• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Serious Question

Unattainableguy

State 12th Man
How do you bowl really really fast? :ph34r:

Well, I'm gonna try and explain what I mean, I basically don't play cricket a lot(but watch it regularly) cuz I'm Canada and never really tried to join a league, club etc, so only just play maybe 3-4 times a month in summer with a few of my cousins/friends with tapeball. But just last two days after a long time I went to play and my cousins now play some other guys( some of those guys play with hard ball I think) so I got one over after pleading for a while and got hit for 3 sixes, two of when I tried to bowl it with the ball in like all four fingers i think, my way of bowling a cutter except it just always goes straight, bounces a bit more that way than my regular fast ball and goes a bit slower, pretty uselss:laugh: maybe I can bowl it better on a real pitch but we were playing on a road. The other one of full toss when I tried to bowl legspin( 60% of time it's either full toss or just I can't bowl it properly and the ball drops within 5-6 steps from where I'm bowling, but when I get it right, it does turn a bit:cool: But anyway, so those guys bowl pretty fast, they're probably 7-8 years older, (Im 18 btw), so I think age is a factor obviously, btw we're from Pakistan, few were Benglali and one of them actually bowled as fast as Pollock, Asif, McGrath because I was wicket-keeping and it got to me within less than half a sec maybe around .3 of a sec somewhere around there, so anyway my question is how can I bowl as fast that guy? Please don't tell me about run-up, rhythm, stuff like that I know that makes a difference but getting those things right will make you a bit more quicker than you were before, I'm thinking about more like gym going there to build muscles, bigger chests etc would that help me to quickly increase my bowling speed, like being able to bowl maybe twice as fast very quickly? I hope someone can help here, maybe some bowler himself who knows how to bowl pace.

And does someone know a way to calculate your bowling speed, I've heard using a stopwatch and getting the time between when you deliver the ball and when it reaches the other end and calculating it that way, but would it be approximately the accurate result? I guess I can try few times and calculate the average. But anyway my first question is more important.
 
Last edited:

Unattainableguy

State 12th Man
Nah, not even close.
Oh lol that was quick, well I've heard the speed they show in INT matches is the speed of the ball when it leaves the hand, so using the stopwatch method I was talking about would show your speed a lot less than it is, so is there any other way then?
 

Flem274*

123/5
You certainly could bulk up, though you also want to be flexible. Do some yoga and that should help. How tall are you? height is essesntial to a fast bowler. Height gives you more bounce because of a higher delivery point and the height of which the ball is coming from plus the speed creates ALOT of bounce. Flexibility is extremely important because that way your body can handle the extreme positions that a fast bowler goes through. A good action is essential, if it's flawed it can lead to injury and lack of pace. All of this speed is useless however, if you are inaccurate.
 

Unattainableguy

State 12th Man
You certainly could bulk up, though you also want to be flexible. Do some yoga and that should help. How tall are you? height is essesntial to a fast bowler. Height gives you more bounce because of a higher delivery point and the height of which the ball is coming from plus the speed creates ALOT of bounce. Flexibility is extremely important because that way your body can handle the extreme positions that a fast bowler goes through. A good action is essential, if it's flawed it can lead to injury and lack of pace. All of this speed is useless however, if you are inaccurate.
hey, I'm 6 feet tall or maybe 6.1 which I think is alright, We usually just play on a concrete surface, and I don't really get a lot of bounce because I basically try to bowl full so either I go for runs or I'll get wickets and it isn't helpful because with tapeball you're not gonna get any movement so anything full is easy to hit. So I guess I'm gonna start bowling a bit shorter at times to get more bounce etc but for that I need to add more pace because the ball is pitching somewhere in the middle so the speed will start to decrease, like for example when I try to bowl a bouncer by the time it reaches the batsman it's slow and you can easily hook it for six, that's why I'm not worried too much about accuracy, if you can bowl fast, the guys I play with can't play you esp if you can just pitch it just short of good length area and if there's bounce which I'm sure won't be a problem provided I can increase my speed so I can bang the ball hard into the pitch, at the moment my guess would be its 55-60 mph(90-100 kmh), I want to get it around 80mph, I think i said i wanted it to be twice as fast:laugh:
 

iamdavid

International Debutant
I consider myself quite knowledgeable on this subject as I used to be both a fast bowler and a gym junkie.
Firstly 'bulking up' wont do too much for you, look at all the best/fastest bowlers down the ages...how many of them have been big bulky guys ?.....I can barely think of any.
Shoaib Akhtar is an exception to the rule, his talent lies in that he has significant muscle mass yet is still very flexible, and flexibility as has already been said is extremely important, infact I'd say the most important natural attribute for bowling really fast.
Being tall helps aswell as longer arms give you more leverage.

