Role of The Wrist in Fast Bowling - 0.2

Want more speed, swing and control?

Pay attention to your wrist. It's an important part of the delivery sequence.

Not only does it contribute to speed, but it also influences control and swing.

Back in the day, I used to hold the ball tight.

A prolific fast bowler (I won’t mention his name) once said, “grip the ball as hard as possible”. It never felt comfortable to me and during that time, I would never classify myself as someone with great control or skills.

Fast forward many years, I was bowling in a village in Pakistan, and my uncle told me to grip the ball loosely, not just with my fingers, but also my wrist. Funnily enough, the conversation was in relation to reverse swing, not speed! He told me that you need a fast and whippy wrist to accentuate the ball's movement.

The moment I took the tension out of my wrist and fingers, I started developing a callous on the tip of my third finger, and the ball was ZIPPING out of my hand quicker than normal.

This sparked my interest…

I had been bowling for years, but why did this severe callous only start to develop now?

This was all happening during a time when I discovered the importance of relaxation, rhythm, and tension control. I was working on ‘mastering’ the art of relaxation and tension through my body, but I never paid attention to my wrist or fingers.

In fact, traditional coaching teaches you the opposite. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, “cock your wrist back and lock it” - the problem that I’ve found with this method is that you lose the last (and arguably) most important part of the kinetic chain, YOUR WRIST!

Maximising energy, power, and speed results from utilising every single body part to its maximum capacity. You can think of your wrist as the summit of a mountain. It’s the cherry on top of the cake. Scientifically speaking, as energy transfers up the kinetic chain, you’re creating a summation of forces, and the wrist and fingers are essentially the final pieces of the puzzle.

To transfer energy through the body, you need fluidity - by setting your wrist in a stiff and locked position - you restrict the joints’ ability to store and release energy. I've measured the speeds of ball release with a cocked wrist and tension-free wrist.

THERE WAS ABOUT A 2-4MPH DIFFERENCE!

Have a look at bowlers like Jofra Archer, Mohammad Shami, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Dale Steyn - you will see masters of wrist stability and whip!

Please click here for a video example of a loose, controlled and balanced wrist.

#fastbowling #wrist