Why fast bowlers are fearful of bowling without spikes and how it could be a blessing in disguise for them!?

There has been enough literature already on how shoes play with our biomechanics and bring injuries. So, I would rather not go into the details and stick to the topic! Those of you who are interested in studying the subject in detail – I would strongly recommend the book ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall. And my favourite review of the book, out of many, goes like:

“Born to Run will make you realise that the secret of happiness could be right at your feet”?by Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Why are you not bowling well today? I asked a fast bowler in the nets. His response was similar to what I have heard, several times in the past – I am not wearing spikes and therefore, I am fearful of getting injured. Valid point I said. So, is it the fear of getting injured or falling forward that is not making you bowl? Yes…he snapped!

Now the obvious question that I needed to attend to as a training therapist is: How do I kill that fear because how can somebody be fearful of doing something so natural - its a kinetic chain?

Let’s read into science for a bit here:?The impact on legs from running can be up to 12 times your body weight. This proves the fact that our feet indeed like a good beating as quoted by Christopher in his book.

Steven Robbins, MD and Edward Waked Phd from McGill University in Montreal performed a series of tests on gymnasts in which they found – the thicker the landing mat (more cushiony), the harder the gymnasts stuck their landings. Instinctively, they were searching for stability.

?IS Bowlers landing any different!?

?My reasoning: The effort is more to make your foot stable, whereas, it should be natural when you are landing on your foot. Why any effort? Should not this be effortless?

This is the job of our feet and we should not worry about balancing. Because with balancing comes the postural adjustment which, in case of fast bowlers, can have impact on their bowling.

However, spikes help a cricketer grip the surface better and chances of him twisting and falling decreases. Therefore spikes are required. Although, it is pertinent to mention here, that?cushioning does nothing to reduce the impact.

And when bowlers pronate because of dynamics of the shoe, then aren’t they, also?de-conditioning?musculature of the foot?

The way spikes are designed; bowlers land on their heel instead of middle foot, and it is impossible to use foot arc to its potential, in spikes! Why? Because,?spikes kill the medial arc of foot! And therefore, somewhere, you have taken your foot away from its?natural landing. Now it has to adjust. Sadly, via Shoes. The pounding is extra and unnatural.

So below mentioned in bold are some facts which are obvious conclusions from the above:

Fact 1: Most bowlers land on their heel in shoes

Let’s understand the running mechanism first to understand the impact better:

While running, the forward foot moves toward the track in a downward, backward and stroking motion – not punching or pounding – by Fred W Wilt in his classic running book ‘How they Train’

The latter happens when you land on your heel.

My reasoning: Basically, you lock the ankle when you land on your heel because of which the joint force coming upward will slower your momentum. Because, you caught all the muscles and joints in forward action and they have to work now on stopping you first before moving you forward.

You can easily visualise how your foot is landing forward, which can be called punching or pounding, when you land on heel.

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Fact 2: Spikes don’t reduce impact.

Therefore, the leg, besides wearing the shoes, has the same impact. Only this time that their shoe will direct the landing instead of leg/foot!

Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, Dr. Bates and his colleagues explained that it is fear, in case of cushioned/protected underfoot, that makes a foot land with the same impact as compare to flat foot surface.

My reading: It is the fear of finding a hard surface, a foot is desperate to find, because it is not coming naturally to foot. Cushioning doesn’t let it and therefore, in a way, your foot is?driven more by your shoe than your foot. And this results in you using/overusing/blocking muscles & joints because your shoe has no relationship with your body.

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Fact 3: Spikes kill the arc of foot.

I am not quoting anybody here because it is so logical.

The cushion and spikes create a gap between your foot surface and ground and therefore, it is impossible to think that the arc can hit the ground .

Is it hard to understand now why fast bowlers get injured?

If your front foot is not downward and propelling; and instead it is punching, then besides the speed; one serious repercussion of it is the overuse of all the muscles in?transit, right from your foot upward until top, because it has locked the major part of the foot which is responsible for propelling you forward. Obviously, you have already pushed a bit forward, using other muscles, by the time your toe area touch the ground.

But can we avoid spikes in cricket? No…absolutely not! But can we do something to minimise the damage from it? Yes…100%

We need to condition our foot in such a way that allows a fast bowler to find better balance from vertical impact in spikes and minimise the unnecessary load on muscles? We have to find a way to use and hammer muscles of our foot that they are naturally designed to do.

Give them food…they are hungry.

We need to work on first structuring our foot muscles and then to strengthen - put them to use!

