things i learnt #2: overarm bowling

Again age 12, but this time Games (separate from PE!) and Overarm Bowling.

Now, you might think, hold on - I thought you said we were discussing things used on a regular basis? But bear with me.

So, part of my current profession is to teach children useful things. The joy of working in the voluntary sector when approaching this, as opposed to my previous deviation in the teaching one, is that these things are actually Useful Things (as opposed to observing osmosis in rods of potato, or how to read the top quartile of a bell curve.)

This year, it has included everything from Where Plants Come From, through How To Make Paper Airplanes, to How To Climb A Wire Fence To Get To The Football Pitch. (Don't ask, don't tell.) And so, since Easter I've been turning up weekly at a local primary school (which, I must say, is arguably one of the best in all the land) to play Kwik Cricket with the P5-P7s. And in last week's session, I began passing on, almost verbatim, the principles of overarm bowling, which have stuck with me since third year of secondary school.

Now, it may surprise most people to find out that I'm not much of a sportsman. However, the joy of turning up to a school with the Children's Worker hat on is that it is automatically assumed you are an expert on everything. But let me tell you - whilst this might facilitate easier ways to get out of arguments ("Why?" "Because.") it does come with the caveat that you need to make sure you actually are right - for it shall come back to bite you on the backside. So, as the self-appointed cricketing guru, I've been relying mostly on the fact that I can, at least, bowl a decent fast-medium ball over a good length. And there's a couple of tricks, learnt all those years ago, that have helped ensure this - both at the start of the movement.

Firstly, get that second arm up. As you wind up and release, that arm needs to go straight down the line where you want to bowl, and you need to be looking behind and through it before you release. This makes a massive difference when you uncoil, as it makes sure that your shoulders are in line as your bowling arm comes over the top of your head.

Secondly, "bite the apple", as the original teacher in question insisted again and again. Don't hold the ball somewhere around your chest before your unwind - get it right up beside your mouth so you can smell it. That initial push forward your bowling hand makes whenever you release will therefore add power as the ball makes its journey down past your waist.

And thirdly, release at two - o'clock that is. A lot of the kids I've worked with so far let it go whenever their arm is perpendicular - possibly as an unfortunate product of one of the drills I've been using for fielding, which resembled something for tennis ball boys. Alternatively, you don't want to be releasing too late either, or it'll go straight in to the ground - a problem I'm having currently as I try to learn how to bowl right handed (being a natural southpaw). Two o'clock, at full stretch when you release, and that ball is going right down the batsman's throat. Howzat?

things i learnt #1: twelve-bar blues

Recently, I've been reflecting a lot on my school experience. With that in mind, I've been inspired to try and specify knowledge or skills learnt which were not only major, but life-changing - things which are still used regularly.

Of course, reading and writing are pretty obvious, so I've ruled those out along with basic mathematical and scientific knowledge. I've still managed to compile quite a list so far, so it occurred that perhaps I should spout about them online and see where we go.

And so we come to age 12, Music class, and Twelve-Bar Blues.

Junior school music can be a pain for everyone involved. For non-musical pupils, it's something close to torture. For pupils who have been learning an instrument up to a certain level, they are often frustrated by the lack of any new knowledge. For the teacher, it's something you have to endure - trying to cater for both groups, whilst actually keeping yourself sane.

My secondary school music teacher was pretty adept at this. There were, in no particular order, xylophone, drum, comprehensive theory, CD design, rapping, and cinematic music lessons. But the one which, on reflection, had the biggest long term repercussions, was when we got to basic song writing, and the twelve-bar blues.

Now, outside school, I have been learning piano four about five years, so there was nothing new in playing chords. There was, however, the shock of the new when it came to playing something I actually gave a toss about. So the sudden revelation of just how simple it could be to play basic songs was life-saving. Three chords, the most basic theory, and you're away (and probably ready to be a stand-in member of Status Quo.)


Taking the key of the music (say C) and take the tonic - 1st - major chord, which is C; the subdominant - 4th - chord, which is F; and the dominant - 5th - chord, which is G, and you're almost there already. Structure around a a walking bass rhythm, and voila! You're like a slow-learning Ray Charles.

The knock-on effect of this may not have been obvious, but it was there. A year later, I started to learn guitar, and from that point painful, PAINFUL song-writing became a viable option. I would claim to be an outstanding musician, but subsequent learning and the ability to play by ear would, I am certain, never have come about if my enthusiasm had not be saved by the sudden, drastic appearance of the twelve-bar blues.

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POSTSCRIPT:

Whilst searching my school files - yes, I kept them all (a decision to be vindicated by this series, perhaps!) - for the scanned piece of work above, I came across possibly one of the greatest exam answers I have ever made. I have, obviously no memory of giving the following answer, and so can only hope I was being funny. (As the answer to the question above referenced Keanu Reeves's acting, I'm willing to believe that I must've been on a roll that day.)

Enjoy.



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