Choose the task before the drill
“I want to bowl better” is difficult to practise. “I want to land more good-length balls at off stump” gives the session a purpose. Other useful tasks include repeating your starting mark, arriving at the crease without stuttering, or holding your balance through the finish.
Watch a short sample of normal deliveries first. If the run-up changes every ball, start there. If the approach is consistent but the ball repeatedly misses the same way, discuss the release and alignment with your coach. A target drill can show a pattern; it cannot, by itself, diagnose its cause.
Choose one main task from the drills below. These are coaching options, not a requirement to complete every drill in one session.
10 fast bowling drills to use in practice
Read the setup, task and success check before starting. Choose the drills that fit your current coaching priority and keep them within the session already planned.
1. Target-zone bowling
Mark a realistic good-length landing area with a flat marker or chalk. Keep the landing surface and run-up clear. Bowl from your usual controlled approach and record whether each delivery lands in the zone. Use one target at a time.
Coaching focus: Commit to the same landing area.
What to check: Compare target hits and the pattern of misses across similar samples. Avoid: Making the zone so small that every ball feels like a failure.
2. Target-lane bowling
Create a visual lane towards the intended line. Place markers safely outside foot-landing areas. Bowl along the chosen line while keeping the action natural. Notice repeated misses to one side.
Coaching focus: See the line before you start.
What to check: Can you repeat the chosen line without steering the arm? Avoid: Putting cones where your feet or follow-through may land.
3. Walk-through delivery
Use a clear area and a comfortable walking approach. Have a coach observe from a safe position. Rehearse the delivery sequence at a controlled speed, then gradually reconnect it to your usual approach.
Coaching focus: Arrive balanced and finish through the target.
What to check: The movement stays connected when the approach is restored. Avoid: Treating a slow rehearsal as a full-speed action template.
4. Short-approach bowling
Agree a shortened approach that still allows a comfortable delivery. Keep your normal target. Bowl with a repeatable approach and a simple cue, then transfer the same intent back to your usual run-up.
Coaching focus: Smooth into the crease.
What to check: You do not need extra force or a rushed last step to reach the target. Avoid: Using an arbitrary step count that disrupts your rhythm.
5. Start-mark rehearsal
Mark your established starting point. Use the same surface and footwear for comparisons. Rehearse the approach and note where your delivery foot arrives. Discuss adjustments with your coach.
Coaching focus: Same start. Same first movements.
What to check: Approach and foot arrival become more repeatable. Avoid: Moving the mark after every isolated miss.
6. Balanced-finish check
Film from safely behind or to the side, outside the ball’s path. Use a comfortable effort. Review whether you can continue naturally through the delivery without stumbling or stopping abruptly.
Coaching focus: Complete the delivery, then recover.
What to check: The finish remains controlled across several deliveries. Avoid: Forcing yourself to freeze at release.
7. Single-cue video review
Choose one visible feature with your coach, such as approach consistency. Keep the camera view fixed. Record a short normal-bowling sample, apply one cue, and compare like-for-like deliveries.
Coaching focus: Change one thing you can observe.
What to check: You can explain the difference without relying on a single flattering frame. Avoid: Diagnosing an injury or rebuilding the whole action from a clip.
8. Plan-the-over practice
Agree a simple match situation and a target appropriate to it. All participants use suitable protection. State the intended delivery before bowling, then compare the plan with the result. Review decisions as well as execution.
Coaching focus: Know the ball you want to bowl.
What to check: You can repeat a plan and explain a change when the situation calls for it. Avoid: Practising variations before you can control a reliable stock ball.
9. One-cue shadow rehearsal
Agree one simple movement cue with your coach and rehearse in a clear area. Move through a comfortable bowling rehearsal without a ball, then return to normal bowling and review the same cue.
Coaching focus: Keep the rehearsal connected.
What to check: The cue remains understandable when you use your normal ball and approach. Avoid: Violent arm movements or trying to reach a forced position.
10. Keeper-feedback drill
Agree a line-and-length target with a keeper positioned safely and wearing appropriate protection. Bowl your stock delivery during the planned session. Ask for brief feedback about the pattern of collection and misses.
Coaching focus: Bowl the ball you planned.
What to check: Compare your intended delivery with the keeper’s observation across a small sample. Avoid: Asking an unprotected person to stand in the ball’s path.
Connect the drill to normal bowling
A drill is a temporary learning environment. Once the task feels clearer, return to your normal approach and deliver towards a realistic target. Ask whether the same cue still helps. If it disappears immediately, simplify the task again instead of adding more instructions.
For example, use the target-lane drill to notice your line, then remove the lane markers and bowl to the same area. Compare the outcomes. The aim is to perform the skill without needing the drill setup beside you.
Record one brief observation: what changed, what stayed difficult, and which cue you will carry into the next session. A short note is more useful than an unexplained score.
An example of a focused practice block
Suppose your main issue is inconsistent length. After your usual preparation, agree a target with your coach. Record a small sample from your normal action, practise the target-zone task, then review a similar sample from normal bowling again. Use deliveries already planned for the session; do not add a new block simply because this guide contains one.
Compare target hits, the pattern of misses and how repeatable the action felt. A better result on one day is encouraging, but repeat the comparison on later days before calling it a lasting improvement. Change the target only when the original task is under reasonable control.
Common mistakes that reduce the value of a drill
Changing five things together. You cannot tell which instruction helped. Keep one main cue.
Chasing the fastest ball in every exercise. Match effort to the skill being practised. A technical rehearsal is not a pace test.
Finishing on the drill. Check the skill again in normal bowling.
Using fatigue as the success measure. End or change the task when execution deteriorates. More repetitions are not automatically better.
Copying someone else’s action. Review what the task does for your own movement and goals.
Keep practice within the week’s plan
Share the week’s match, school, club and academy commitments with the coach planning your bowling. A light-looking technical session still contributes deliveries. Returning from a break or changing training frequency needs a planned progression, especially for juniors.
Do not use a drill to work around pain. Stop a painful activity and seek appropriate assessment. For practical guidance on organising the week, read our injury-prevention guide.
What the evidence supports
A study of 29 elite male bowlers links the pre-delivery stride with later action mechanics. It supports individual coaching choices, rather than one run-up pattern for everyone. It did not test or validate all the drills on this page. [1]
