Monday, March 05, 2012

Update

Cor blimey, I was hoping to get a good start to the season, good levels of fitness and good start with my bowling, but it's all been put back as I came down with a horrible cold that took the best part of 3 weeks to shake off. Thankfully, the back end of it is fading now and I'm getting back into the swing of things and working on my fitness. I seem to recall a similar thing happened last year which meant that I was bowling poorly in the nets and I think that was remembered by the blokes that pick the teams and subsequently I hardly got a game at the start of the season last year. Whether that was the reason I don't know for sure but that's how it felt?

My Bowling

Potentially, with the new action pretty much in place now, I just need to get to full fitness and perhaps all I need to do is tweak my action a little. This Friday gone I bowled at nets and noted a few things that I wasn't doing. I'm not sure whether other people have the same issues, and it probably only affects the afflicted or those of us looking to improve to the extent that we go looking for variations or maybe over-analyse what we do, but, I find that I bowl with a check list in my head. I have a feeling that more naturally talented people just simply bowl and get the desired outcome. It may be the case that had I not gone down the learning the Googly too early
route I may have been one of those naturals? But having had the Googly Syndrome, I've had to re-learn the Leg Break and in doing so have disected it to the point ridiculousness? So now I bowl having to think...

Run up straight.

Come out of the bound with my foot landing sideway to get side on.

Cock the wrist.

Have the leading arm long and strong reaching up and out.

Rotate the shoulders and hips in unison - not seperated.

Get up on the pivot foot toes and rotate.

Keep the motion going forwards.

Keep my head steady and in alignment with where I want the ball to go.

Whip the arm over fast.

Flick the ball from the hand.

Bring the bowling arm down and past the hips through the fade out in the follow through.

If I get all that together it works well! Thing is if I just miss out on one of those components it doesn't work that well, but then if you're thinking through this lot too much it then screws up your rythym, so the whole thing is a bit of a conundrum. With lots of practice it does come together every now and then, but it relies on fitness to some extent.