How to Get a Repetitive Bowling Action | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

How to Get a Repetitive Bowling Action

Accuracy gets wickets: Glenn McGrath, Zaheer Khan, Veron Philander and many others at the highest level have proven the method.

Alongside pace, there is nothing more important to the quick bowler.

But accuracy is difficult. You have to run up and hit a very small target area time and time again. Any weakness in your action is revealed by poor balls that take the pressure off the batsman. You end up frustrated by a good over that is ruined by a wide half volley then a leg stump long hop as you try and compensate.

Then you have to walk shamefully down to fine leg and fume about it for an over before you get another go.

You go to nets hoping to find some form and rhythm, but you are never quite sure if your action is becoming repetitive.

You know that with a repeatable action you will be the go-to bowler in the team. You just need to be able to trust yourself to bowl 6 accurate balls and over.

Here is how you get there:
 
1. Run up

Every time you run up you should have the same feeling; that you are in control and you are reaching a speed that feels correct. If you are constantly running up with a fear in the back of your mind that you are not comfortable then you will never get your action right.

Measure your run up by taking time in nets to run away from the bowling crease. When you feel ready to bowl, mark the jump off point. Repeat this enough times and you will find a consistent point. This is your start point for your run up.

Measure it (with a tape measure) and make sure it’s marked at both ends before play.

2. Load up

Accuracy begins in your bound to the crease.  The aim is to keep your upper body as tight as possible. If your arms are flailing around you are adding needless movement to you action.

As you can see in the picture above, the bowler has lined up his bowling arm with his eyes and his non bowling arm with the line he wants to bowl.

There is much variation of this position between bowlers in the bound, but the really accurate bowlers are always tight in and keeping the both hands in view and both elbows and hands in line with the target.

If you get this wrong there is a high chance you will bowl off line. So video yourself or get someone to watch your elbow and hand position in your bound.

If it needs correcting, you can use the three knee drill from Ian Pont, focusing on getting your arm position lined up correctly. Walk through it first until you get the feel right before moving to a jog and finally running up as normal.

 
4. Line up

If your approach is good and you are aligned well in the bound you need to look at the actual action itself.

There are several alignment problems a bowler can have as she moves through the crease, but the most common is the front - or non-bowling - arm. Here the arm doesn’t come down straight towards the target, so you are far less able to bowl straight. You have a kink in your gun barrel.

Many bowlers find this simple to correct as soon as the fault is pointed out. However if you struggle to get this right, take your action back to a one-step drill.

Stand at the crease without a run up and bowl, working on bringing your front arm down straight. If you need assistance you can get a team-mate or coach to pull your front arm down straight until you get the feel:

 
5. Release

Up until now we have mostly been talking about line because bowling a good line is all about body alignment. However, length is all about when you release the ball.

If you let the ball go too early in your action you bowl full. If you let go too late you bowl short. This is a very subtle feel different but makes for a huge variation in length at the other end.

Working on length becomes a lot easier when you have the alignment of your action grooved into place.  Then you can focus in the point you let the ball go without worrying about the rest of your body.

The great news is that length practice is easy to get instant feedback. Lay down cones or use PitchVision to track length and then experiment with when you are releasing the ball. You can adjust in practice as much as you like.

This is also why you should bowl a couple of warm up overs before games to get that length release point feel back again. If you have practiced it hard enough it will be locked into your muscle memory and won’t take you long to lock back into place.

If you want more fast bowling accuracy and consistency drills, enrol on the online coaching course Consistency and Rhythm: Fast Bowling Technique from former-England bowler Andy Caddick. It contains video drills used by the Somerset man to be highly successful. 

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Comments

Hi,

I'm a spin bowler who really struggles with length. I can spin the ball well enough but I bowl far too many double-bounce half trackers or waist-high full tosses.

Is my release point all wrong? Do you have any idea how to isolate that feeling of the correct release point... I think I find it very hard to know what feels right. Everytime my coach tells me to memorise the feeling when I bowl a good ball I can't pinpoint what I'm doing right...and therefore it tends to all go wrong again!

