The Thommo method of Bowling

[Midwinter]

I would be very surprised if quick bowlers are fitter today than yesteryear...

All bowled themselves fit

They could keep it up all day as their bodies were used to the workloads

Very different today where the recommended quota is 18-30 balls per day

Interesting point.

Wonder what the ratio of bowling time to gym time and to general fitness time is these days ?

 

[social]

Interesting point.

Wonder what the ratio of bowling time to gym time and to general fitness time is these days ?

I suspect that professional cricketers spend a lot of time in the gym as a lot of their training is overseen by professionals & many activities are beneficial

 

[Kirkut]

Thommo at 44, still had the pace.

Gavaskar's slow reflexes that comes with age makes that delivery look fast.

 

[Kirkut]

Seems to me like bowlers can generate speed/power either through a freaky fast-rotating shoulder girdle like Proctor and Wasim, maybe even later Ryan Harris, or more commonly through a strong core and the torque it generates at the point of release and just overall efficient transfer of energy throughout the kinetic chain. Something similar to how super-heavy Oly weightlifters can have vertical jumps that compare favorably with NBA players.

Raw power != pace

If there was a brawl between Sami and Bresnan, no guesswork needed on who is more likely to get beaten. However, one averaged 86 mph in his best years, while the other could easily bowl at 91 mph without warming up.

I do get this feeling that gymnasts would make amazing fast bowlers than power lifters, they have the right balance of both fast twitched and slow twitched muscle fibres.

 

[Kirkut]

Andrew Flintoff is an interesting case. He was touching 95 mph in Ashes 2005 on many occasions, how did he add so much pace suddenly is a mystery! When you consider that he was not a gym freak back then.

 

[Burgey]

I think it's pretty well known they pulled the well known NZ trick and cranked the radar gun when their own blokes were bowling and dialed it back when Lee was on. Flintoff's danger came from the bounce he got at his best - he spliced a lot of guys around that time. And the late movement that series, whcih of course the filth admitted they obtained through nefarious means.

Once the mints went out the window, he basically became a shell. Bowled one good spell in 09 at Lord's but that aside was routinely pedestrian.

 

[Big_Gun]

It was the average speed of the ball travelling the length of the pitch whereas today it’s the speed at which the ball leaves the hand which are 2 very different things

No it was tested out of the hand.

 

[social]

Flintoff’s ankle gave way

If you look at his action, his front foot was basically pointed towards fine leg so there was a massive amount of pressure going through it

Also had a slight penchant for the drink

 

[social]

No it was tested out of the hand.

Not in that competition

Thommo bowled full tosses for that very reason

 

[Big_Gun]

Andrew Flintoff is an interesting case. He was touching 95 mph in Ashes 2005 on many occasions, how did he add so much pace suddenly is a mystery! When you consider that he was not a gym freak back then.

Well being a trainer in strength and conditioning for sports, and talking to other international athletes I am very suspicious as to how he became a medium pacer when he first made the England team to bowling 90mph+ in that 2005 year, and then he went back to being medium paced in the following Aussie Ashes series, and then in his last Ashes (2009) he went back to bowling back over 90mph+ again, I remember his famous spell in that last ashes when he bowled 10+ overs in a spell that the average speed was 91mph....

 

[Big_Gun]

Not in that competition

Thommo bowled full tosses for that very reason

In the 1979 comp? they even say if you watch the whole video, that the high speed camera's were used, testing it straight from the release point

 

[social]

Well being a trainer in strength and conditioning for sports, and talking to other international athletes I am very suspicious as to how he became a medium pacer when he first made the England team to bowling 90mph+ in that 2005 year, and then he went back to being medium paced in the following Aussie Ashes series, and then in his last Ashes (2009) he went back to bowling back over 90mph+ again, I remember his famous spell in that last ashes when he bowled 10+ overs in a spell that the average speed was 91mph....

