by Muhammad Hamza
(Islamabad, Pakistan)
Hello Coach!
I am a 14 year old boy and I hope to swing the deliveries I bowl. I can swing the ball but I can’t control my line. Another problem is that I play more with my brother and he is a left hand batsmen but my friends at school are right handers. As I play more with my brother I can only bowl good deliveries to left hand batsmen. Please help me.
Hi Muhammad, you have worked out early in life how brains wire all our experiences together and make them into habits. You have identified the exact reason for your problem bowling to right handers, because you practice bowling to a left hander! So that has become your automatic program ( habit ) for bowling, you’re body has learnt the angles for bowling to the left hander.
It’s not uncommon for this to happen, I have had one famous international spinner and I knew another in an opposition side, who both didn’t like bowling round the wicket to the left hander. When they grew up they only ever bowled over the wicket, the habit was formed and when they needed to go round the wicket they were uncomfortable because they hadn’t practiced it enough.
You’ve already answered your own question in identifying how the problem was formed.
Your uncomfortable because your bowling has been shaped by bowling to the left hander, there’s only one way to get comfortable bowling to the right hander and that is to do it.
Get one of your right handed friends to practice with you and work on bowling at off stump on a good length. Do this regularly so it becomes a natural, automated habit, after a a while you will have the ability to bowl to both right and left handers. The answers to bowling with control and length can be found on the bowling tips pages.
Best wishes Coach
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About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.