Optimal Technique for Pace Bowling in Cricket

 Biomechanics Blog: Optimal technique for pace bowling in Cricket

HLPE3531 - Flinders University

By Aaron Manning

'What is the optimal technique for pace bowling in the game of Cricket from a biomechanical perspective?'

Introduction:

Cricket is one of Australia's most popular sports with 410 919 participants in structured programs in the 2003-2004 season (Dennis, Finch & Farhart, 2005). Globally, it is played in over 90 countries with the International Cricket Council comprised of 92 member countries (Rumford, 2007). The game is played between two teams made up of 11 players with one team batting, and the other team bowling and fielding. The evolution of cricket over the years has seen games run from only a few hours, right up to a five day test match. The main skills that cricketers need in order to perform well is that ability to bat, bowl, catch and throw, with each cricketer primarily being a batter or bowler.

This blog will be focusing on the optimal technique for pace bowling with a biomechanical analysis on seven movement sequences. Good pace bowling can be a game changer and is one of the most difficult skills to master in the game. Unfortunately, pace bowling poses the greatest risk of injury from factors such as poor technique, poor physical preparation and overuse (Dennis et al., 2005; Bartlett, Stockill, Elliott & Burnett, 1996). This biomechanical analysis will take aim at providing the optimal technique to maximise pace and efficiency with injury prevention in mind.

There are three main types of technique adopted by pace bowlers:

Figure 1: Front on bowling action (England Cricket Board, 2000).

1. Front on - The front on technique typically has a higher run up speed, a rear foot position pointing forwards and a open chest position (Bartlett et al., 1996). The front on bowler looks inside the front arm to sight the target (Ferdinands, 2008).

Figure 2: Side on bowling action (England Cricket Board, 2000).

2. Side on - The side on technique generally has a slower run up speed at the start of the delivery stride, a rear foot position that is parallel to the crease and shoulders aligned with the wicket (Bartlett et al., 1996). The side on bowler looks down their non bowling arm to sight the target (Ferdinands, 2008).

 

Figure 3: Mixed bowling action (England Cricket Board, 2000)

3. Mixed technique - The mixed technique is where bowlers adopt a front on foot and shoulder orientation, and back foot strike, which is followed by the realignment of the shoulders to a more side on position during the delivery stride (Figure 3) (Bartlett et al., 1996; Elliott, Hardcastle, Burnett & Foster, 1992). This action has an increased risk of injury compared to front on and side on techniques (Glazier, Paradisis & Cooper, 2000).

 Movement Sequences

The skill has been broken down into 7 movement phases, which can be seen in figure 4.

Figure 4: Pace bowling movement sequence (Creative Commons Attributions, 2007).

 

 

The Run up:

Their is a common belief that the run up is used to transfer as much horizontal velocity into the ball as possible but their is actually no evidence to support this (Ferdinands, 2008). Previous studies have found that a balanced and rhythmical run up is most favored with most bowlers keeping their pace below 20km/h (Bartlett et al., 1996; Ferdinands, 2008). The ideal pace for the run up is really up to the individual, as long as they can produce sufficient speed without making any technical sacrifices. The purpose of the run up is to generate ball speed by utilizing ground reaction forces to initially slow the lower body and then use the front leg as a lever to get that 'whip lash' effect (Ferdinands, 2008). This will be discussed further under front foot contact.

 The bowler initially transfers force throughout the run up to overcome initial inertia and puts the ball in motion which can be explained by Newtons First Law that states: 

An object will remain at rest or continue to move with constant velocity as long as the net force equals zero (Blazevich, 2013, pg 44).

The main objective to pace bowling is to transfer as much speed into the ball as possible while still remaining accurate. The bowler needs to transfer as much force into the ball creating it to accelerate towards the wickets, which can be explained by Newtons Second Law that states:

The acceleration of an object is proportional to the net force action on it and inversely proportional to the mass of the object: F=ma (Blazevich, 2013, pg 45).

 This needs to be in a controlled manner to ensure that the ball is striking the pitch where the bowler wants it to. A run up too fast, or force too large will not allow for an accurate ball, so the bowler needs to be aware of this.

The Pre-delivery stride:

The pre-delivery stride divides the run up from the delivery stride and begins for a right hander with a jump off the left foot, followed by the strike of the right foot, before the utilization of ground reaction forces to create the whip lash effect on the front leg. During this phase the side on bowler passes their right foot to the back and turns it parallel to the crease before trunk flexion. This is slightly different for the front on bowler as they do not have to assume an open back foot position and therefore do not need to lengthen their stride (Bartlett et al., 1996). Worthington, King & Ranson (2013) found a strong correlation between speed through the pre delivery stride and ball release speed. During the small leap through this stride, there is an impulse-momentum relationship into the ground that accelerates our body up before making back foot contact. The bowler does this by exerting force into the ground and overcoming the body's inertia which can be explained by Newtons Third Law that states:

for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Blazevich, 2013, pg 45).