Flintoff barely had a runup when he first played for England & no secret that he played up/was injured on the 2006/7 Ashes tour of Australia

Not Flintoff’s biggest fan at all as I think he’s one of the most overrated players in history but the guy had all the tools necessary to be really quick when it all came together

 

[social]

In the 1979 comp? they even say if you watch the whole video, that the high speed camera's were used, testing it straight from the release point

Holding confirmed that it was average speed over the pitch length with measurements taken from the hand & at batters stumps

Thommo is no brain surgeon and was half cut bowling in sandshoes

Even he knew that the quickest route between 2 points is a straight line

 

[Daemon]

I would be very surprised if quick bowlers are fitter today than yesteryear

The training methods & frequency of training is very different but those guys were fit to bowl

Look at someone like Freddie Trueman who probably never saw the inside of a gym and played in an era where load management was unheard of

He literally bowled himself fit, regularly delivered 1000+ overs per season and nobody ever called him slow

Thommo, McDermott, Hughes, Lee, etc were the same

All bowled themselves fit

They could keep it up all day as their bodies were used to the workloads

Very different today where the recommended quota is 18-30 balls per day

I think the fact that they bowled so much probably hampered their average speed. There’s little doubt in my mind that the average player today is fitter than back in the day in the sense that they can bowl faster for longer. They may be more injury prone for whatever reason though, maybe because they’re bowling quicker than what their body can support. Again this is average, not your freaks.

The disdain for strength training is slightly unwarranted imo, it 100% helps the average fast bowler bowl faster. Not sure about whether it somehow makes you more injury prone because of the increased stress you put on your body by pushing it to bowl quicker, maybe it does idk.

@Starfighter probably knows more on this topic than most

 

[Kirkut]

Flintoff barely had a runup when he first played for England & no secret that he played up/was injured on the 2006/7 Ashes tour of Australia

Not Flintoff’s biggest fan at all as I think he’s one of the most overrated players in history but the guy had all the tools necessary to be really quick when it all came together

That's what is interesting though, he looked more like a rugby player than a fast bowler.

His injury prone career itself is an evidence of how unsuitable his physique was for pace bowling, he generated pace more from upper body strength like Bumrah.

 

[Kirkut]

I think the fact that they bowled so much probably hampered their average speed. There’s little doubt in my mind that the average player today is fitter than back in the day in the sense that they can bowl faster for longer. They may be more injury prone for whatever reason though, maybe because they’re bowling quicker than what their body can support. Again this is average, not your freaks.

The disdain for strength training is slightly unwarranted imo, it 100% helps the average fast bowler bowl faster. Not sure about whether it somehow makes you more injury prone because of the increased stress you put on your body by pushing it to bowl quicker, maybe it does idk.

@Starfighter probably knows more on this topic than most

Strength training of a very specific type, i.e. targeting specific muscle groups only.

Akhtar put on too much muscle to avoid slowing down and he destroyed his knees.

 

[a massive zebra]

Annoys me that they say the bowlers of that era are faster than todays bowlers which doesnt make sense, because in every other sport the players are far better, stronger and faster etc than in their previous era's.

Its very lazy and completely inaccurate to claim that in every other sport the players are far better, stronger and faster etc than in their previous era's. While there are many examples of sports where the standard has improved, there are certainly plenty where it has stagnated.

For instance, the mens winning distances in the Olympic long jump have shown no improvement, and perhaps even a decline, since before Thommo's time.



Same story with the javellin.



Once again, a similar story with discus.


In billiards, the average breaks of the top players of the 1930s such as Walter Lindrum were higher than those of modern players.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Javelin's a bit weird because they redesigned it to be less aerodynamic to stop people getting skewered.

 

[Coronis]

Plus you know, 70’s and 80’s and even 90’s there was a lot of steroid abuse.

 

[social]

Plus you know, 70’s and 80’s and even 90’s there was a lot of steroid abuse.

And 00’s