Other than a repetitive action my main concern about my bowling is getting a rhythm while bowling in a match or net session. How do you get into a rhythm in these situations?

maybe u r nt well balanced..maybe u r taking a big stride..or ur head is nt still wen u bowl or even when u r a little front on...make sure dat ur front arm is nice and high in front of ur eyes and complete follow thru in a straight line is very crucial...i hope dis will give u some insight Smiling

Thanks Datrim

where r u frm anon

England. Why?

just wanted 2 know..i m frm india and i m an off spinner ..havent practised fr a while..thinking of joining a club....wt do u reckon abt it??

just wanted 2 know..i m frm india and i m an off spinner ..havent practised fr a while..thinking of joining a club....wt do u reckon abt it??

Hi everyone... I totally agree with the warming up scenario as mentioned by the article, it works. I can swing the ball in and out.. without any difficulty. My natural swing was the outswing. But everyone should ball atleast 12 balls just before the match starts, as this is a huge bonus. Any mistakes you are making, you can rectify it..

Also, Pace bowlers need to attack the crease hard, and prolong the hanging point as much as they can.

Hi,

I am a medium fast bowler.I want to increase my speed also when I bowl everyone says I stop a second and than bowl and its true.Also when I go to practice or for playing any match I get tense and I can't pick up a wicket or give too many extras.PLEASE HELP ME BECAUSE I KNOW THAT ONLY YOU CAN GIVE ME THE PERFECT ADVICE.

HI,

I am confused that of how many steps I should take my run up as a medium fast bowler.I am 14 years old.I normally take of 21 steps but I think its too big.PLEASE ADVICE ME.

Yash Bora if you feel comfortable with 21 steps in your run up then keep it at that length if you don't feel comfortable with it experiment a different length run up, you may have to make it longer. I did this last season and feel that I have rhythm in my run up.

Hi

I am a spin bowler but i am finding that i am not sticking to the same bowling action.

Please help.

I need help improving my length and accuracy. My run up is fine but when I bowl the ball doesn't go where I want it to. I focus on the stumps and still nothing. I don't know what to do.

I need help in my run up and action. I am an off spinner please help me

Hi i am a spin bowler my ball does not reaches well to the batsman

before 2days when i was doing a fast bowling ,as soon as one opposite team's player say me your are a through bowler.at that time i realize first time yes i am through bowler..,my weakness is.as soon as i complete my run up any going to deliever the bowl .my arm is not rotating complete.but when i am doing a practise at my home my arm is rotating comletely.can you give me information and guidenace to remove this problem from my self forever..?

Hey
I m 17 and i m try to get a different action but not get it
So just tell me what r the some key points to remember during my action

You should try video yourself hen you bowl a good length delivery, make sure you have different angles of yo.u bowling if possible, and compare them with your bad length deliveries

You should try video yourself hen you bowl a good length delivery, make sure you have different angles of yo.u bowling if possible, and compare them with your bad length deliveries

hi im an 18 year medium pacer. i have a similar action to jimmy anderson. i bowl around 70mph and ive been focusing on making my action stronger however when i have read that your non bowling arm should pass down your side by your trunk to increase the speed of the bowling arm however when i bowl, my non bowling arm stays straight and falls away to the side . i can still bowl the bowl reasonably fast and maintain accuracy and swing . whenever i try to bowl with a strong and powerful non bowling arm i lose accuracy. is there any way to fix this .

thanks

i am Mahi.....i am an off spinner i tends to bowl the ball with good spin but i fails to keep a control and i often seems to bowl wide where ball pitches on the off and move towards the leg side and i lack enough pace please give me advice to develop my skill

my tip for those who can not control the ball or bowl in right line and length and are struggling with their action i suggest you to bowl with action similar to saeed ajmal.i also tried this and now i can bowl off spin very well and almost every off spin variation like doosra,carom ball,arm ball,quicker one and some other.i can control all of my deliveries

hi , I'm young and I have problem with my left arm while bowling fast bowling . what I do ?

I am a left arm spinner can turn the ball square. Even my line is pretty much sorted on middle n off stump. But my main concern is length, I bowl either too full or too short hence not getting wickets and even cant be economic. Please advise any specific drill I can follow in order to get it right.

I am struggling with my release point.I am either bowling very high i.e. above batsman or very short length balls.Could u please help me to sort this one out??

i am struggling with my pace &line lenght. could u please help me