Back in 2015, I wrote a blog praising the benefits to cocking your wrist in a bowling delivery.
Well, folks, none of the top players do it! During the past few weeks of Covid-19 lockdown, I have examined the deliveries of the top professional bowlers and I have read what bowling manuals have to say. I am ready to admit defeat.
For example, John Snell, the author of Winning Bowls, a book that is available free on-line says, “The wrist must not be cocked; for one thing, it is not natural. The hand is not a straight extension of the arm but normally points away at a slight angle. If you try to keep the hand straight, I promise you nothing more than bad deliveries, a tired wrist, and a case of tension at the end of the day. A cocked wrist is against all the principles of relaxation, which is one of the secrets of winning bowls.” [my italics]
I haven’t encountered the tired wrist or the tension. I have my share of bad deliveries but what convinced me is the sentence in italics about the fundamental requirement for a relaxed arm. If you have grooved your swing you must allow your body to become the servant of your subconscious mind and I think that demands relaxed spontaneous movements.
This is inconsistent with cocking your wrist.
I concur. To the point of hanging my arm straight down so that the bowl pull the hand and arm at the natural angle the bowl demands, hand turned inside ( like it is when you normally walk) and hand tilted forward - this brings fingers parallel with the grass surface, but then I do use a size “6” ( could not find size 7)…..
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