When I first meet a bowler I often get asked the question, ‘I’ve trained hard this winter but I’m not bowling any quicker. Why?’
This article is more about physical preparation but it is essential to note that when I state coach I include the physical, tactical and technical understanding. This is what James Smith terms, ‘The governing dynamics of coaching’. PERFORMANCE DOESN’T EXIST IN ISOLATION. To truly improve performance every coach needs the understanding on all aspects.
Ok back to the question.
It’s actually a question I get asked a lot.
I think the important thing to remember as a coach if your bowlers keep asking this question you will end up losing their trust. We ask them as coaches to put their trust in us when we instruct them to lift heavy loads in the gym and give max effort on the field of play. The least we can do is make all that hard work TRANSFER over to the playing field. At the end of the day that’s where they are judged and ultimately where we are judged as coaches. If your goal as a sport specific S&C is to make them look aesthetically pleasing and win every fitness test then I’m sorry you’ve picked the wrong field. Your clients get judged on HOW MANY WICKETS they take or HOW MANY RUNS they score. However, if you can confidently prove that a test score will improve performance and allow the bowler to hit the attractors then yep aim to train for it and achieve it. That’s what ‘Pacelab Ltd’ does. Here is an example how I test and interpret the data.
By all means train them as a bodybuilder; a cross fit athlete or a strongman athlete before Christmas in the GENERAL PREPARATION PHASE (GPP) but after that leave those methods in the locker. The SPECIFIC PREPERATION (SPP) and PRE COMPETITION (PC) phases need to develop them as bowlers. What I tell my bowlers is:
“Before Christmas I will build you as an athlete but after Christmas I will develop you as a bowler!
Joel’s Note
Same but different is an awesome off-season strategy to break monotony of training both mentally and physically. Look at the example of Tommy Kono doing bodybuilding to take a break from weightlifting. Once it’s time to train seriously for your sport, however, transferability is absolutely of the essence
The pre Christmas blocks (Mesocycles) are planned to give the bowler a solid foundation of potential athletic ability, strengthening their muscles and tendons to absorb large amounts of force and also teaching their CNS [Nervous system-brain muscle connection] to fire efficiently and rapidly. However this phase only gives them the ATHLETIC POTENTIAL ABILITY not DIRECT ABILITY. For the bowler to transfer POTENTIAL to DIRECT ABILITY onto the field they must learn to use the new found GENERAL STRENGTH into a quick, explosive and coordinated Bowling action.
The forces we encounter as bowlers are ten times what we encounter into the weight room. There is nothing that can replicate it, and please don’t try to! The forces aren’t due to excessive loads but due to massive amount of ACCELERATION and DECELERATION action that take place when you run up, jump into gather, land, deliver the ball and slow down in your follow through. This is why the last PHASE of your winter training program has to MAXIMISE the TRANSFERABILITY of SPEED, STRENGTH and POWER that has been gained from hours of blood, sweat and tears in the Gym.
Joel’s Note
As with fast-bowling in cricket, most sports encounter forces that can approach 10 times bodyweight in a fraction of a second, which is far from what most weight room work can directly transfer into.
It isn’t any easy thing to do, but something I pride myself on as a fast bowling performance coach. The Transfer of GYM STRENGTH into GAME READINESS. I believe I can do it due to my passion for using SPECIAL STRENGTH EXERCISE, THROWING MEDICINE BALLS around and my little gem, OU WEIGHTED BALL BOWLING.
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The master in SPECIAL STRENGTH TRAINING is Dr Anatoly Bondarchuk. According to him there are actually 3 types of training transfer-POSITIVE, NEGATIVE and NEUTRAL. Basically I would say 80% of the bowlers out there fall into the Neutral category, 10% in the negative category and only 10% in the POSITIVE transfer category. I truly believe because coaches are afraid of STRESSING their bowlers, only 10% of the bowlers are getting quicker. The worrying stat is the 80% group. They aren’t getting better each season.
Joel’s Note
Most coaches consider positive transfer of movements from the weight room, but it is fairly rare for coaches to consider potential negative transfer of gym movements.
What coaches need to appreciate is that if a fast bowler isn’t being physically stressed during S+C sessions it’s a waste of everyone’s time! Obviously there are other sessions that focus on regeneration, recovery, mobility and Prehabilitation work. The sole purpose of these isn’t to add stress to the body as such but they still need a purpose. My belief is bowlers spend all their time doing PREHAB work that’s focusing on INJURY PREVENTION as opposed to PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT.