Below mentioned are three simple drills, that I experimented on a few fast bowlers and myself, and here is what we have learnt:

1. We learnt about our footfall.
2. We learnt the difference between using an entire foot vis-à-vis half
3. And lastly, it helped us smoothen our run & landing and thereby, improving our balance.

Drills

Drill 1:

• Walk barefoot everyday post training/match/practice. Start with walking on grass and then slowly shift to hard surface wherever you can.
• Stay barefoot, wherever possible, when not practicing.
• Single leg balances, yoga postures like warrior 1, 2, & 3

This would make your unused muscles in the foot work and also help them work to their natural musculature (not conditioned). Helps a player to relax their feet…

I would recommend this for 2 days before moving to the next drill. And only move if you are not facing any problems and instead finding it a lot easier on the foot.

Drill 2:

• Walk in spikes for 20 meters
• Change and walk in your training shoes for 20 meters
• Change again to nothing and this time walk 20 meters barefoot.

Repeat this at least a couple of times each day and practice it for 2 days.

This is to make you realise:

• That your footfall changes every time you have changed your footwear
• That barefoot walk is the most effortless walk because your foot is finding the surface naturally which is how it is designed.

So, now my trainee understood that it is not really the fear of twisting that makes him not bowl without spikes. And instead,?it is instinctive reaction of changing your footfall, every time you changed your footwear, which was making him feel unstable.

Drill 3: Time to treat your foot muscles with a?FEAST?in doing what you love doing – bowling!

• Find a grassy patch around the nets. Check it to ensure it is smooth and levelled.
• Start bowling barefoot to a shadow with 4 steps. Increase it to 40% of your capacity slowly over a period of say 3 days (A shadow because you are, then, not worried about bowl getting your feet or ankles on the way back)
• Increase your capacity slowly over a period of couple of weeks and take it to 60% or wherever you find your comfort.

It is my assurance, and please do share your feedback, that you will start loving your bowling with 60/70% of your capacity because you will start finding it easy. The reason – well, you are not worried about balance now as it is coming naturally. And this means that you have little more time to focus on line and length.

(You can start with a tennis ball but I would recommend a cricket ball here, so that your other body dynamics don’t change, and you can concentrate just on your foot)

Note: Remember this is an exercise drill and not a bowling drill to begin with. Although, it can be a fantastic bowling drill too because you earn so much comfort from the balance and easiness of running that you can, now, focus more on your line and length. To start run in...and bowl. And remember, you don’t need to focus on your run?because your leg or foot needs no intelligence from your mind when barefoot!

Just notice the footfall at the time of landing. You should find it easier to assess your footfall now, because you have gradually progressed to a speed. You don’t have to make any effort to adjust your footfall when barefoot. Your foot will find the ground that it loves to beat against; and you will be surprised, you are no longer striking your heel first.

Now, let’s see how these drills have handled the issues I have raised above:

Impact:

These drills taught us the art of landing and why it changes; and therefore, even though spikes have not reduced the impact; my feet are clever enough to handle the subject now by cheating the shoe. Telling the shoe: I am the Boss here!

Landing on heel:

We now understand that?NOT?landing on heel is better than landing on it. It is impossible that your body will not apply this understanding in anything that you wear. It is not about right landing because you are bound by spikes! It’s about having so much control that you don’t have to worry about it. Concentrate on the job – Bowling. NOT landing!

Arc of the foot:

Feed your arc otherwise and keep it healthy & active. And obviously when our landing improves (from point 2); my already active arc will come into action. It is hungry for action this time. My foot, where it is still driven by shoe somewhere, is also using its natural instinct to NOT bother about landing.

Only when you unlearn something that you can change your learning! So unlearn the theory that you are unsafe without spikes or your foot needs any guidance. In the world of runners, people run through highly difficult surfaces (miles and miles) without changing their shoe because they believe in gripping the surface from their?foot and not from their shoe. Learn to take use of your foot.

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Lastly, I would like to say:

“Treat your muscles as your babies and give them a joyful ride when you are beating them hard. And one day, they will pull together, the Joy of your life when you needed it the most.” by UC

Those of who are interested in diving deep can read more detailed article below:

https://umeshchhikara.com/2020/03/31/cricket-spikes-injuries/

And if you are further impressed then you can read my article published in an International Journal taking into account how wrong training can have worse impact leading to career threatening injuries:

https://pefijournal.org/index.php/ijpehss/article/view/9

Umesh Chhikara

Yoga Trainer I Structural Alignment specialist I Speaker