by Paul
(Brisbane)

Dale Steyn: Pic 1. Wrist And Seam Position For Swing Bowling

Hi Coach, I coach a swing bowler who swings the ball a lot but it swings as soon as it leaves his hand. How can I get him to swing the ball later?

Cheers

Paul

Hi Paul, the key to getting the ball to swing late is setting the seam and the wrist position in place for late swing rather than from the hand. I am writing as if he is a right arm bowler, bowling to a right hand batter.

1. Put the seam upright and straight in the fingers, do not set the seam to first slip as so many coaching books advocate, this makes the ball swing too early.

2. Cock the wrist back, so that as the bowler runs in, the ball and palm of the hand are up and presented to the batter. See Pic 1 above.

This allows the wrist to automatically snap forward when the ball is released creating backspin, this is natural, the bowler doesn’t have to think about this, the wrist position does it for him.

3. Have the wrist angled, with the ball and seam presented with the fingers pointed toward second slip, as the bowler runs in. see Pic 2 above for the hand and seam angle.

The ball then swings from the hand and wrist action.

Play around with it, it may take a couple of sessions to get used to, but when it clicks it will swing late, and swing nicely !

Check out the Dale Steyn Strategy page to see how Dale set up Ian Bell with three outswingers and an inswinger.

Dale Steyn Fast Bowling Strategy

Use the crease, the ball bowled from close to the stumps will usually swing past the edge, try going a little wider in the crease to get the edge.

Happy swing bowling and lots of success.

Regards Coach

About Richard Pybus

I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.