Yes, I know that strengthening your stabiliser muscles will in turn enable the FOCUS muscles to perform more efficiently and effectively. However, simply basing your program on ‘thera band’ , rotator cuff work, band glute walks and planks will not STRESS the athlete sufficiently and prepare them for the rigours of BOWLING FAST. Please remember there’s 4 times and 9 times your bodyweight going through your body on back foot and front foot contact respectively. Now that’s STRESS !
Constantly applying STRESS to the human body is the single most important component of any training program. It’s fact that you must constantly be stressing the FAST BOWLER for them to maximise their athletic potential. This is why I believe we are STRESS MANAGERS! A coach must understand stress, its cause and effect relationship on the human body and how that relationship influences adaptations that help them BOWL FASTER.
As coaches we need to understand that OVERLOADING the bowlers and STRESSING them is key. Without it bowlers will never achieve the bowling speeds they are capable of. They will never reach their pace ceiling. It’s such a fine line between STIMULATING and ANNIHILATING but it’s a line that needs to be walked on.
Stress is your body’s way of interpreting the world around you.
Stress is all encompassing stimulus and can be interpreted as the GENERAL ADAPTION SYNDROME (GAS) Dr Hans Selye
What this basically means is that stress isn’t a single, isolated event. It can be seen as a wave, were on some occasions you aren’t stressed and other occasions you’re at PEAK STRESS LEVELS. The key point to always remember is that you’re always stressed. The key for a coach is to know when to take the bowler to the top of the wave and when to take him back down. This is also dictated by outside factors as well, like family stress, sleep patterns, diet and other external STRESSORS. This is why a SMART PERIODISED PLAN IS THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL FAST BOWLING PROGRAM.
Stress is the signal to the body that something has to change; something must adapt to reduce the amount of stress exerted on the body if it was to happen again. If the stressor is large enough it triggers ADAPTATION. If it isn’t, what happens? Yep, the body STAGNATES and gets lazy. This is what happens currently with FAST BOWLERS. The body is always in a state of ‘I’M ADEQUATELY STRONG!!’ Adequate doesn’t get you bowling fast!
The key to all the above, THE TRANSFER OF TRAINING, ADAPTATION AND STRESS MANAGEMENT is having the knowledge to carefully plan the winter training program into CONCENTRATED blocks of training. Each block/phase has a key focus, maybe a focus of 2-3 key physical attributes. Yes, within each block the program may be utilising a CONJUGATE MODEL but still only focusing on 2-3 main physical needs. It’s important to mention here the understanding of the RESIDUAL EFFECT OF TRAINING. By knowing when and what new training stressor should/can be added to the program the body will be FORCED TO ADAPT in the appropriate manner.
A carefully thought out 20-week plan starts with the heaviest and ends with lightest! That’s it; it’s as simple as that. The winter program needs to end with a greater volume of training method that replicates the speed, movement and sequence of your sport. Bowlers should not spend too long on the top 3 methods in the diagram as it will leave little time to DIRECT TRANSFER the general strength into specific strength.
Joel’s Note
Since an S&C’s job needs to have performance checkmarks, an understanding of the KPI’s of the sport they are training should be well understood. Knowing when improving gym lifts fails to transfer to sport play, or could invoke a negative transfer if overemphasized, is important to understand for high performance.
Due to a fear of OVERTRAINING and workload management bowlers are in fact UNDERCOOKED by the time the season begins because they’ve not spent enough time in the PRE COMPETITION PHASE, where bowling lots of balls should take place. If there is a fear of OVER BOWLING and OVERTRAINING the players never get stressed hard enough to see a full SUPER COMPENSATION response. Yes, while severely over bowling / training a bowler will have extremely negative effects on their performance, a milder dose of overtraining, know as overreaching, will yield drastic improvements. From a coaching perspective It’s having the knowhow, with experience and knowledge to STRESS the bowler in order to have the desired training effect and PEAKING FOR GAME DAY.
Overreaching and exposure to high bouts of STRESS, when given adequate time to recover, can lead to a delayed effect, resulting in the body rebuilding to a level above and beyond their previous state. This phenomenon is known as SUPERCOMPENSATION. This will force the bowlers’ body to adapt to higher levels and in fact bowl quicker than they previously did.
