Written By: Morne Castelyn | Published : February 19, 2015 6:18 PM IST
When thinking about strength training for cricketers, many components jump to mind, as it is a multi-faceted, multi-directional and multi-planer sport. It is therefore, very challenging and exciting as a Strength and Conditioning Coach to be involved in the planning and implementation of successful training programs to cricketers at a professional level.
The most important aspect to realise about any sport, especially cricket, is to identify position and role specific fitness components that need to be addressed in your Strength and Conditioning protocols. When these components have been identified and scientifically structured into well-designed training sessions, any cricketer regardless of their level of competition, will benefit immensely. Strength is but one of many fitness components to be addressed in your training programs. Other important components for cricketers are the following:
These components are a few that are crucial to have when wanting to be a well-trained cricketer. Therefore, by partaking in 2-3 Strength and Conditioning sessions per week, addressing these various fitness components are absolutely vital to any cricketer.
When these aspects have been focused on by you as an athlete, it has been proven time and again that it is the key component to injury reduction and prevention. As the volume of cricket being played by participants at all levels is increasingly multiplying, it is the athlete who focuses on his fitness who provides himself with the best chance to continuously play at the top level.
When breaking each role within a cricket team down to the various fitness components which need to be focused on more specifically, it is easy to see that a one size fits all training program for a cricket team does not seem like the most effective plan of action. If we take a fast bowler, the following components should be emphasised in his training program:
Exercises for bowlers
Here are 4 exercises that would address some of these components:
Goblet Squat
Shoulder Touches in a Plank Position
Upper Body Plate Rotation
Single Leg Medicine Ball lean
Read about Australia's pace ace Mitchell Johnson's fitness secrets.
Exercises for batsmen
When being a specialist batter, the previous 4 exercises will also address your needs. The fitness components additional to those of the bowler are as follows:
The following exercises will more specifically benefit a batsman:
Dumbbell Row in Plank
Lunge with Medicine Ball Rotational Slam
Incline Dumbbell Press
Do all these exercises in combination and you will address all the necessary fitness components. Include on field specific fitness as this will compliment your strength training.
I trust this gives you a basic idea of what is required with regards to training the specific fitness components for cricketers. Remember, the quality of the exercise is the most important part. Rather do less and be perfect in your execution than pushing the numbers and risking injury as a result of the wrong technique or compensating as a result of fatigue.
Morne Castelyn is the strength and conditioning coach of The Chevrolet Knights cricket team, which participates in South Africa's domestic tournaments like Sunfoil Series, Momentum 1 Day Cup and RamSlam Pro 20 Series. He is a qualified sport scientist and biokineticist and is the co-owner of Sports Performance Clinic. He can be followed on Twitter at - @mornecastelyn.
Image source: Getty Images (Image for representational purposes only)
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