Figure 5: Ground Reaction forces (blazevich, 2013, pg. 45).

As the bowler exerts force into the ground, there is an equal and opposite reaction force through this stride which can be noted in figure 5. Not only does the bowler need to be aware of this during the pre delivery stride but also through the run up where they exert force into the ground to accelerate forward.

Mid bound:

The mid bound is the moments leading up to the back foot contact and is where trunk flexion needs to be maximised, without posing any sort of injury risk for the bowler. Research has found there to be a correlation between trunk flexion speed and ball release speed (Ferdinands, 2008). A study by Worthington et al. (2013) found that increased flexion of the trunk provides a significant contribution to ball realease speed, accounting for 11-13% of the final release speed.

Figure 6: Leteral Flexion of the Trunk.

The bowler begins with hyper-extension of the trunk (Figure 6) and stays in this position until right before ball release where the whip lash effect is created about the front foot. However, a study by Adams, Dolan & Hutton (1988) has highlighted the injury risk of hyper-extension by stating that if loaded by high compressive forces while in a hyper-extended state, the intervertebral discs of a bowler’s spine can be easily damaged. Bowlers with back problems need to be careful through this stage and can reduce impact on their back by optimizing knee angle at front foot contact (i.e. like a shock absorber).

Back foot contact:

The back foot strike is the beginning of the delivery stride and upon this foot striking the ground, the bowlers weight needs to be on this foot with the body leaning away from the batsman (Bartlett et al., 1996). This is to increase range of motion to maximise torque through the bowling action but at this stage the bowling arm does not accelerate (Ferdinands, 2008). Once in the delivery stride, the trunk rotates forward and flexes forwards bringing the bowling arm with it.

At this stage of the delivery stride, the bowler needs to keep their leading arm in as long as they can to conserve angular momentum. The Law of Conservation of Momentum states:

The total (angular) momentum of a system remains constant unless external forces influence the system (Blazevich, 2013, pg. 91).

By keeping the leading arm close to his center of mass, the radius of gyration is smaller and since momentum is conserved, this reduces the moment of inertia, and increases velocity.

Front foot contact:

 Upon front foot contact, the bowler uses the ground reaction forces from the breaking impulse of the front leg to decelerate the lower body and use the front leg as a leaver. To maximise speed, the bowler needs to keep this front leg as straight as possible but doing so can pose injury risks. The absorbtion of these stresses can be done by a slight bend in the knee, which will minimise injury and create a good base of support to create the whip lash effect, with optimal knee bend at approximately 10 degrees (Ferdinands, 2008; Bartlett et al., 1996). This is evident in  Figure 7 below. A study by Worthington et al. (2013) also found a link between a more extended front leg and ball release speed, making full extension of the front leg favourable at this stage.

Figure 7: Utilization of GRF to create whip lash effect (Ferdinands et al., 2008).

The utilization of these ground reaction forces to decelerate the lower limbs can be explained by Newtons Third Law which states:

for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Blazevich, 2013, pg 45).

 As the bowler plants this foot they are converting linear momentum of their run up into angular momentum about the front foot (Worthington et al., 2013). This is where the bowler creates torque and extends their leading arm out to create the whip lash effect to maximise the moment of inertia, creating a multiplier effect.

  This can also be explained by Newtons Third Law (around angles) which states:

For every angular action there is an equal and opposite angular reaction (Blazevich, 2013, pg. 91)

At this point, the leading arm needs to be kept high and close to the bowlers center of mass before producing downwards torque to optimize on these equal and opposite reactions (Bartlett et al., 1996). This creates trunk flexion and shoulder rotation towards to target, while pulling the bowling arm around and over, for a high ball release (Ferdinands, 2008).

Ball release:

 At this point, we have a moving chain of body parts: the kinetic (moving) chain, which can be separated into push-like movement patterns and throw-like movement patterns.  The straightening of the arm allows a push like pattern to be adopted by the bowler as all of the joints are extending and aligning towards a target (Blazevich, 2013). At the point of release, a throw-like movement pattern is adopted by the wrist to increase the velocity of the hand and fingers to maximise ball release speed. This final stage is critical to ball release speed as the flick of wrist and fingers make a significant contribution to overall release speed (Blazevich, 2013).

