Embrace sport science

Can any fast bowling cricket coach boast that he can make any cricketer bowl 90mph? No he can't. Fast bowlers like power athletes are born with silver spoon DNA in their genetic make up. They inherit ACNT 3 genes ( power gene) and have a high percentage of fast twitch fibers. However the best bowling coach can certainly say that he can make a bowler bowl quicker if they have the right genetic make up, mindset, work ethic, opportunity, facilities and 'buy in'. DNA will give you the 'pace floor' but top quality scientific based coaching can raise everyones 'pace ceiling'. Fast bowlers run or cover almost 9 to 10 miles distance per day in a cricket match. They have to run an average of 21 yards at the average speed of 27 mph for a minimum 100 times in a day. A Fast bowler need a myriad of biodynamic and bioenergetic qualities that work synergistically to provide maximum performance. They should have all the decent attributes of 400m sprinter ,a javelin thrower, a triple jumper/ long jumper, 10000m runner and a shot put thrower to be an effective fast bowler. All these events need lot of power plus endurance.

To train a fast bowling power athlete the bowling coach should have a sound knowledge of Strength and conditioning [S+C] & biomechanics. There has to be an underlying basic knowledge of biomotor, biodynamic and bioenergetic requirements and intervention methods that improve these capacities. S + C specialist are structural engineers & biomechanic specialists are architectural engineers in making a fast bowler. To be a complete bowling coach one should have sound knowledge of both amongst other factors in human performance-this is called the 'governing dynamics of coaching' by James Smith.

Credit- James Smith 'the thinker smith' https://www.globalsportconcepts.net

As a bowling coach you may get a young fast bowler with all the ingredients. However if the bowling coach does't have sound scientific knowledge about S + C,  the chances of impacting on their athlete and guaranteeing a positive transfer will have diminished greatly. The body is a complex system and nothing works in isolation. Thats the reason every bowling coach should know the basic anatomy, physiology & biochemistry of a basic motor unit in the skeletal muscle.

The following detail is heavily science based and covered in technical jargon but I make no apologies as I believe every coach and player should spend more time studying 'how the body works'. That's what I've done.

Human skeletal muscles have 3 types of fibers. Slow twitch fibers (ST fibers), fast twitch fibers -a ( FTa) & Fast twitch fibers- x (FTx). Fast bowlers or power athletes inherit the majority of the fast twitch fibers in their skeletal muscles, hence they are ideally suitable for power sports. Contractile speed of fast twitch fibers are 40 to 50 msecs while slow twitch fibers (ST) are 120 to 180 msecs. The contractile force of FTa fibers is 5 times more than that of ST fibers and contractile fibers of FTx fibers are 3 times more than FTa fibers. So FTx is the most powerful contractile unit followed by FTa fibers which are very important for a fast bowler. If we need to train the fast bowler to bowl quicker, then we need to recruit both fast fiber types during training to make them stronger. More than speed , the power of the activity is more important in recruiting the fast twitch fibers into action during training. To implement this, we have to learn about basic anatomy, physiology & biochemistry of a motor unit.

Muscle fibres need constant supply of fuel for their activities. Muscle glycogen is the main source of fuel. Glycogen has to be metabolised in the muscle to produce energy for the muscle fibers. There are two types of metabolism- aerobic( with the help of oxygen) & anerobic glycolysis( in the absence of O2). ST fibers are predominantly aerobic where as FTa/FTx fibers are predominantly anerobic metabolisers. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of any cell in the body & produces energy through aerobic metabolism. ST fibers have plenty of Mitochondria where as FTa has lesser Mitochondria, FTx has even lesser.  ST fibres have a rich supply of blood capillaries where as FTa has a lesser and FTx has the least blood capillaries. Same rule applies to Myoglobin( protein) content which helps in O2 absorption by the muscle fibers. Hence the ST fibers appear red, FTa appear pink & FTx fibers appear pale pink or white on microscopy. Mitochondria uses O2 in aerobic metabolism and produces 32 ATPs per molecule of glucose. ATPs are the power molecules which helps in the contraction of the muscles. Since ST fibers are rich in mitochondria & excellent O2 supply they produce more energy. But fast twitch fibers have less mitochondria and less O2 supply hence choose anerobic metabolism to produce only 8 ATPs per glucose molecule ( 1/4th less energy production than ST fibers).  This is the reason why FT fibers get fatigued quickly. Another important point is the end product of anerobic glycolysis is lactic acid. When an athlete doing high intensity power activity using FT fibers lot of lactic acid is produced through anerobic glycolysis. More acid in the muscle reduces the ph of the muscle. The muscle fibres function better under the alkaline Ph level of 7.01. If the ph drops due to excessive lactic acid( acidosis) the fatigue sets in the muscle. If we have to train the muscle fiber to improve the endurance & contractile force, we need to recruit them during the training. Then how do we recruit the FT fibers during training to make them breath better and improve their contractile force?

