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Lyell_Chris

U19 12th Man
Hello i've just joined this forum and it looks pretty cool, I'm a medium bowler who likes spinning more but New Zealand junior pitches r soooo green theres no point trying 2 get turn. I dunno wot i'm allowed 2 ask on here but ne off spin help would b appreciated.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Welcome, mate. And if you wanna be a spinner, go for it with all you got. Even bouncy tracks can help spinners, at times.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
1. welcome
2. keep body straight and don't fall into trap of falling away, as you'll lose your shape and end up with too much topspin, and no drift away from the right hander.
3. work on strengthening your fingers (especially index and second finger)
4. must have a swinging arm ball
5. try to get the ball up and down as quickly as possible
 

Rich2001

International Captain
Lyell_Chris said:
Hello i've just joined this forum and it looks pretty cool, I'm a medium bowler who likes spinning more but New Zealand junior pitches r soooo green theres no point trying 2 get turn. I dunno wot i'm allowed 2 ask on here but ne off spin help would b appreciated.
Welcome to Cricket Web :)

The perfect chap to ask about this is a guy on the forum who goes by the name of Lord_of_darkness he is a fellow Off Spinner in New Zealand and has been pretty sussecful in the last couple of seasons, so he either has some ablity to be turning it or has used the conditions to his advantage.

But any general help iam sure the guys (and girls) around here will me more than happy to help you out in whatever way they can.
 

lord_of_darkness

Cricket Web XI Moderator
Hey Lyell first of all welcome to CW mate !.. Its a great place here enjoy your stay you will no doubt have a great time, go with the flow. And its great to see more kiwis coming onboard aswell!
Where in NZ do you reside?

What junior level do you play in? because most juniors i know dont get to play on grass pitches -at all- and even if they did get a chance the pitches wouldnt be prepared to its best..
Its good you chose to be an spinner at a young age, so you have lots of time to develop and learn new things.. and i think chosing the art of off spin is a good decision because in NZ cricket ive seen at junior level there are a lot more leggies than only a few handful offies , and less than a handful that are good offies. So starting now is a good choice, as long as you keep to it as there will be a lot of many frustrating and testing times throughout your young cricketing career.!

Ill break it off into 2 parts so i dont clog a whole post..

Firstly before bowling in a game.. never think negative.. never think "dayum that looks more like a cow pasture, lets just bowl end to end" However green or not the pitch might be, always be firstly thankful it is a grass pitch because trust me green grass pitches are way better than artificial ones! And always project in your mind when you have a look at the pitch while walking past it places you can bowl to exploit the pitch and use it to your advantage.. bowling at that right spot time and again on however green a pitch will prove very good , as the batsmen would already have made up his mind that you will not get any turn whatsoever.
In my 2-3 years stay in Dunedin i play in some of the green'st turf pitches ive seen.. but because i always saw how the pitch looked and where i could look to bowl , and using my first over to find a spot it helped tremendously.. do that..

And dont get put off if you see some good bounce early on for your fast bowlers.. as good bounce is very useful to a spin bowler when you bowl it into that right spot and even if it doesnt turn varying the pace of your delivery to bowl a ball in the right spot to get that zip and suprise bounce on the batsmen will prove very lethal!
 

lord_of_darkness

Cricket Web XI Moderator
Secondly a basic guide to start of bowling and practising off spin is..

..1/ Mark a good run up so that you can use that to bowl in from and that way once you get your rhythm going from there, you will carry on well and will not have the worry of taking shorter or longer steps etc while bowling..

..2/ Keep the body straight while coming into bowl and keep your eyes straight and focussed onto the batsmen and the spot where you want to bowl..

..3/ When delivering the ball make sure your body twists towards the right from your right shoulder in a way to get your right leg in front of your left leg, and move back again quickly in a catching/fielding position - in a way your looking straight on and your legs are apart, like waiting for a catch or to stop the ball.
Vary the time you release the ball for good flight.. and always give the ball a good tweak when you release it so it can dip and zip or turn
MAKE sure your index and middle finger is well wide apart on across the seam it will widen with practise and experience , and when delivering the ball turn the ball like you turn a door knob except with more intensity and strenght and make sure you deliver the ball with the seam facing in or a bit curved into onto the stumps/batsmen.. and look to deliver around the area outside off stump or on off stump giving room to turn / bounce..

Make sure you stretch your shoulder, arms, back , thighs and calves before and after a game.. as a lot of pressure is on these areas.. and you will feel some ill effects for a few days if you forget to stretch!

Theres a lot more to cover .. hope this helped start you off.. feel free to ask me anything related and update me on how you went..
Remember it will feel weird at first because you are trying new things.. but once you get onto it and keep at it regularly you will feel good about it, it will look good and you will have positive results too..
 

Lyell_Chris

U19 12th Man
do u have msn ??, I'd like 2 here some more tips from u as u seem 2 know alot. I am having trouble getting ne thing right.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
yeh, i do play cricket in melbourne, all too regularly in fact. got injured on the weekend tho, strained a muscle in my shoulder i think :( i bowl left arm orthodox (i thought the name might have implied that...despite the typo)
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Welcome to CW - we've had plenty of threads like this about coaching tips before, and we're looking to introduce a dedicated coaching tips section soon as well.

Reuben (Lord) has made some cracking tips above (as you'd expect, he can't do much but he can bowl offies), just thought I'd add a bit (Waughney and Aust_Hitman can vouch for the effectiveness of my coaching tips).

Big danger here is that we go on and on with tips and that over-complicates everything and confuses the hell out of you. So, I'll try to keep it short and simple, but feel free to ignore. The grip wants to be wide, but not too wide or you'll slow down the ball release (friction).

Try keeping your right arm (I assume you're right-handed) as high and straight as possible, this will both increase the bounce and turn you get (if your arm's not straight any revs you put on the ball won't give their maximum spin), and very important get a good, strong pivot round your left leg, so that your front shoulder points toward the batsman after you release. If you don't do this, you end up just putting the ball there, which just asks to get carted.

Finally, look to vary the flight and pace of the ball. Slow bowling isn't just about beating the batsman off the pitch with turn - it can be equally satisfying to out-think somebody by inducing them to play completely the wrong shot (bowling someone with a googly's great).

My MSN is in my signature.
 

lord_of_darkness

Cricket Web XI Moderator
yeh, i do play cricket in melbourne, all too regularly in fact. got injured on the weekend tho, strained a muscle in my shoulder i think i bowl left arm orthodox (i thought the name might have implied that...despite the typo)
What grade and competition you play for mate?
 

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