Approach
The approach is the motion of the bowler prior to bowling the ball. It is also known as the run-up.
A spinner's approach differs from that of a medium pace or fast bowler, but certain principles remain the same:
- Balance: lack of balance in the approach translates into lack of balance in the later stages of the action and so absence of accuracy.
- Consistency: a consistent approach allows the later phases of the bowling action to be consistent. Moreover, inconsistency is likely to lead to bowling no-balls.
- Head still and upright.
The strides of the bound, back foot contact, front foot contact and the first stride of the follow through should all be in line in order to give a balanced action that flows towards the target. Medium pace and quick bowlers usually employ a straight approach that is aligned toward the target. Spin bowlers, on the other hand, tend to have more varied approaches.
Other recommended elements of the approach are:
- Starting with shorter strides then lengthening to cruise in to the bound.
- Leaning slightly forward, running on the balls of the feet.
- Running with the hands pumping, tucked into the side. This tucked in run up is intended to set the pattern for the whole delivery, keeping everything in a tight corridor flowing towards the target. Some bowlers choose to sacrifice this in order to cover the ball with the non-bowling hand in order to disguise the grip.
- Long enough to hit the desired cruise speed and arrive balanced at the bound. Some bowlers, especially chest on bowlers tend to run through the crease. This adds the speed of the approach to the speed at which the ball is released. In contrast, side on bowlers tend to be more similar to javelin throwers. The lower part of their body brakes between front foot contact and point of release causing a whip like effect. Hence side on bowlers tend to have slower approaches.
Read more about this topic: Bowling Action
Famous quotes containing the word approach:
“The nearer people approach old age the closer they return to a semblance of childhood, until the time comes for them to depart this life, again like children, neither tired of living nor aware of death.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“There is no calm philosophy of life here, such as you might put at the end of the Almanac, to hang over the farmer’s hearth,—how men shall live in these winter, in these summer days. No philosophy, properly speaking, of love, or friendship, or religion, or politics, or education, or nature, or spirit; perhaps a nearer approach to a philosophy of kingship, and of the place of the literary man, than of anything else.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The modern world needs people with a complex identity who are intellectually autonomous and prepared to cope with uncertainty; who are able to tolerate ambiguity and not be driven by fear into a rigid, single-solution approach to problems, who are rational, foresightful and who look for facts; who can draw inferences and can control their behavior in the light of foreseen consequences, who are altruistic and enjoy doing for others, and who understand social forces and trends.”
—Robert Havighurst (20th century)