Developing Spin bowlers at the club
Dorset ECB Coaches Association 28th February 2017
Ten coaches met on a windy night in February at Dorchester for an interactive spin bowling
workshop run by Rob and Greg.
They had set out two spin bowling nets and a middle practice scenario.
1. Discussion on spin bowling
We were split into groups to discuss aspects of spin bowling and in the discussions, the following
points were made:

Get young children to all have a go and pursue spin bowling with the more confident.

There are four generic types: SLA (off-spin), SLA Chinaman (leg spin), Off spin and Leg
spin.

Start by developing a reliable stock ball.

Young children cannot grip the ball in the orthodox way so just practise spinning the stock
ball.

Variations of spin include: Googly (leg spin action out of the back of the hand to spin the
other way), Top spin, Dosra (Googly for off-spinners), drift, pace variations, loft above the
eye-line, dart – a flat delivery and the arm ball.

Nurture the young spinner who is hit for runs – encourage to keep bowling. Speak to
captains about encouraging and maintaining confidence in young spinners.

There is more focus now on bowling quicker with spin.

When playing spin in a net, then the batsmen must lose runs (or a forfeit – maybe minus
1 life) if they hit the ball in the air to a marked fielding position.

Play with a Keeper in the nets to keep the batsman to put pressure on the batsman.
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Developing Spin bowlers at the club

Give young fielders a field placing plan.

To practise use an incrediball or a softball with a seam – not a tennis ball.

Demonstrate the off-spin orthodox grip with the index finger down the seam and the
second and third fingers over the seam. For young children use the “cutter” grip with the
thumb on the seam.
2. Practise
We then moved into practical sessions.
a
Throwing the ball from hand-to-hand to practise spinning.
b
Standing sideways, in pairs, throwing the ball across the hall to impart maximum spin.
c
Progress to bowling from the base in pairs across the hall using off-spin:

Take the classic side-on position; front arm raised looking behind the arm, feet
aligned with the target, bowling hand at a high level, front leg braced and rotating
around the front foot. The release point tends to be at the 12 o’clock position for
off-spin (close to the ear).

d
Practice bowling for spin and alignment.
The basic leg spin grip – third finger aligned along the seam with the first and second
fingers across the seam and the thumb not on the ball. (Note for younger players the
thumb is on the ball).

e
In pairs throwing underarm facing your partner.
Practice from the base position – side-on. The release point of the ball tends to be lower
(11 o’clock for leg spin) with more of a “snap” in the action; the back leg tends to stick out
more as you pivot about the front foot and the front arm is still high and pulled down.
After the practice the discussion on spinning elicited the following:

Learn leg spin and top spin. The top spin release point tends to be a higher release
point and close to the ear at 12 o’clock. Both have the same grip but different hand
position at release.

When learning a new variation, bowl 5 stock balls and one variation.

The flipper has a leg-spinner’s grip with the thumb on the base of the ball and the
seam towards the batsmen. The thumb and middle finger have a finger snapping
action the ball should skid through towards the batsman.

A scrambled spin bowl can be delivered. The grip is for normal seam bowling but the
ball is turned in the hand.

For the arm ball, the ball is held in the standard seamers grip but the fingers are
“snapped” down the ball to impart backswing and drift.
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Developing Spin bowlers at the club

Always practice from the base position – it is very important to have the classic sideon aiming at the target area with a straight run up with a jump and gather. (Although
Shane Warne had an angled run-up and Rashid seems “front-on”).

Aim to hit the top of off stump (off-break). The more the wicket turns, bowl wider of
the crease, aligned with the pitching target outside the off-side or leg-side. On a lowturning wicket bowl close to the stumps.

Use surgical tape on the ball to increase the spin to challenge batsmen.

Top spin will get grip and bounce; side spin will get the maximum turn; undercut side
spin will get drift and the flipper generates back-spin.

Practise using lines in the hall for the feet alignment.

Get the bowlers to determine the “gate” to aim the ball through or over.
3. Nets
We were broken into groups to use the three nets for 30 minutes practise.
a. Kinaesthetic Net.
Here the target was a wicket. We were encouraged to bowl from the base position with
our eyes closed at the point of release to see how it felt to release the ball and the
outcome.
There were some mixed experiences from coaches not used to being coached or to
practice!
Ron testing his kinaesthetic awareness
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Developing Spin bowlers at the club
b. Practise net.
Here as well as the wicket there was another mat in the target area (for more spin and
bounce) and two single stumps acting as “gates” for off spin to a RH batsman. Since we
could extract a lot of spin from the surface, we bowled wider of the stumps. Here a full
run-up was required.
Great fun to get through the gates and hit the turning surface for a big movement.
Greg setting up the gates
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Developing Spin bowlers at the club
c. Middle practice.
Here the target was a wicket with a coach nearby. As the spinner bowled and the ball hit
the ground, the coach hit a ball back to the bowler who was required to catch it. (This
required the coach to be able to hit straight!). this could progress to the spinner fielding
and having to throw at the stumps as batsmen run.
Bowled and then ready to catch
4. Field Settings
a. Off-spin to RH batsman.
With the ball spinning outside the off stump, the batsman will probably target the leg-side
so we can have a 5:4 or 6:3 legside field. Adjust the field to suit the situation and type of
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Developing Spin bowlers at the club
competition: slip, point, cover point, mid-off, backwards short-leg, mid-wicket, deep
square-leg, mid-off, deep mid-wicket (straight). Give more protection on the leg-side if
the bowler is targeting middle or leg stump.
b. Leg-spin for RH batsman.
With a turning pitch, we will normally have a 5:4 off-side field: slip, backwards point
(could be gully if attacking), cover point, extra-cover (could be short mid-off or on the
boundary if defending), mid-off, mid-on (could go wide), mid-wicket (could be forward
short-leg), deep square-leg and short fine-leg (could be leg slip).
A very enjoyable three hour practical, interactive workshop exchanging views with knowledgeable
and enthusiastic coaches. Well done Rob and Greg.
Attached: A handout on spin bowling.
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