How to Bowl Quicker - Useful Links.

Jonesy

Active Member
How to Bowl Quicker - Useful Links.

Well, I have seen the majority of posts in this forum seems to be how to bowl faster, even I posted that when I first started. So I reckon we need a guide where all people who want to bowl quicker can look in here first, to stop as endlessly posting links to the other topics posted.

Before you go off posting a topic and wondering how to bowl quicker, have a look a look at some of these links.

http://www.harrowdrive.com/fast-bowling-tips-with-ian-pont/

http://www.harrowdrive.com/7-fast-bowling-principles-you-may-not-have-considered/

http://www.harrowdrive.com/how-fast-bowlers-can-improve-their-approach-to-the-wicket/

Liz Ward said:
To reach your goals you need to address your fitness and your nutrition but I think we shall leave the latter for now :D

Take a look at http://ericcressey.blogspot.com/2007/05/cricket-training-for-speed-strength.html

You need to address your core so please read through http://www.simplycricket.net/showthread.php?t=319

Then have a look at David's bodyweight programme http://www.harrowdrive.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/harrowdrive_turbulence_training_4-week_bww.pdf

I know it is a lot to read but it will help you get up to speed [sorry, another pun not intended :laugh:]

From the Interview with Ian Pont:

mas cambios said:
Looking at the forums it seems that the first thing people ask is the old favourite - 'how do I increase my pace?’ What do you feel is the best way for the average club player to do this?

The great news is that everyone has the ability to bowl faster! The secret is understanding what parts of the action work in which way.

As an overview, the hips (core area) of the body generate a power blast to the action. This is in the same way as a boxer throws a punch. It can be accelerated by driving the bowling hip towards the target. In my experience, the common areas for improvement are:

  • Line up of the feet so everything goes at the target
  • Driving towards the target with the top half (chest drive) and not leaning back too far
  • Full shoulder rotation (finish off the action)

Also ensure that you keep moving through the crease from back foot to front foot (momentum) and pull the ball like a javelin thrower would. Arm pull is created by imagining a bow and arrow, and the further apart your hands, the greater the arm pull will be.

The LAST thing you do is bowl a cricket ball, so hang on to it, let your body get ahead of your bowling hand and then accelerate the ball to the target hard.

Have a look at those, and it's useful to post a video of yourself bowling if you can, it helps us determine if there is anything in your action or run up in particular that is reducing your pace.
 
Re: How to Bowl Quicker - Useful Links.

Just to add to the above, we're not stopping people from asking the question, just giving them a 'first port of call'.

I'll try to make sure this topic stays fluid and will update it as we get more links.

As Jonesy says, have a look through and then ask questions, not only will it help your understanding of the topic, it will also help us when offering advice.
 
Re: How to Bowl Quicker - Useful Links.

Yeh, Ponty's book is fantastic. Mine came today and i've been sat reading it for about half an hour and the detail level and depth of knowledge is fantastic. I can only see it being a positive tool for my bowling. Hopefully I can make correct changes to my action and build some nice pace. The book would be the first port of call, it was for me anyway.
 
Re: How to Bowl Quicker - Useful Links.

First let's look at the three concepts:


1. The generation of 'kinetic energy' in the run-up. In a human body, kinetic energy (think of it as movement energy) arises from the contraction or shortening of muscles. These muscles are fuelled by chemical energy stored in the body.
2. The stretching of elastic tissue prior to delivery. Like an elastic band, the muscles store 'elastic' potential energy. This stored energy allows the muscles to return explosively to their original length. Correct technique will allow us to use these stretched tissues to speed up our bowling
3. The efficient transfer of energy to the ball. An efficient bowler uses the kinetic energy generated from his run-up and transfers it to the ball by using correct technique. This is ultimately an issue of controlling the energy to take it where it is wanted; in other words, the ball.

Here is what the legs must do.

After the bound, the back leg should land and bend at the knee. This allows you to conserve your run-in energy through the back-leg landing.

Imagine that the cricket field is a scale; your back foot landing should make the reading on the scale as small as possible.

On the other hand, the front leg must be as straight as possible. This action stops a huge proportion of the straight line speed of the bowler, but by the 'conservation of energy', this kinetic energy is transferred to the upper body.

'Conservation of energy' is simply the idea that energy will stay constant. For example when two balls hit each (ignoring friction for a moment), energy is transferred from one ball to the other, but the total energy of both the balls stays constant. As a fast bowler you are keeping your front leg straight to transfer the energy from your legs to your upper body (and eventually the ball).

By doing this with your legs, you set yourself up to bowl ridiculously fast.

Revealed: The secret of how to bowl fast | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

Fantastic website full of great articles, try the above people!
 
I really want to stress the importance of chest drive in your bowling action. Just before you release the ball, drive your chest down and forwards (just like the attached photo). This will help utilise your powerful chest muscles to bowl even faster. Also remember to snap your wrist to add that little bit of extra pace.
 

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Guys, I just need some help with my front foot. In the nets I find that I bowl 95km, but when I go on a field, I end up bowling a lot slower. I think this is because when bowling in a match, I always check my front foot and I am afraid this will affect my bowling quality. Can someone help?
 
Guys, I just need some help with my front foot. In the nets I find that I bowl 95km, but when I go on a field, I end up bowling a lot slower. I think this is because when bowling in a match, I always check my front foot and I am afraid this will affect my bowling quality. Can someone help?

stop checking your front foot?
 
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