Common bowling mistakes - Part two

Learning to Bowl

When learning to bowl it is crucial that a youngster develops a bowling technique that will allow them to progress as a cricketer. The bowling action is very complex and it is a difficult skill to learn. It is even more difficult to write about the complexities of the action as the movements required to bowl correctly are difficult to put into words. I am a coach, not a writer, but will do my best to put into words something which is a lot easier for me to demonstrate.

 As a coach I like to break the bowling action down into five separate stages. I look at these stages separately and then assess exactly where a student may be going wrong with their action. The five stages of the bowling action include:

1. The Run Up 

2. The Gather

 3. The Delivery Stride

4. The Release 

 5. The Follow Through

In this blog I am going to focus on the position of the feet during the transition from the Run Up into the Gather. In the Gather, the bowler should position his feet correctly before moving into the Delivery Stride. In my experience as a coach, the majority of youngsters come to me with a good Run Up. After all, we all know how to run and the skill itself is not that difficult. Not all students have an ‘athletic approach’ to the wicket but that can be worked on quite easily. 

The Double Hop

What frustrates me as a coach is when I see a student who is not a beginner cricketer bowling with what I call a double hop. I estimate that one in every six students come to me with a double hop. A double hop is two consecutive bounces on the same foot before stepping into Delivery Stride. For a right handed bowler this is two bounces on the right foot and for the left handed bowler this is two bounces on the left foot. The reason this frustrates me so much is when a student does the double hop it is very obvious to spot. Even a non cricketer could tell you that the action of a double hopper is a lot different to the action of a bowler with a normal run up and jump. So why then are coaches not spotting this at club level? And if they are spotting it, why are they not correcting it? This is an obvious bowling mistake and if not corrected early the student will develop incorrect muscle memory. The longer it goes on for the harder it will be for the student to correct.

What’s wrong with the Double Hop?

The double hop is not good for a number of reasons. It causes the student to lose momentum in the Run Up and their overall pace of delivery will be slower than it could be. More importantly though, the double hop will cause a lot of stress on the lower back and leg. Imagine running at three quarter pace and then performing a double bounce on the same foot on a hard cricket pitch. It will be just a matter of time before a serious injury occurs. This technique flaw needs to be corrected when first noticed. It is not great that I am seeing students well into their teenage years with a double hop. If you venture around the grounds where low grade adult cricket is being played you may also spot some double hopping actions that have never been corrected.

Why do Students Double Hop?

The human brain is magnificent and is responsible for all our body movements and actions. Students who double hop do so because their brain tells them that they are not in the correct position to bowl the ball. A student with a normal bowling action will turn their foot into Gather; their foot won’t continue landing straight as it was previously with the running action. It will turn outwards to allow the student to get side on in the Delivery Stride. A double hopper will land with their foot not turned but straight, as if continuing with the running action. The brain then sends a message to the student telling them that they can’t get anywhere near side on with their foot landing so straight. The student will then instinctively bounce again on the same foot but this time turning the foot outwards to allow them a side on movement into the Delivery Stride. Over time this double hop action starts to feel natural for the student and muscle memory develops making it very hard to correct. The double hop action prevents the students from squaring their hips correctly and most double hoppers release the ball from a side on position with a very high arm. Slow in swing deliveries are common with double hoppers due to their left of vertical release point and loss of forward momentum.

How to Correct a Double Hopper

I have had a lot of success correcting double hop bowlers. Firstly I explain to the student why they are double hopping. I will show them a video of their foot landing straight and then the foot landing turned after the bounce. I will explain to them that what I want them to do is to land with their foot turned the first time. Once the student understands why they are double hopping, they will find it much easier to correct.

I will then teach the student the one step drill and continue with the drill for as long as I feel is necessary for the student to gain correct muscle memory. The one step drill starts with the last step of the run up. The students will step correctly into Gather concentrating on turning their foot. Once this feeling of turning the foot starts to feel natural I would continue with the drill and introduce other important elements of the bowling action such as splitting of the arms, release point and wrist position. These important elements of the action will have to be retaught to the student because the double hop would mean they were doing them incorrectly previously.

Over time the action will be rebuilt and the student will forget all about the double hop. I have some long term students who remind me that they came to me with a double hop. We laugh about it now because the actions have been fixed and their new improved action feels automatic. Most students tell me that they don’t think they could perform a double hop again if they tried, which as a coach is really pleasing to hear.

Correcting a double hop can be a long and difficult process but it is well worth the effort. As a coach you are doing the student no favours by ignoring this bowling fault. The fault is easy to spot and there really aren’t any excuses for not correcting it. Take the time to correct it, the sooner the better. The students will thank you in the end.