Stability of front arm

BOWLING SKILLS :

Stability of front arm

When the front arm is pulled to the side of the body, it is blocked from moving any further and hence isolated. This stability of the front arm helps to stop the movement of the left side of the body and the right side of the body moves fast to deliver the ball. This also helps put body weight behind the delivery which in turn adds to the speed of the ball.

The elimination of the front side of the body from the bowling action helps the right arm bowler swing the ball away and left arm bowler is able to move the ball into the right-handed batsman. The left arm or right arm spinners both get drifts in their delivery due to this front arm stabilization and this also enables them to bowl the arm ball effectively.

When the front arm does not get locked, and is allowed to go through, then the body weight does not get transferred and there is a loss of speed. This happens usually when the bowler drops his shoulder i.e. which when his shoulder moves laterally rather than vertically. As a result, the bowler loses the bite in his bowling and control over line and length.

The front foot position of the bowler with respect to the back foot can be across, straight or open. The front toe may point down fine leg, straight or slaying, depending on the bowling action, as discussed earlier.

Next week we shall discuss the ‘follow through’, which is a very important component of a bowler’s action.