Wednesday 26 February 2014

Don't Let Success Get In The Way Of Improvement

If I hear one more person say "if it ain't broke don't fix it" I will explode.

I have been listening to commentators rabbiting on about bowlers 'messing around' with their bowling actions and the legendary Wasim Akram then added: "I never changed my action when I was playing." Then of course we have the cursory nodding at each other in agreement.

Let me straighten this incorrect thinking.

Working on your bowling action is NOT 'messing around'. The comments about not tweaking parts of your action to make them better, usually comes from people who have no idea how a bowling action works. Bowlers can make a simple few tweaks to improve what they do. So why wouldn't you want to do that?

It seems odd to take this view that "I am bowling well so don't touch it". If we think about getting fit... is it desirable to be fitter, stronger and have better cardiovascular capabilities? YES

Is it desirable to eat better foods to fuel our body better and help combat diseases plus ensure energy levels are higher? YES

Is it desirable to work on variations and perfect yorkers/slower balls so we can get better results in matches? YES

Is it desirable to have new experiences and understand how to cope with tougher games thus understanding the mental aspect of the game better? YES

So can anyone explain why on Earth you wouldn't improve technique, that can have you bowling better, faster, more consistently and with less chance of injury?

What most people fail to realise is that technique is a desirable thing to work on because it helps you to deliver your natural skills better. A racing car with a better engine, brakes, steering and control allows the talented driver to exploit their skills better. No one ever settles on the car that won the previous year in F1. No one in F1 says "we won with that car in 2009, if it ain't broke don't fix it."

That would be madness. But I am not advocating that EVERY bowler should be changing things. Clearly there are some exceptional cricketers who are at the very top of the tree. However as Sir Garfield Sobers says: "What ever the level of cricket you play you want to be better." I fully agree with him.

I am not talking about wholesale changes here. I am talking about working consistently on a technique so you get better... like a batsman would do in the nets to make themselves less susceptible to certain deliveries.

The issue has arisen due to bowling coaches not understanding bowling actions, so therefore say don't touch it. International team coaches often will repeat the mantra about not helping on an action because X, Y, Z player is doing OK. And they will often cite the situation of James Anderson, who changed his action, then got injured and went back to his 'old' action and was successful. One badly implemented change doesn't mean changes are wrong. Like eating the wrong foods... you can say "I changed my diet as I was told". Except the diet changed to was wrong.

This doesn't mean that changes are wrong - just HOW and WHAT you change. If coaches don't know what to do then learn the right changes/tweaks to make for that style of individual bowler. 

In Javelin, golf and baseball, three other power generation sports (relative to fast bowling) technique is key to control, power, injury prevention and consistency.... and of course, winning. There will always be a bowler who does things 'his own way' and for that we celebrate the individuality of how that player has been brought up.

But you have to wonder why we don't know anything about fast bowling.

It starts with the comments I heard today watching TV. And ends with educating those in the truth about technique and the rich benefits it can bring to maximise a player's own natural ability. I suspect the thoughts will not change anytime soon though.