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Hi Josh, is 14 years old and he has never had any coaching and hasn’t finished growing. He rips in and has a great follow through. His take off landing is a little unconventional. Josh’s dad and I have been discussing should he try and iron it out or embrace it. We’d be grateful for any guidance.
https://vimeo.com/934449723
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He does not have much drive towards the target with his right leg. He tends to jump up rather than forward towards the target. With more drive through the crease with the right leg this should help.
I agree with Wayne as Josh looks like he collapses his back leg because when his right foot lands it’s facing somewhere near mid on.
If he can straighten it somewhat towards say fine leg at his young age he’ll get more power and momentum through the crease.
He does look very promising so please look after him.
Just before he goes into his delivery stride At this put 2 hurdles in a space of 20cm apart in-front of him for him to intentionally hop over and land.
Josh, there’s a heap of drills to help iron out some weakness. But I love that back leg and hip whip. Shaun Tait and many quicks do it. They are leveraging off the hip and shoulder separation to create elastic energy.
If you get lazy with it the twist/roar will be too much and you’ll fall Away.
Need to stay nice and tight and drive straight through the crease
Some great advice on offer. I would add that he could look at his running mechanics. As he runs in his bowling arm remains straight by his side. If it mirrored the more natural swinging movement of his left arm it would help smooth out the stuttering steps as he approaches the crease and then he could lower his load up position to around head height instead of above it when he is in the air. This would help with balance as when both arms are up while airborne it challenges young players core strength and they lose momentum towards the target.
Thanks Adrian, I'm not a coach, but I'm thinking of explaining it to Joshy that he's being too polite as he enters the 'engine room'. Express bowlers don't knock and ask if they can come in, they knee the door off it's hinges with every ounce of power they can muster - all focused through the right knee.
I reckon if he can get himself into the engine room fully coiled up, he's built to be a grease monkey
Josh seems to have a nice action and follow thru for his age. As Josh matures, he must ensure that he maintains his strength and his back leg does not collapse as this will affect his ability to get through the crease and ultimately his ability to generate pace and a consistent line and length.
Now is the time to get Josh into good habits with drills and strengthening exercises so he does not incur injuries during his development.
If Burt can recommend some drills specific to a young bowler it would be a good start.
Is Greg Maclay still looking after the Central West from a Cricket NSW development perspective? If so, I would have Josh's dad reach out to Greg.
Thanks Andrew. Not sure about Greg Maclay - I know he's a Wagga boy originally and bowled with the opposite hand to his big bro. Young Joshy lives near Sutherland.
We've got a few drills off YouTube and are focusing on getting off the last left with a powerful leap and landing on the right foot pointing down to fine leg at this stage. I've told him express fast bowlers don't knock politely to enter the 'engine room' they knock the door off the hinges with their right knee
Next 4 weeks is just working on technique and muscle memory with no bowling.
Going to post updates as we go
Thanks again Andrew. Much appreciated
Hi David,
I reached out to Anthony Stubbs who is a fast bowling coach and a strength and conditioning coach in Melbourne. Anthony is currently working with the Camberwell Magpies in Victorian Premier Cricket
Here's his feedback for Josh, his dad, and you.
More than happy to share some feedback. Love the energy and desire to get through the crease.
General feedback: would just be to learn to run well. Your running mechanics will impact how well you can reposition the legs in the jump. Which then gives you the best chance to snap at the crease and use the front leg effectively to pull yourself over. Versus collapse through.
If I look deeper: The switching of the legs isn’t ideal in the jump. And you’ll see a series of collapses play out through the delivery. There are low level stationary and dynamic drills to work on the sequence while the run up is improved. Then you’d bridge the gap layer.
For a 14-year-old you’re not in any rush. His technique will change as he grows.
I think the most important part isn’t so much ‘what’ you do, but ‘how’ you communicate it and he understands it. It’s easy to break it down so much it creates an in effective thought process which becomes a greater issue down the track.
I like to coach a feel of the main movements I’m after. And only address body parts of I think, link it to the feel of the overall key movement.
This is a little video breaking down the bowling action:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6V6VeiNFnX/?igsh=N3IxYXA0c2tjdno4
And here’s a private video I use to explain the runup
?si=h7svtO6xqGK2rEA0
Thanks Wayne - what about the back foot - should he be trying to land a bit straighter also?