Getting stronger wont neccesarilly make you any quicker, but you will hit the deck harder thus appearing quicker and be less vunerable to injury.
If you do want to do some serious gym work for fast bowling then the muscle groups I'd recomend you focus on are you're shoulders, chest and lats...can be hit easily in two or three excercises, do bench press/pushups, and chinups/pullups and like military presses...and I'd recommend doing a bit of work on you're legs/lower back for stability purposes, do squats or deadlifts they're great for you're upper legs/lower back.
Keep the weights relatively light or you risk bulking up a bit much which is good but not for fast bowling, like about 70-85% of the max u can do...and make sure you stretch thouroughly before and after to maintain flexibility.

And do lots of running, Michael Holding said that running is the best thing fast bowlers can do and in terms of technique he was pretty much the best.

One other thing, alot of fast bowling is natural talent as I'm sure you already know, your body matures at 20-25 and the speed you bowl then is pretty much as fast as you're ever going to, tweeking action, run-up and body will make about a 5-10kph difference max
 

Unattainableguy

State 12th Man
Thanks for replying, I'll try those exercises you mentioned as well as running and see if all this helps. I also think most of this stuff won't usually make too much difference in speed like you mentioned, but I was thinking perhaps if you had stronger arms, shoulders you would be able to throw the ball with more force. Like when I'm batting, I usually can't hit too many sixes despite timing the ball really well and I know it's because of power in arms, shoulders, I'm unlike Afridi or Dhoni etc maybe more like Rahul Dravid strength wise. Other than that I think I bowl pretty fast for someone of my age, but I don't want to wait 2 more years when I'm 20 or older before I can bowl around 75 mph. I think I should also practice a bit more because I didn't even bat or bowl much yesterday, just throwing the ball around in the field, and I've already got cramps in my arms and shoulders, and maybe also change my action at the moment I bowl more like with Irfan Pathan's action( but right handed) but another one I bowl with at times is more straight on action, not exactly like Brett Lee but similar and the speed is usually a bit faster but the previous one feels more easier and natural but I'll try them both tomorrow and see if there's some difference in pace and then stick with one of them. Anyway, I found this forum http://www.cricketworld.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=7 so I'll try some of the things mentioned there as well.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
I am no pacer myself bowling about 60mph max at 15 years old but here is my two cents.

Run Up:

-Rhythmical with arms pumping efficently and not too high.
-Slight forward lean
-Short steps getting larger
-Light jog turning into sprinting which begins about five paces before delivery.

Gather:

-This is the last three steps and jump
-Make this an ACCELERATION not a decelleration as many do.
-Jump forward, utilising the momentum you have from your run up and adding more.

Action:

-Do what feels natural but be conscious of your chest and feet position making sure they face the same direction, no matter what that direction is, make sure they are the same.
-If you choose to go 90degrees side on, make the rotation during the jump and make sure you are front on at release (as all bowlers must be to release it properly)
-If you are 0 degrees front on, run through the action making the action simply an aim.
-Swing your arm over quickly till your hand slaps your back and drag your bowling arm in unison in order to create efficient bowling motion.
-Put your hips into the action as well as arms and legs, all must swing through.

Follow Through:

-50% of the run up length is ideal
-It is a good sign of how much momentum you carry at the crease, no follow through means you are either deliberately stopping or you stop too much in your action and lose all your momentum.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Goughy is the man when it comes to fast bowling coaching.
If he is then I hope he posts because I am also very keen to learn how to bowl fast. At about 55mph (in matches judging that I get 58mph on speed gun in nets), I am not rapid by any means, but I feel that at 15 and 5ft 7 and a willingness to learn I could hopefully touch 80mph one day.
 

PhoenixFire

International Coach
Yeah he is always willing to help people about bowling, he is a pretty good bowler himself, pretty rapid by all means.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
How fast do you reckon if you gave a figure? Sorry to be pestering but pace bowling fascinates me to no end.
 

Unattainableguy

State 12th Man
Thanks Manee, I'll try the things you mentioned.