ST fibers are recruited easily with sub maximal activity or sub maximal O2 consumption ( Vmax O2). To recruit FTa fibers during training the activity should be maximum or lactate production is maximum or O2 consumption should be between 90 to 100%. To recruit FTx fibers into activity we need to have supra maximal conditions. Unless we recruit FTa & FTx fibers and improve their effeciency during the training, we are not going to improve the pace of the fast bowler. With appropriate training a good S + C coach should be able to improve the endurance of all types of twitch fibers. The endurance of the fast twitch fibers can be improved by adding on more mitochondria, more blood capillaries, increasing the lactate clearance and increase in the buffering activity of the muscle through a periodised and tailored S+C programme. Physiologically this is nothing but transferring the good properties of ST fibers like increasing the mitochondria, myoglobin, lactate transfering enzymes to fast twitch fibers but without altering the inherent qualities of fast twitch fibers plus increasing their contractile force.

To recruit FT fibres high intensive power excercises are very beneficial. At the same time low intensity training should also be part of the programme. Increasing the endurance of ST fibers are also very beneficial in fast bowlers. Trained ST fibers help in rapid clearance/ oxidation/ metabolisation of lactate from FT fibers, so that FT fibers can function more effectively, efficiently and consistantly for a longer period in an alkaline atmosphere. Adaptation failure after continous high intensity volume & power training can result in no improvement in the performance of the fast bowler. So its very important to include detraining period in the training regime for the FTx fibers to regain the maximum contractile force. This is why after a 3 week of high intensive, speed and power phase of training I always plan a de-load week of aerobic training only. Which includes 'oxidative' bowling. The benefit of this method goes beyond capillarization.

1. Build muscular stiffness through large amount of repetition (foot contacts)

2. Ankle strength

3. Rhythm & Relaxation

4. High speed coordination

5. Improve workoad perception

6. Recovery capacity

I believe 'oxidative bowling' is the most underused method in the modern era due to a fear of overuse injuries and workload management.

After reading this entire article one may wonder - is all this science important? Didn't the world produce greatest fast bowlers like Michael Holding or Denis Lillie? Yes we did.

However the modern-day bowler has lost the ability to be reactive and elastic. No longer is it acceptable to be a generalist due to a fear of acute injuries. Which is ironic as it sets them up for a career blighted by chronic injuries. Playing sport whether unplanned ‘play’ or planned structured training is the best way to develop reactivity and the ‘bounce’ factor. A child’s environment can dictate their future physiological profile. We are a product of our environment. Take the fast bowlers in the 70’s and 80’s who grew up by playing outside and playing constrained forms of cricket like ‘beach cricket’. They developed the base of resilience to fast bowling, become elastic and hip dominant and once “wired in” those sequences generally represent the most powerful way that a bowler can move and apply force. The majority of ‘older generation’ fast bowlers were hip dominant bowlers.

In the golden era of the Windies pace quartet the Strength/weight training sessions were bodyweight based if anything but they spent their childhood running, jumping and developing into elastic athletes.

However , Michael Holding had to retire due to injury just playing 60 test matches and Deniss Lillie had to spend lot of time sitting in the gas chambers for many months during his injury rehabilitation process. This in part was due to the lack of understanding on the physical preparation of fast bowling. So 'utopia' lies in the middle of both. In my opinion we have shifted too far into the training of fast bowlers on fixed planes, like squats , olympic lifting and bench press etc. There needs to be a balance.

Cricket is a multi billion sport. The maximum scientific papers in the sports journals across the world are from less lucrative power sports like javelin, swimming or power lifting. I would actually urge the ICC to invest and encourage more research in cricket. The game itself, including players, ex players and coaches need to abandon old school of thoughts and adapt scientific approach in training young cricketers around the world. By embracing the 'governing dynamics of coaching' we can guarantee that 'knowledge will never be the limiting factor for the lack of pace in the game'