“Only when standing at the brink of destruction does man truly realises his potential” Ancient Samurai Maxim
The training for FAST BOWLERS is highly specific and requires a unique Strength developmental program. Simply using a ‘one size fits all’ training method is not only wrong but very unproductive. Fast bowling is very different from any other skill. There is nothing like it and it needs to be treated that way. The closest technical skill to it is JAVELIN THROWING and BASEBALL PITCHING. However these aren’t the exact duplicate of Fast bowling. Both are a single effort skill and don’t require massive amounts of repetition over a course of a day. These 2 skills are the closest to the BIOMECHANICS of bowling so it makes sense to use some of their training methods.
Joel’s Note
There are core principles that bind all sport movements together, but each individual sport has distinctive nuances that are very important for sports performance coaches to understand
In terms of bowling being a repetitive skill I believe you shouldn’t dwell on that too much and OVER-CONDITION for it. Get fast first then as you get closer to the season; around March time BOWL LOTS OF BALLS in the nets at 70-80% effort (TEMPO BOWLING). Are we putting these fast bowlers through endless conditioning session, which doesn’t replicate the energy system, effort and movement pattern they will do in their actual event? You run in a straight line and perform a BALLISTIC skill at the end of it with maximum pace and effort. Walk back and repeat. Can you replicate that in a gym! No you can’t. A fast bowling program needs to do these things.
- Build specific muscles to lay foundation for the next phase
- Develop maximum strength /relative to your bodyweight (especially in the lower body)
- Tolerate high levels of eccentric stress in the posterior chain
- Develop the ability to absorb force, withstand deformation by maintaining stiffness through co-contractions and expode towards the direction of the batsman
- Develop maximum power (rfd) in the pushing muscles and rotational muscles
- Use that new found power to transfer to game specific ‘speed’
- Be able to perform that speed a number of times (power-endurance)
These are the key actions you need to consider when designing a fast bowling program. Nothing else matters. The training program needs to be specific to a fast bowler. This is why a programme needs to focus heavily on SPECIAL STRENGTH training. However not everyone will spend the same amount of time on special strength training. What you do in a program is determined by your TRAINING AGE not your CHRONOLOGICAL AGE in my opinion.
For example one bowler may spend 6-8 weeks on a functional hypertrophy phase whereas another bowler may spend only 1 week. However the more experienced bowler would spend 6-8 weeks on the OU WEIGHTED BALL ARM SPEED PROGRAM. Work out what their LIMITING FACTOR is. Every bowler needs to do all the phases, working from heavy to light/ specific, however the time in each will vary. Once again PERIODISATION is king!
Specific strength training is strength that the bowler can actually apply to bowling. It’s developed through the range of movement and at specific joint angles and speeds that are used when bowling. It differs from GENERAL STRENGTH which is strength of the prime movers without regard for the event/skill you specialise in. It is however very important and a phase of training needs to be dedicated to this. Having a high GENERAL STRENGTH levels doesn’t necessarily mean you will bowl quicker. An athlete with a 2 x bodyweight squat may not bowl as quickly as an athlete with a 1 x bodyweight squat who has a higher level of SPECIFIC STRENGTH. The athlete with a lower level of SPECIFC STRENGTH hasn’t trained and transferred the GENERAL STRENGTH gains into more specific and ‘usable’ strength. In effect, SPECIFIC STRENGTH is the bridge between the Gym and the Sports field. It bridges the gap between GENERAL STRENGTH work (Bench, Dead lift, Squat, Overhead press, Chins) and the sports field.
Dr. A Bondarchuk states that to maximise the transfer of training gains of General strength to Special strength and PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT the athlete must do 2 things:
- Choose specialised developmental exercise that are closely related to the movement patterns and neural firing rates the athlete will find in competition
- Perform these exercises at velocities that are SLIGHTLY SLOWER [Heavy balls] or SLIGHTLY FASTER [Light balls-tennis ball] than those found in competition.
Ok, here goes, from the master in TRANSFER OF TRAINING FOR SPORTS, not me but from a man who’s trained more OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLISTS than anyone else.
“If a progression of these types of exercises isn’t used leading up to competition there will be LITTLE to no TRANSFER observed”
“Excluding SPECIALISED DEVELOPMENTAL exercise [SDE] during the last Mesocycle block led to a loss in the previously achieved physical abilities of the athlete during competition”
I’ve been the best case study there is on how to train for bowling. I’ve trained myself to be faster but I also not intentionally trained myself to be slower. I worked out over the years that what gave me the best gains, the term was unknown to me, but it was SPECIFIC STRENGTH training. When implementing Specific strength training I took over 300 wickets [all cricket] in 3 seasons [2000, 2001, and 2005]! When I then became a ‘gym addict’ it didn’t help my cricket. I was brutally strong but not functionally/specifically strong for bowling.
