I've been un-happy about my bowling of late, but with a knackered knee I'm quite happy to write it off as being due to that factor. What has been happening though, which is a definite positive is that I've been getting a lot more spin on the ball and I'm bowling a lot more these days with a big ripping action (The Big Flick). What I have noticed though is a deficiency in some cognitive aspect of the process, I can't easily instruct my body right down to the hand and what it does to differentiate between bowling at different angles even when working with degree variations of 45 degrees with ease.
Currently, if I employ total focus, bowl with a ridiculously loose grip, bowl with a very smooth and relaxed action through the crease and have no distractions, I can then produce the variations in the direction of spin - straight (Top-Spinner), Small Leg Break 45 degree angle and the 90 degree 'Biggun'. But, I can only do this with a slow loopy 'Moon Ball' type flight albeit on a decent line and length. But even my sons watch the ball in let it bounce judge the speed and play it late either defensively or smack it either side depending what line of attack I bowl.
So now I'm thinking I need to get the speed up and work with the Top-Spinner. If I recall correctly a few years back I looked at the Top-Spinner as a remedial method (Unsuccessfully) of recovering from the Googly Syndrome but there was a remarkable improvement in my Top - Spinner at the time simply due to the fact that I spent some hours bowling it. So, perhaps I should look again at the conventional 'Toppie' and see if I can get the speed up a bit and see how that affects the dip? This bloke here has a good video where gets the bowlers to spin the ball through a couple of hoops. The best bit is the recommendation that in order to learn how to do this you're going to have to practice for an hour a day, just on this!!!
Paddock
Stopped off at the paddock tonight to see how it's drying out (Sunny today) and it has already and the surface is already hard. There's more rain due soon, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get out there tomorrow and have a bowl and maybe a bat with the kids?
