You're Not Bowling Slow — Part 2

What Actually Happens When You Try This

When you start working on the front leg brace for the first time, something strange happens. You bowl slower for about two weeks. This is the part no article warns you about.

Your body has muscle memory for your existing (inefficient) action. When you introduce the front leg brace, everything feels stiff and artificial. Your rhythm breaks. You start dropping short. Your captain asks if you're okay. You are not okay. But that's actually the process working.

After about 2-3 weeks of consistent drills, something clicked. You'll feel it in one specific delivery the ball comes out faster than usual, with less effort than usual. That's the kinetic chain firing correctly for the first time. It feels almost lazy. The ball reaches the other end 8-10 km/h faster than before.

Here's the specific pattern that most bowlers miss: the non-bowling arm is the secret weapon. Ask most bowlers what their non-bowling arm does during delivery — they'll shrug. When you start pulling the non-bowling arm down fast and aggressive at the point of release — almost like you're elbowing someone in the ribs — your bowling arm speeds up as a direct response. Action-reaction, through your shoulder joint.

The surprise for almost everyone: improving bowling speed actually reduces back pain for most bowlers. The lower back stress comes from poor energy transfer — the body compensates with excessive lateral flexion of the spine when the kinetic chain is inefficient. Fix the chain, reduce the lateral flexion, reduce the back stress. Better technique is faster and safer.

Weighted ball drills bowling with a 250-350 gram ball instead of the standard 155-gram cricket ball are particularly effective for building arm speed. The heavier ball forces your arm muscles to work harder. When you switch back to a normal ball, your arm feels like it's flying. Mumbai pacer Tushar Deshpande specifically recommends 260-300 gram sand balls for this drill.

Quick Tips: • After about 2-3 weeks of consistent drills, something clicked. • Ask most bowlers what their non-bowling arm does during delivery — they'll shrug. • Fix the chain, reduce the lateral flexion, reduce the back stress.

The Advice Everyone Gives vs What Actually Works

"Bowl More to Bowl Faster"

This advice is everywhere. Bowl more. More overs in the nets. More practice. More. And it works if your mechanics are already correct. If they're not, you're literally practicing being slow. Muscle memory does not distinguish between good and bad technique. It just reinforces whatever pattern you repeat most. Grooving an inefficient action with high volume is how club bowlers spend years at the same pace and never understand why.

What actually works: Bowl correctly at moderate volume rather than incorrectly at high volume. Ten overs with conscious focus on front leg brace beats thirty overs of mindless pace. Quality of reps over quantity of reps.

Quick Tips: • More overs in the nets. • Muscle memory does not distinguish between good and bad technique. • Grooving an inefficient action with high volume is how club bowlers spend years at the same pace and never understand why.

"Strengthen Your Bowling Arm"

Most bowlers who want to bowl faster immediately go to shoulder exercises, arm exercises, rotator cuff work. Makes sense on the surface. The arm is what throws the ball, right?

Except research shows bowling speed is primarily generated by the lower body and core not the arm. The arm is the final delivery mechanism, not the engine. Stronger arm with a weak core and no hip rotation still means medium pace. The arm speed is a product of everything underneath it.

What actually works: Deadlifts, jump squats, medicine ball rotational slams. Lower body and core power is your speed engine. Arm strength is the exhaust pipe. Fix the engine.

Quick Tips: • Makes sense on the surface. • Except research shows bowling speed is primarily generated by the lower body and core not the arm. • Stronger arm with a weak core and no hip rotation still means medium pace.

"A Longer Run-Up = More Pace"

There are local ground cricketers with 30-step run-ups bowling at 115 km/h. Jasprit Bumrah takes 15 steps and bowls at 145. Case closed.

Run-up contributes only up to 16% to bowling speed — and only if you can handle the momentum at the crease. A run-up that's too long and too fast causes most bowlers to lose their action at the crease, rush their delivery stride, and actually bowl slower than they would off a shorter, controlled run.

What actually works: Find the run-up length where you arrive at the crease balanced, rhythmic, and in control. That length — whatever it is — will produce more pace than a longer run-up where your action falls apart at front foot contact.

Quick Tips: • Jasprit Bumrah takes 15 steps and bowls at 145. • What actually works: Find the run-up length where you arrive at the crease balanced, rhythmic, and in control.

"Strengthen Your Core With Planks"

Planks are great for injury prevention. They build static core stability. But fast bowling needs rotational core power the ability to generate explosive torque through your midsection. Holding a plank for two minutes does almost nothing for that.

What actually works: Medicine ball rotational slams, cable woodchops, Russian twists with weight. These train your core to produce the rotational force that actually shows up as pace.

Quick Tips: • Planks are great for injury prevention. • Holding a plank for two minutes does almost nothing for that. • What actually works: Medicine ball rotational slams, cable woodchops, Russian twists with weight.

The Practical Part What to Actually Do

Drill 1: Hip-Shoulder Separation Medicine Ball ThrowsStand side-on to a wall or net with a 3-4 kg medicine ball. Load up by rotating your hips backwards. Then fire your hips first wait until you feel tension in your torso — then snap your shoulders through and throw. Do 3 sets of 10. This teaches your body to sequence the hip rotation before shoulder rotation. It's the single most impactful drill for bowlers who bowl everything as one flat rotation.

Drill 2: Front Leg Brace Jump DrillRun in 4-5 steps and instead of bowling, plant your front foot and jump up off it as high as possible. Do not bowl the ball just jump. Land, reset, repeat. This trains your front leg to act as a spring rather than a collapsing gate. When a front leg collapses, you lose the energy transfer. This drill makes that leg stiff and powerful automatically.

Drill 3: Weighted Ball BowlingBowl in the nets with a 250-300 gram ball (a sand ball works perfectly). Bowl 10 deliveries with the heavy ball, then immediately bowl 10 with a standard ball. Your arm will feel dramatically lighter and naturally speed up. Do this at the beginning of your net session not at the end when your shoulder is already fatigued.

Drill 4: Banded Run-Up DrillTie a resistance band around your waist and have a training partner hold the other end. Sprint through your full run-up against the resistance. This forces your leg drive and hip power to work harder, building functional strength specific to your bowling approach. Tushar Deshpande has called this his favorite bowling drill for run-up acceleration.

Drill 5: Non-Bowling Arm Pull-DownIn your bowling action, at the moment of release, aggressively pull your non-bowling arm down — like you're trying to elbow the ground. Shadow this 20 times without the ball first. Then bowl 10 deliveries with deliberate focus on this pull. Record yourself. You'll see the bowling arm snap through faster as a direct result.

Drill 6: Thoracic Rotation Mobility (Pre-Bowl)Lie on your side, top knee resting on a foam roller to lock your lower back. Rotate your upper back open, reaching your upper arm towards the sky. 10 reps each side, before bowling. This unlocks the rotation your hip-shoulder separation needs. Takes 5 minutes. Most bowlers who add this notice the difference within the first over.

Drill 7: 20m Acceleration Sprints with LungeSprint 20 meters at full effort. At the end, decelerate quickly and plant into a lunge position mimicking your front foot landing. This trains both the acceleration in the run-up and the deceleration at the crease the exact combination that produces fast bowling. 6-8 reps per session, with full recovery between reps.

Quick Tips: • Drill 1: Hip-Shoulder Separation Medicine Ball ThrowsStand side-on to a wall or net with a 3-4 kg medicine ball. • Load up by rotating your hips backwards. • Then fire your hips first wait until you feel tension in your torso — then snap your shoulders through and throw.

Questions People Actually Ask