Joel’s Note
As Adarian Barr says, it is important to “taste our own cooking” as coaches. Unless we live it ourselves, it’s harder to realize, and we tend to make many more mistakes before finding the correct direction, if we ever find it at all.
Low level of BOWLING SPECIFIC STRENGTH will always hinder the potential for maximum performance and Bowling quickly.
Fast bowling has 3 special considerations that ultimately affect the type of training they need to do. In general, POWER for the fast bowler is primarily generated from
- Leg extension
- Hip rotation
- Trunk flexion
Actual Bowling speed is generated by MOMENTUM from the run up, ROTATIONAL power in the trunk and ARM SPEED OVER A LONGER PULL.
It makes sense then that the training emphasis should be placed on improving these actions.
To do that a program needs to be carefully planned and PERIODISED. A periodised program needs to have definite phases of training for a block approach (concentrated) or have each exercise classification within a weekly plan (conjugate) or a complete session (complex).
- GENERAL PREPARATION PHASE (GPP)
- SPECIFIC PREPEARTION PHASE (SPP)
- PRE-COMPETITION PHASE (PCP)
- COMPETITION PHASE (CP) – Preseason. JUST BOWL!!!
The above diagram shows how each ‘triphasic’ training technique including my ‘skill stability-technical training’ fits into the yearly model.
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Within each phase of the winter plan there is a definite focus and a unique classification of the exercises. I classify my exercises according to the opinion of the greatest track and field coach of all time. Anatoli Bondarchuk.
There are 4 categories (Classification)
Joel’s Note
It’s awesome for me to see Steffan’s classifications here relative to sport. As I go through Derek Evely’s work, it helps me to see where various exercises and movements lie in regard to sport, so a reference here to cricket helps to expand my ideas on how much things transfer to different sport movements
1. GENERAL PREPARATORY EXERCISES (GPE)
These are Exercises that are performed in the early part of the GPP (November/December). ‘Exercises that have different movement patterns and different systems [muscular and energy] to fast bowling’. Generally speaking, these exercises are very all-purpose and used whatever sport you would play. The aim is simply to make you a better athlete. I also use it to potentiate more specific exercises due to its maximum activation of the high-threshold motor unit. In fact, I always contrast a GPE with bowling itself. So, I contrast GPE with CE. Now that will guarantee a positive transfer! Potentiation and transfer in one superset! The smaller that window between general and specific the more chance for it to transfer.
GPE exercises for a fast bowler would include;
- Squat or lunge pattern, hip thrust, back extensions, TBDL, chins, pullovers and Incline bench press
This classification is dependent on whether a bowler is HIP DOMINANT or KNEE DOMINANT. Some bowlers need to ‘squat until they drop’ while others need to limit full squatting and actually rely on more shock training. The number one priority for any coach is to make sure the bowler is set up to land effectively on back foot contact (BFC)- the start of the kinetic chain.
However, no 2 bowlers will ever land on the back foot the same. The quality of the contact can have a massive impact on the quality of the full ‘Kino-sequence’ of fast bowling. Based on bowling type Ground contact times of 0.112 on BFC for a HIP DOMINANT bowler and 0.502 for a KNEE DOMINANT bowler confirms my belief that bowling type dictates how they should be trained.
The amortization phase (coupling time) of the back-foot contact is critical to successful fast bowling and that the strength needed most by the bowler is not for extension/pushing off but for the prevention of excessive flexion at the plant. This is a function of eccentric strength. However, understanding whether knee flexion occurs due to an ingrained motor pattern/habit or a lack of strength is really important. Some have a large knee flexion due their dominance- they are knee dominant and more often than not out squat everyone. They love the ‘bend in the knee’. Allows them to create more time and allows them to utilise the longer SSC. So over squatting a knee dominant bowler would actually be detrimental. Increasing the strength deficit would interfere with the timing and the ‘quickness’ of the back foot. Some knee dominant bowlers, despite massive squat numbers may in fact look weak on BFC as they sink further to increase time and therefore increasing the time on BFC and losing GRF. They don’t utilise the ‘spring mass model’ effect on BFC.
