A Visual Check on Your Rhythm

For a bowler it is crucial to have rhythm and to bowl with a consistent and repeatable action. For consistency with your accuracy, you need to ensure you have the consistency with your run up and bowling action. 

You may feel good, but a confidence booster I always looked for after a bowling spell was something like the image (left), which shows repeated and consistent foot marks in the run up. How quickly these marks appear in the grass will depend on the underfoot conditions and the consistency of your run up, but a few overs should show whether you are running in consistently with your feet repeatedly falling in the same footmarks. When I bowled, I always found huge security and comfort in standing at the top of my mark and seeing the familiar pattern of footprints leading up to the wicket, like my own bespoke run way! I know that when I see this my run up is spot on, which in turn gives me the confidence to not think about it and concentrate on what I am trying to achieve at the other end.

In our book, ‘A Leading Edge for Bowlers’, due out later this year, we are including a chapter on how to build your run up. We look at ways in which you can develop a consistent and reliable approach where you can move away from a stuttering run up with a different number of strides each time, landing consistently on the popping crease with confidence and reducing the dreaded no-balls. 

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Good luck!

PL & WD