Fast bowling is made out to sound complicated with a lot of technical terms going around. But if you are wondering how to bowl fast?, the answer lies in mastering a few complicated basics.
In the following guide, we take a detailed but easy-to-understand approach to the primary components of fast bowling techniques, such as Run-Up, Back Foot Contact (BFC), Front Foot Contact (FFC), and Ball Release, with the aim of helping you improve your speed most efficiently and safely like Jasprit Bumrah & Mitchell Starc, etc.
Understanding the Basics: What Really Makes a Bowler Fast?
Fast bowling is all about transferring momentum and conserving energy. The more effective the transfer of momentum within your body (the kinetic chain), the quicker the ball will accelerate.
Step-by-step breakdown of how to bowl fast?
1. The Run-Up: Building Momentum for Maximum Speed
However, if you’re asking how to bowl fast?, well, we begin with your run-up. The run-up provides you with a chance to generate linear momentum before delivery. Studies show that most fast bowlers sprint at approximately 80% of their top-end sprinting velocity. Surprisingly enough, research (Worthington et al., 2013) shows that the quicker bowlers tend to have a quicker run-up.
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How to Improve Your Run-Up Speed:
Incorporate maximal sprint training
Sprint-specific drills
Enhance Acceleration Mechanics
Increase Overall Lower Body Power
Increasing your maximum sprint speed can help boost your bowling speed without requiring you to make any extra efforts. Key Tip: Rather than running harder, try running faster.
2. Back Foot Contact (BFC): Maintaining Momentum
When your back foot hits the floor before your front gets touch down it is referred to as Back Foot Contact (BFC). The BFC is incredibly important because it will help hold onto the speed you built up; maintaining your push off to use later in a jump.
Felton et al.(2019) state that one reasons for rear leg and maintaining linear momentum achieved from running during BFC to FFC conversion process.
What Happens at BFC?
The goal is quite simple:
Spend minimal time on the ground
Avoid Collapsing or Excessive Knee Bend
Maintain Stiffness and Stability
If the knee bends more than it should, it helps slow down the person by acting like a shock absorber.
How to Improve BFC Efficiency:
Strengthen your Ankle, Calves, Achilles Tendon, and Feet
Incorporate hopping drills such as POGOs
Train reactive strength and stiffness
Moreover, as research suggests (Alway et al., 2021), falling at BFC not only slows down the ball speed, it might result in lumbar spine stress fractures too.
Efficiency means speed and durability.
3. Front Foot Contact (FFC): The Power Transfer Phase
The point of generating pace from FFC is at the very time when the last part of your body was moving forward (the lower body) has completely stopped moving forward, there should be a transfer of energy through the trunk and into the bowling arm. This is called the kinetic chain effect.
Why a Braced Front Leg Matters
The bracing of the front knee, where the knee does not completely fall, allows for a strong braking power. Such sudden stoppage allows for the upward movement of energy efficiently.
Not all fast bowlers have perfectly braced front legs, yet all research indicates a strong correlation between:
A stable front leg
Greater force production
Increased ball speed
Coaching Cue: Good front leg positioning = more energy transfer = more speed.
4. Ball Release: Converting Energy Into Speed
Your bowling motion is apart of the setup for one moment, the release of the bowling ball.
As long as your run-up produces momentum, your BFC holds onto it, and your FFC passes it to the bowling ball without losing any velocity the release of the bowling ball will be as powerful and controlled as possible.
An effective kinetic chain does ensure that
Maximum energy transfer
Higher arm speed
Improved consistency
Reduced risk of injury
The key to bowling fast is preparing the ball speed during the complete action, and not at release.
Key Takeaways: How to Bowl Fast?
For continual improvement of your bowling speed, the most critical areas of focus are:
Increase your sprint speed during your run-up, use your speed as efficiently as possible without collapsing at BFC to maintain your momentum.
Brace your front leg at FFC in order to maximize force transfer. Train reactive strength and stiffness. Optimise your entire kinetic chain for efficient energy flow. Fast bowling is not about trying harder; it is about moving better.
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