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[Muffin]

Hey chaps,

Looking for a bit of help and advice on obtaining a straighter seam position when bowling.

I'm currently bowling sort of medium pace seam up, and ever since I was young I've always been able to swing the ball naturally and as such have quite enjoyed bowling.

However, something I'd like to improve upon is keeping the seam straight to get the ball jagging a bit and get the most out of these early season wickets. It's been mentioned to me before that I bowl with a sort of off-cuttery wrist, but however high I bring my arm and how ever hard I try, I've never been able to get movement off the seam.

Has anyone had similar problems and been able to adapt to rectify the problem? Any drills that could help? Or is this the kind of thing that is just ingrained naturally and would probably disrupt my action if I were to change it?

Thought I'd ask you experienced lot on here anyway  Any help would be appreciated.

George

[LEACHY48]

I was always taught a few years back when i was bowling relatively quick, to obtain seam movement and a straighter seam, you need to lock your wrist back hard, and keep your hand facing the sky/batsman for as long as possible, then if you want the extra yard of pace flick your wrist down behind the ball. Some tips that also helped me were having both fingers on the seam with a small gap, and holding the ball a bit loser, not sure why that helped me, but it did.

[Muffin]

I was always taught a few years back when i was bowling relatively quick, to obtain seam movement and a straighter seam, you need to lock your wrist back hard, and keep your hand facing the sky/batsman for as long as possible, then if you want the extra yard of pace flick your wrist down behind the ball. Some tips that also helped me were having both fingers on the seam with a small gap, and holding the ball a bit loser, not sure why that helped me, but it did.

I have tried in the past to bring my wrist back further, but unlike some people who can bend their fingers all the way back to their forearms, my wrists have never been that flexible! Might try and get hold of an e-z curl bar and do some wrist/forearm excercises to try and strengthen them.

I'll try out your advice with keeping my hand high for as long as possible. Might take a while to get this sorted

[LEACHY48]

yeah sure thing, its never meant to be quick fixes in cricket lol. its not the distance you lock it back, its how hard you lock it, it is meant to be locked as hard as possible, and as far back as you can, i get my wrist up to about an 80 degree angle relative to my forearm, but I lock it super hard, and have never struggled with seam position.

[Muffin]

Cheers leachy, I'll work on it and hopefully it'll be wickets galore!

[uknsaunders]

I was always taught a few years back when i was bowling relatively quick, to obtain seam movement and a straighter seam, you need to lock your wrist back hard, and keep your hand facing the sky/batsman for as long as possible, then if you want the extra yard of pace flick your wrist down behind the ball. Some tips that also helped me were having both fingers on the seam with a small gap, and holding the ball a bit loser, not sure why that helped me, but it did.

Agree with the above.

If you want to "hit the seam", do the above but experiment with the grip ie. try a wider gap between the fingers or a smaller gap - it's trial and error.

To bowl an "off cutter". Hold the seam upright and on release drag hard down the right side of the ball - bit like bowling a off spinner but with an upright seam. There are variations involving using a cross seam. Easy way to practise is to get a tennis ball and practise it off 10 yards with a team mate, just throwing it at first and eventually bowling it off a slightly longer distance.

[RichW]

To get the seam movement you want along with the advice the above comments gave you also need to let the ball roll out of your hand along the length of your fingers.

This puts a type of backspin on the ball which helps it to move off the seam.

There are lots of good videos on the internet about this. The skysports master class with Jimmy Anderson would be a good start.

[tim2000s]

As a seam up bowler who has historically got prodigious movement, I "lock and flick" and it's the flick that keeps the seam straight and gives the movement off the pitch. Ask Trypewriter about the inducker...

[Muffin]

Wow, appreciate all the tips and advice guys. Will try to implement them next training session.

I guess it's just a matter of putting the effort in and excercising a bit of trial and error. Will let you know wether I see get the 90 degree movement I so desire 

[RossViper]

I'd be interested in knowing  how back spin can make the ball seam more?

[Batoff]

It grips the ground more?

[Muffin]

I'd be interested in knowing  how back spin can make the ball seam more?

I'm not sure, but I'd imagine it's a similar concept to how I've heard spin can affect how much the pins move in ten-pin bowling. By this I mean that the more kinetic energy you put in to the ball, the more it transfers and causes disruption to your desired target, causing in terms of ten-pin the pins to bounce around more, and in terms of cricket the ball to pop/jag/get more action off the surface of the wicket.

Or that could be some pseudo-physics bullcrap I've made up

[RossViper]

I think what people might mean is that putting back spin on a ball helps keep it stable, so the seam will be up right more offten, and so the ball has more oputinities to seam?, but seam more....

[Muffin]

I think what people might mean is that putting back spin on a ball helps keep it stable, so the seam will be up right more offten, and so the ball has more oputinities to seam?, but seam more....

Yeah I see what you mean that backspin as opposed to sidespin (off cutters/leg cutters) would help to maintain an upright seam, but if you watch a slow-mo of jimmy bowling, after the ball hits the deck, it changes from viciously spinning to almost just floating through the air. The energy from the spinning ball must transfer somewhere, and thus you could induce that it breaks up the surface and helps move the ball off the seam.