Old Man Action - Back in The Saddle

[Goughy]

I originally posted this in the Your 2013 Cricket Season in Cricket Chat but this is a better place where I can possible post updates to see if I can make the corrections I need to do.

On repeated viewing I have noticed an additional issue that I have to correct and the is the lack of follow through the crease and this is probably psychological as my injury happened in my follow through.

Hopefully I can posts some updates in the following weeks and months that will show improvements.

Originally Posted by Goughy

As some may know, just over a year ago I had my face rebuilt after a freak cricket accident. Apart from one random game, I had not played since. Recently, though, Ive had a few nets to see if I want to get back into it.

It has been going OK but I don't have the extra two yards of pace that I had in my prime - which probably makes sense given I am 36 and have not played a serious game of cricket in about 5 years.

I took a vid at the nets last night and the answer for the loss of pace is clear. Obviously is still sharpish (it's only of 6 steps or so but I was trying) but only when I see it on tape do I see that I now have an old man's action. All the dynamic aspects have been reduced.

- Shortened delivery stride (bad hamstrings)
- Reduced range of motion on the arc of the front leg
- left leg collapses
- back foot bisects the crease rather than being parallel
- There is a hitch at the top of the action that breaks the fluidity

Here is the link. The first guy, in yellow, is a FC and ODI player.

Back in the saddle - YouTube

[vic_orthdox]

Thought the first guy might be Herschelle, the way he was staying leg-side of the ball. But then you would have said he'd played Tests.

[uvelocity]

nah too white. ian harvey?

[Goughy]

Sorry to disappoint. No one quite so illustrious. He's a Dutch top order batsman in his mid-late 20s.

[vic_orthdox]

Did you bowl natural innies?

[uvelocity]

the best bit was where the cameraman **** himself

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

Did you bowl natural innies?

I do generally but here I was holding the ball cross seam. Being out of the game a while, I want comfortable with my wrist position holding the ball seam up and it wasnt quite coming out right.

There is a whole list of tweaks I need to work on. Of course, given my action, the ball is generally angeled in to the batsman which is a bonus when it holds it's line. IIRC, the ball - I think the 2nd one - where he plays and misses goes past the inside edge and over leg stick.

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah, looked like it was what was natural, but thought that you'd still be able to take the ball away from the righty if you wanted to. Thought that you might try and do that a fair bit, and then let the natural in swinger go as the variation.

Reckon you've got an awkward action to face as a batsman, just a big blur and the ball appears rather quickly; would have hit a lot of blokes.

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

Yeah, looked like it was what was natural, but thought that you'd still be able to take the ball away from the righty if you wanted to. Thought that you might try and do that a fair bit, and then let the natural in swinger go as the variation.

Reckon you've got an awkward action to face as a batsman, just a big blur and the ball appears rather quickly; would have hit a lot of blokes.

That actually brings me to one thing I didn't include on the list that is probably the biggest obstacle to me getting back to bowling fast. I used to love hitting batsmen. Not for any sadistic pleasure but fast bowling hurt so much that I needed to be angry and the batsmen bore the brunt. However, now I'm not angry in the slightest and I'm concerned that the pain is no longer motivational. It is now just pain. My younger self wouldn't believe I'd ever say this but I no longer really want to hit anyone and the idea of hospitalizing someone sickens me. Perhaps it is due to my own injury experience or maybe I am just getting soft

[Goughy]

Gah! Well that didn't last long. Messed my hammy up again playing rugby this weekend. Will be out at least a month.

In other news, just ordered a speed/radar gun. It isn't to see how fast I bowl as all the reviews say it measures 10-15 mph slower than the real speed. So why did I buy it? Well it is consistently inaccurate so I'll be able to see any progressive increases in speed even if the actual speeds are not accurate and comparative speeds with the other bowlers. A top quality speed gun costs approx $600-800 so this is a compromise.

[The Coach]

Originally Posted by Goughy

Gah! Well that didn't last long. Messed my hammy up again playing rugby this weekend. Will be out at least a month.

In other news, just ordered a speed/radar gun. It isn't to see how fast I bowl as all the reviews say it measures 10-15 mph slower than the real speed. So why did I buy it? Well it is consistently inaccurate so I'll be able to see any progressive increases in speed even if the actual speeds are not accurate and comparative speeds with the other bowlers. A top quality speed gun costs approx $600-800 so this is a compromise.

Yep, I got one and use it the same way. It can also be switched to KPH so when I use it with the kids, I do this. u15 lad flashed 80 and he's happy - but I'm just recording the "number".

I also use it to do an average - record six deliveries and them ignore the slowest and fastest and take the average of the other four deliveries.

Can also use it in a "who's got the fastest throw" too, instead of measuring distance only.

[jonathanfs]

Originally Posted by The Coach

Yep, I got one and use it the same way. It can also be switched to KPH so when I use it with the kids, I do this. u15 lad flashed 80 and he's happy - but I'm just recording the "number".

I also use it to do an average - record six deliveries and them ignore the slowest and fastest and take the average of the other four deliveries.

Can also use it in a "who's got the fastest throw" too, instead of measuring distance only.

is that a speed gun your talking about ?? I know theyve got a ball that has a speed device in it so when you bowl you then get the ball and have a look and you can see the speed on it

[The Coach]

Originally Posted by jonathanfs

is that a speed gun your talking about ?? I know theyve got a ball that has a speed device in it so when you bowl you then get the ball and have a look and you can see the speed on it

No its not a gun, its a box thingy that you can either set up on the floor, or as I do, on a camera tripod behind the net.