While heavy-resistance strength training ultimately produces a greater maximum force, the greater force production comes at a cost in time of application. Rate of Force Development (RFD) is of prime importance in the efficient conversion of horizontal kinetic energy to vertical impulse. Although some mechanics and angles may differ on BFC (HIP OR KNEE) it’s about the conversion and / or conservation of energy at BFC. While all bowlers will lose energy, the vertical velocity at ground release from BFC into FFC is a determining or limiting factor in the maximum height that the bowlers centre of mass (CM) will reach during the delivery. Matching up a bowlers biomotor strengths with their current bowling type can have a massive impact in their success and career.
Based on my data and degrees/second conversion. These are the speeds of key nodes of fast bowling
36 m/s arm speed
17m/s rotational speed
A fast speed/dynamic lift like an Olympic lift which would fall into SPE. Is only 1.35 M/S. A Med ball throw that falls into a SDE would only be 6.23 M/s. These numbers are so far away from the skill of bowling itself. So why bother with SD and SPE. So, could it just about using GPE for neural activation and efficiency and then bowling a cricket ball or Under or overload balls to guarantee transfer? Ballistic work could also be used for PAP and neural activation. Fast twitch fibres are activated with 90% load or 30% load approximately (so heavy or light). Both of which don’t transfer directly into bowling velocity. So here is my current thought process we do General preparation exercise to simply build strength as an athlete and then simply bowl to positively transfer. So where does that leave the next 2 classifications?
2. SPECIAL PREPARATORY EXERCISES (SPE)
These exercises use the same systems [energy and muscular] to fast bowling but through a different movement pattern. They stimulate the same major groups and physiological systems used in fast bowling. For fast bowling SPECIAL PREP EXERCISES would include all relevant exercises that are EXPLOSIVE (mainly Strength-speed. Medium weight explosive exercises-40-60% RM) in nature.
They would include:
- Olympic lifts and they’re variations (hang, blocks, pulls etc)
- Speed squats (bands)
- Push press/Split jerk
- Skill-stability- ISO PUSH, ISO-HOLD, ISO-SWITCH
These exercises would be performed towards the end of the GPP but mainly in the SPP (January/Feb).
However, and I appreciate this may be a controversial opinion, but I don’t Olympic lift my fast bowlers. They serve no purpose in my mind as does most Strength-speed or Speed-strength VBT type exercises.
I hear a lot of coaches shouting so why don’t you perform any Olympic lifts with your quicks? “Your mind can do 3 things well, 2 things very well and 1 thing only really well. I want my quicks mind to be concerned with one whole kinetic sequence pattern only and that is fast bowling. Olympic lifts have to be done correctly or else they are really counterproductive, stress the shoulders and can cause Injury”. I’m qualified to coach it but to get really effective and efficient at it takes hours of mastering. I would prefer spending the time coaching them to become better at fast bowling and get them stronger with basic lifts in the gym.
Remember, movement slower than the actual delivery in fast bowling won’t make you faster and the lack of a negative part of an Olympic lift misses out the main muscle contraction in fast bowling. Bowling fast is all about controlling the shock and the eccentric forces on impact to avoid deformation which will increase the time to complete the sequence- not good! Faster hips can be achieved with sprinting, standing broad jumps and overhead granny Mb throws. I believe it’s not ideal to synchronize hip extension with an arm pulling and shoulder shrugging motion. Fast bowling is the opposite pattern.
Joel’s Note
Olympic lifts should always be viewed through the lens of the nature of impulse to the ground through the ankle (concentric and eccentric) when it comes to specificity
Also, remember Olympic lifts is about triple extension and coming up onto the balls of the feet. Well in fact, fast bowling is about timing of triple rotation & extension and also BFC being on the ball of the feet whilst FFC is on the heel. The only “Olympic lifting I would use is the split jerk, which is a great movement for the legs mostly. Anything “dynamic” in nature, like the DE effort day in a Westside conjugate type template is useless to a fast bowler, any kind of weight training cannot make you move faster than actually bowling. If you need your bowler to be faster, then more light ball bowling are in order and even more heavy ball bowling.
I was given a training programme about 17 yrs. ago by ‘Tudor Bompa’- I wish I stuck to it. Lift heavy, jump, throw things and bowl weighted balls! No Dynamic lifts like OL
“To get the most neural activation a heavy squat attempt or deadlift will have more neural activation then a heavy clean or snatch for sure” K Baggett
My belief is that the CNS stimulation that happens with weight training during a max attempt with max weight is greater than the stimulation during a max attempt with max power. I find the need for a maximal stretch useless if this max stretching does not lead to a maximum contraction. Having a maximal myotatic reflex without a maximal contraction is like teaching the arm to reverse and start a movement and leaving the job unfinished. Unless the weight is maximal, a maximal contraction following a maximal stretching will lead the athlete to release the weight, thus leading to the need of bands or something similar that do defeat the purpose of weight training for throws! Because we train to accelerate a given weight and not keep a given speed for an increasing weight as leverages get favourable.