55-60 mph for a 15 years old is pretty good. I guess if that's your speed right now, you will eventually get it around 80 mph at least quite easily if not more..
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
55-60 mph for a 15 years old is pretty good. I guess if that's your speed right now, you will eventually get it around 80 mph at least quite easily if not more..
Well I hate to be a negative Nancy, but probably not. It gets harder and harder to improve ones pace the faster one bowls. So unless you're doing something really wrong in your bowling right now, or are going to go through a huge growth spurt I feel its going to be extremely difficult to improve one's pace by 20-25 mph.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
I am already doing something very wrong in my relase, I lean to much to the leg side (left arm over to a right hander) in my action and I feel this loses a lot of pace, its so hard to rectify though.
 

shortpitched713

International Captain
I am already doing something very wrong in my relase, I lean to much to the leg side (left arm over to a right hander) in my action and I feel this loses a lot of pace, its so hard to rectify though.
Well without having seen your action its very hard to say how to rectify that, but the simple answer is if you feel you're doing something really wrong then just fix it! I mean, your problem doesn't seem to be too bad, and it seems to be something that can be consciously worked out in a couple sessions in the nets.
 

Unattainableguy

State 12th Man
Well I hate to be a negative Nancy, but probably not. It gets harder and harder to improve ones pace the faster one bowls. So unless you're doing something really wrong in your bowling right now, or are going to go through a huge growth spurt I feel its going to be extremely difficult to improve one's pace by 20-25 mph.
Someone here said your body matures at 20-25, so if he's 15 and is already bowling at 55-60 mph, then I don't think it's gonna too difficult to increase your pace by 20 mph in 5 years time. What I mean is all the international fast bowlers right now, I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be able to bowl around 80 mph consistently, even slow ones like Irfan Pathan, Vaas etc if they tried really hard would be able to bowl few deliveries at 80 mph and I don't think all of the current international fast bowlers were bowling around 60 mph when they were 15 but they can bowl quite fast now.
 

Flem274*

123/5
Someone here said your body matures at 20-25, so if he's 15 and is already bowling at 55-60 mph, then I don't think it's gonna too difficult to increase your pace by 20 mph in 5 years time. What I mean is all the international fast bowlers right now, I can't think of anyone who wouldn't be able to bowl around 80 mph consistently, even slow ones like Irfan Pathan, Vaas etc if they tried really hard would be able to bowl few deliveries at 80 mph and I don't think all of the current international fast bowlers were bowling around 60 mph when they were 15 but they can bowl quite fast now.
Recently in the NZ fast bowling comp for teenage pacers Corey Anderson clocked at 138kmh. He's 16. Can't remember what speed you said you bowled but it's that speed you might want to be paralell with. You said you're 6ft which is good. How much more will you grow? A guy in my region is 6ft something. He bowls 120-130kmh which is quick for schoolboy cricket but the main weapon of his is bounce. As a genuine no.11 I can tell you it's frightening.
 

iamdavid

International Debutant
Dont mean to be negative but if ur 16-19 now and ur bowling 55mph the only way ur ever gonna hit 80mph is human growth hormone(naughty naughty) or insane luck.
I dont think some people comprehend how fast 80mph is, the average 'fast' bowler you come across in the junior ranks out here in Australia (I'm talking U16's-18's) bowls around 100kph (62mph)...and even as you get into senior grade cricket majority of the opening bowlers (guys one level below Pura Cup selection) bowl no quicker than 115-125 (just over 70mph)....I'd say less than 1% of people who've played cricket have ever been able to bowl at or quicker than 80mph.
And typically the increase in pace between 16-25 years of age isnt thaat great.
Shaun Tait was clocked bowling at 144kph (90mph) when he was 16...and even with all the technical work with CA coaches and extra strength he's only added 10-15kph to his max speed in 8 years.
Moises Henriques bowled at about 85mph when he was 16 or 17 and he hasnt gotten any quicker since then.
The clear message is extra strength/technical work can only do so much in terms of pace...but pace aint everything.


When I was 16 i touched just over 120 (bout 75mph) which I was very proud of and was very quick for my age at the time but Ive put on weight and lost enthusiasm since and Id probably struggle to hit 110 now.
 

PhoenixFire

International Coach
Well, we have a guy who is about 6'7", 15 years old and can bowl into the late 70s, and he can't even get into Yorkshire u-16s. I hate to say it, but if you have any aspirations other than playing an average level of club cricket, then you seriously need to up your pace, unless you have another attribute that is exceptional, ie swing, incredible accuracy or something along those lines.
 

Top