Freebowler Superthrower: With made-in-India bowling machine, Bengaluru lad seeks a long innings

What did Chuck Noland do after a plane crash left him stranded on a deserted island? Not only did he survive, he thrived off the island, even creating a companion out of a basketball. Bengaluru lad Pratheek Palanethra is an embodiment of the same character played by Tom Hanks in Cast Away, in different universes though.

When Pratheek moved to the United States to pursue Masters degree, he found no takers for the game he loved the most — cricket. A batsman by profession then, Pratheek needed to practise and a country which loves American football just as it likes baseball compounded his problems. There just weren’t enough cricket-crazy people around against whom he could enjoy batting for a few overs.

Initially, he drove for three hours a day to attend a two-hour training session before finally deciding that it was too taxing. So what did Pratheek do? He surfed the internet for an inexpensive, non-electrical and portable cricket bowling machine. And when he couldn’t find anything that suited his requirements he decided to fill that void himself. And that’s how the first prototype of today’s Freebowler Superthrower was born.

“I was looking for something which I can keep in my garage or backyard and use with my friends to stay in touch with the game (of cricket)…That’s kind of how it all started. I was pursuing final year Master’s degree thesis and pitched the idea to a professor as my entrepreneurship project,” says Pratheek.

He teamed up with fellow student Justin Jacobs and began working on University-funded prototypes. He wanted the prototypes to function the way intelligent bowlers do — hurl unplayable deliveries. There was a mismatch between his vision and his achievement — some of his initial designs threw the ball over the nets and not at the stumps.

That called for some re-calibration. Pratheek bettered his design, and scouted for manufacturing facilities.

The hunt began with US and China which defeated the premise of a cost-effective bowling equipment for aspiring cricketers and he returned home to India to complete the quest. Manufacturing the Freebowler Superthrower in Bengaluru helped keep the price down to an affordable Rs 35,000 as compared to electronic bowling machines which cost well over Rs 1 lakh.

How does Freebowler Superthrower work?

The Freebowler Superthrower uses a spring-powered throwing arm (see image) which mimics the arm of the bowler to hurl cricket balls at a batsman. The arm is fitted with a cup on one end where the ball is placed. The throwing arm is connected to a foot lever using a spring cable system. This lever activates the spring and locks the throwing arm. A manual trigger releases the throwing arm resulting in the ball being ‘bowled’ at speeds up to 130 kmph.

The unique feature about the Freebowler Superthrower is that the speed as well as length and swing can be adjusted easily between deliveries. The cup is fitted with a screw which adjusts the length of the delivery, while three hooks adjust the speed between 110 to 130 kmph. This helps include an element of surprise for the batsman which is lacking when practicing against electric bowling machines.

“The Freebowler Superthrower is not like cricket bowling machines which when adjusted for good length will pitch only there and your body head position is always in that direction. Such methods help develop muscle memory but beyond a point it won't help a batsman improve his technique. Freebowler Superthrower just bridges that gap with the natural variations that it provides. It is exciting to get feedback from players who say this is the best bowling simulation they have faced after a professional human bowler,” says Pratheek.

The Attestation

The utility of the Freebowler is attested by players, cricket bodies in India and abroad. “Overall, we have been receiving positive feedback on the product so far from all our users including the likes of Rahul Dravid, KL Rahul, Ravi Ashwin from Indian National Team, and various National Ranji side coaches, managers, and players here in India, in fact it was also reviewed at NCA(Bangalore) and at MCG by Cricket Australia,” says Pratheek.

K V Siddharth who scored his maiden first-class century against Mumbai while representing Karnataka at the Ranji Trophy this month had the opportunity to go up against the Freebowler Superthrower. “It was realistic,” he says.

Siddharth also feels that the machine addresses some very pertinent problems that batsmen face when preparing for matches. “You can’t find bowlers when you want to bat! This is the best thing for when you want to practice by yourself. It’s a very good change for all the cricketers, the advantage being that we don’t need electricity and we can carry it everywhere and it’s very helpful and very handy.”

Although you do need someone to load and pull the trigger when practicing with the machine, the advantage with the Freebowler Superthrower is that anyone can do the job and it doesn’t require a professional to operate the machine.

The Freebowler Superthrower is made for real leather balls, the ones used in professional cricket and not the dimpled polyurethane balls used in electric machines. “You get a better feel of it connecting with the middle of the bat, unlike the balls used in the electrical machines,” says Siddharth.

Achilles Heel

However, an aspect that still needs a little tweaking is the release point. The throwing arm reaches a height of 5.8 ft when the ball is released, but players have asked for it to be able to go up to 6.5 ft as it helps prepare against tall pacers such as Ishant Sharma or Billy Stanlake. Pratheek says the company is working on developing different models for various age groups and requirements.

The ultimate aim for Pratheek’s company though is to make this machine more accessible to aspiring players in rural corners to help them train like the pros. “The core theme of our company is cricket development. So we want to develop training aids which will make sure people are not deprived of cricket,” he says.

All in all, Pratheek hopes his made-in-India machine benefits the cricket community. He seeks an opportunity to globalise cricket further and nurtures a dream to make it a mainstream sport in the Americas.