I’m still not sold on strength speed work yet if I’m honest. Too slow for the bowlers and less neural activation than a maximal lift. So where does it sit in the training programme of a fast bowler? Not sure
3. SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTAL EXERCISES (SDE)
Special developmental exercises use the same systems are fast bowling but not identical. They duplicate part of the movement but not the whole movement. The speed and the joint angles are the same as a key part of fast bowling. For example, ‘approach, back foot contact, front foot contact, delivery stride, follow through etc. Exercises in this category would include:
- Medicine ball drills-Overhead throws, rotational throws, various jumps, Shock plyometrics (Depth drops and jumps)
- Sled running/ Prowler-sled contrast sprinting for speed
- 1080 resisted and assisted bowling
- Long toss
- Skill-stability- ISO-CATCH, ISO-DYNAMIC, ISO-REACTIVE
These exercises would be performed towards the end of the SPP but mainly in the PCP (March)
4. The final exercise classification is the COMPETITIVE EXERCISES (CE)
“Purpose of every resistance programme is to encourage a permanent and positive change to performance. Positive transfer occurs when the training method replicates part or whole of the kinematic and kinetic sequencing that occurs on game day. To achieve transfer the load cannot change the biodynamic, biomotor or bioenergetic capacities in the body. The body mustn’t be able to differentiate between a load that is alien to the body and the kinematic sequence of the skill if its to transfer”
The only true transfer of training exercise is BOWLING itself. In this classification exercises are used that are identical or almost identical to Fast bowling. Here the hugely effective OU WEIGHTED BALL PRORGAMME comes in and the use of the ‘EXOGEN SUIT’. Bowlers would bowl using various weighted balls, both over weight and underweight or a fully loaded suit. All other training methods are no longer used or at best used in small volume for maintenance purposes. I would actually have bowlers bowling every day to transfer their new-found GENERAL STRENGTH to COMPETITIVE STRENGTH.
At this stage the emphasis shifts towards specificity. All bowlers who have a training age of more than 3yrs don’t need to spend more than 6-8 weeks in the GPP. The future of fast bowling training cannot be found under a barbell. It’s specific, overloaded and variable training methods.
“Although non-specific resistance training can induce neural adaptations and increase the power production of individual muscles, it appears that to maximize transfer to specific sports skills, training should be as specific as possible, especially with regard to movement pattern and contraction velocity. This type of training can be expected to enhance intermuscular coordination and ensure that muscles are “tuned” to any newly acquired force-generating capacity. Adding a load to a sports movement would seem to be a suitable strategy to achieve this specificity, although the amount and direction of added resistance would need to be considered” (Young, 2006, p.80)
Lila movement EXOGEN is a unique internal mechanical loading (IML) method that grooves technique subconsciously as well as overload the system. Overloading technique is the only way of guaranteeing transfer and encouraging adaptation.
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Joel’s Note
Like Jeff Moyer says, results are the common ground we can stand on as coaches
When designing a winter programme, I utilise Charlie Francis’ VERTICAL INTEGRATION model. Everything is trained but the focus of each phase is different and something has to go before adding. In simple terms the whole system is based on the ‘PINT OF WATER’ principle. Before you add something, you must take something out. Everyone can have great training sessions and some awesome new lifting techniques in their tool box but unless you put it in a well thought out, specific and periodised plan you’re bowling performances will never improve.
Have a great Christmas and no, just going for a jog on Christmas day doesn’t mean you’re a dedicated athlete. What you do in the other 364 what defines you as a cricketer.
Steff
About Steffan Jones
Steffan Jones is the former Somerset, Northamptonshire, Kent and Derbyshire fast bowler who forged a career out of getting the best out of himself physically. He is an ex-pro cricketer of 20yrs, and is the last dual pro between rugby & cricket. Steffan is recognized as a global Fast-bowling performance expert. He is one of a very few specialist coaches in the world who can truly represent James Smith Governing dynamics of coaching.
Steffan is currently one of the small number of people in the world who holds an ECB level 3 qualification as well as a UKSCA accreditation in strength & conditioning. He is now a fast bowling specialist consultant to various professionals and team globally, and currently employed as the Fast bowling performance coach of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals. He is one of the first UK based coaches to be employed in the IPL.
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