As the great Jim Rohn once said: “If you will change, everything will change for you”! In this post I would like to share this wonderful success story, and let this remind you that positive transformations are possible.
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This young bowler came to me for a biomechanical analysis in January 2024. From my analysis, I identified his strengths and areas where he could improve, and put together a plan for the off-season. I identified he was at risk of lumbar bone stress injury because he was laterally flexing his torso (side bending) excessively to his left from front foot landing to ball release. I discovered that on back foot landing, he was already falling over to the left. His front leg was planting across the line of his back foot (cross-aligned) and it was collapsing. ⁣

My goal was to get him to shift more of his mass to the right hand side by reorganising his gather position. If he could achieve this, he would then be “taller” and more balanced at the crease so he could better direct his energy forwards and come over the top of his front leg better.⁣ This technical work involved getting him to turn his torso and front arm around to the right more so that when he lands at back foot contact he is taller. He bowled faster just from a few steps when doing this compared with his normal action, so I knew I was on the right track.⁣ He left the session with some homework (the fun kind!).
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He came back to me two months later in March 2024, and I started the session with a review of progress. It is fair to say we did not expect he would bowl 14.4 kph faster.⁣
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So, what else is evident in his transformation?⁣
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He approached the crease at a faster speed. By also remaining tall at the crease until front foot landing, he was able to abruptly decelerate with his extended front leg and catapult his torso over the top of it. As he was faster through the crease, he was able to create more delay in his bowling arm. Due to the faster entry speed into front foot landing and his extended front leg, he was able to drive his rear leg through quicker and create more hip-shoulder separation. The scientific research supports these techniques for bowling faster.

Circling back to the theme of this post, it is possible to transform your bowling technique and pace. Transofrmations of this magnitude are only made possible via a comprehensive biomechanical analysis, a technical intervention plan, coaching, and hard work.