Goughy - running in too fast to bowl

[bond21]

I have been told I "attack" the crease too hard and that is the cause of my inconsistency. He said I should be trying to carry momentum through the crease instead of attacking it.

He told me I should run in a bit slower and a bit more smoothly so I get my action the same every time, and try not to rush through the action because I have to if im running in too fast.


What are your thoughts?

Right now my run up is almost a sprint, not quite but I run in pretty hard and it might unbalance me at the crease a bit.

Also I really dont understand the difference between "attacking the crease" and "carrying momentum through it"

[PhoenixFire]

Allan Donald used to time his run ups to get the optimum balance between running smoothly and running quickly, I seem to remember reading. He concluded that it is better for you if you run in smoother and quicker, rather than simply charging in, limbs everywhere and delivering the ball.

[Goughy]

Its different for all bowlers. You have to find what is comfortable and what works for you.

Different quicks get a different proportion of their pace from different aspects of their action.

I, myself, charge in hard at a full sprint. I get a lot of pace through momentum and traveling through the crease with aggression.

I find that it is the only way to stop my action from getting out of sync. A slowed down runup and speed of hitting the crease doesnt work for me as I find my arms and legs dont go in the same place every ball.

Also I need the pace in my runup to effectively bring my hips through. If I slow down the runup even a fraction I lose pace and rhythm as its impossible to execute the action properly and I have to force the ball (basically shoulder it) down to the other end.

I cant bowl medium pace as I cant replicate my action and smoothness off a more sedate runup.

Others, obviously, are different.

You need to know your own action and body to be able to make the call on what is best for you.

[bond21]

yea I think I am running in a bit too fast and frantic, because I feel less control at the crease than if I go off a shorter run and run in more smoothly, like I am rushing through the action.

Ill try a slower approach with more control.

[MrDucksWorth]

I take a fairly long run up, but don't charge 'that' hard. I just make sure I'm taking small steps at first and then fairly long strides by the end. I might run harder when my core's stronger though (I hurt my back fairly easily)

[Woodster]

Running in too fast has been a problem of mine, despite not looking from the sidelines that I am moving too quickly. Like Goughy says, I guess this is an individual thing, at my height running too quickly means it gets very difficult to control my elongated limbs!!

I tend to bowl smoother and possibly quicker when bowling in indoor nets using a shorter, smoother balanced run up and extracting my pace from my shoulders. Also, the indoor tracks mean that I hurry the batsmen a little more than perhaps outside on a typical English track.