Follow through:

The follow through is the final movement phase to the cricket bowl and is where a gradual reduction in the bowlers speed is made over two or three strides after the deliver. Bartlett et al. (1996) suggest that bowlers should ensure the bowling arm follows down the outside of the left thigh (or right for left handers), nearly brushing the ground in the line of the ball. This can be seen in Figure 8 where Australian fast bowler, Ryan Harris follows through past his left thigh.

Figure 8: Ryan Harris follow through (The Guardian, 2014).

The Answer:

The optimal solution to cricket pace bowling is to begin with a balanced and rhythmical run up that provides the bowler with a good amount of speed into the delivery, without making any technical sacrifices. If the run up is too quick, then accuracy will be the trade off. The bowlers pre-delivery stride needs to be a slightly larger stride for the side-on bowler to get their back foot parallel to the crease before front foot contact and trunk flexion. As the bowler enters the delivery stride with back foot contact, the weight needs to be on the back foot before slight lateral hyper-extension of the back. The transfer of weight needs to happen while conserving momentum with the arms before front foot contact. The front foot needs to be out infront of the trunk with an almost straight leg to maximise ball release speed. At this stage the leading arm can be extended with downwards torque to create the whip lash or force multiplier effect. The shoulders and hips will then rotate before ball release through the moving kinetic chain. The bowler is then to follow through past their left thigh, in line with the ball and decelerate over the next couple strides as seen in Figure 8.

How else can we use this information?

In understanding the biomechanical principles that underpin the skill of pace bowling in cricket, we can apply these understandings in a range of other sporting contexts. These principles can be used by teachers, coaches and athletes to develop the most effective and efficient skill techniques possible. An example of how the biomechanical principles from the cricket bowl may be transferred is in the skill of throwing a javelin (Bartlett et al., 1996; Ferdinands, 2008). Javelin throwers need to have the ability to execute a smooth run up, into a delivery stride that uses the front leg as a lever. This is also similar for a baseball pitch. Coaches and athletes from all sports need to understand the biomechanical principles that underpin their sporting domains in order to enhance performances at the professional level. Similarly, teachers need to have a good understanding of biomechanical principles in order to educate and develop students abilities, and skills.

References:

Bartlett, R. M., Stockill, N. P., Elliott, B. C., & Burnett, A. F. (1996). The biomechanics of fast bowling in men's cricket: a review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 14(5), 403-424.

Blazevich, A. J. (2013). Sports biomechanics: the basics: optimising human performance. A&C Black.

 Creative commons Attributions (2007). bowling action.png. Typical Bowling action. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_action#/media/File:Bowling_action.png

Dennis, R. J., Finch, C. F., & Farhart, P. J. (2005). Is bowling workload a risk factor for injury to Australian junior cricket fast bowlers?. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 39(11), 843-846.

Elliott, B. C., Hardcastle, P. H., Burnett, A. E., & Foster, D. H. (1992). The influence of fast bowling and physical factors on radiologic features in high performance young fast bowlers. Research in Sports Medicine: An International Journal, 3(2), 113-130.

 

England Cricket Board (ECB), 2000, “Cricket Coaches manual”, In Hurrion, P, & Harmer, J, 2004, “The Fast-Medium Bowler: Sports Biomechanics and Technical Analysis Model”, Coachesinfo.com: Information and education for coaches, retrieved from http://www.quintic.com/education/case_studies/Cricket%203.htm

 Ferdinands, R.E.D, 2008, “Biomechanics and the art of bowling”, Coachesinfo.com: information and education for coaches, http://coachesinfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=280:introduction&catid=84:cricket-bowling&Itemid=159

Ferdinands, R. E., Kersting, U., & Marshall, R. N. (2008). A preliminary forward solution model of cricket bowling. International Journal of Sports Science and Engineering, 2(4), 211-215.

Glazier, P., Paradisis, G. P., & Cooper, S. M. (2000). Anthropometric and kinematic influences on release speed in men’s fast-medium bowling. Journal of Sports Sciences, 18(12), 1013-1021.

Guardian, The. (2014) South Africa vs Australia: Day three - As it happened. picture retrieved from:  http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/mar/03/south-africa-v-australia-third-test-live.

Rumford, C. (2007). More than a game: globalization and the post‐Westernization of world cricket. Global Networks, 7(2), 202-214.

Worthington, P. J., King, M. A., & Ranson, C. A. (2013). Relationships between fast bowling technique and ball release speed in cricket.