as mentioned extending and straightening the arm to see if it has any positive impact. There is an expectation that it may mess up my balance and I might end up returning to a flailing arm approach?
What all this means is that I'm now of the opinion that when you're talking about learning wrist spinning this aspect of the whole process seems to be more important than the details relating to wrist position which if you look back is something I've discussed before. You need to have a good understanding of basic bowling actions and be aware of the need to be approaching the crease in a manner that is repeatable and consistent from which you can then execute your deliveries. It's a case of having a sound foundation from which to build on.
Check out my other blog here - this is all about Leg-spin bowling and nothing else. Double click on the image below.
