by Aditya Singh
(Bareilly, Up, India)
Brett Lee: Speed KingÂ
Hi Sir,
I want to ask how I can bowl faster, like Brett Lee?
If I try to bowl quicker I am not constant in my line and length and bowl too wide.
My action is similar to Brett Lees.
I am 17 years old.
thank you, Aditya.
Hi Aditya,
watching Brett Lee bowl is still one of the great spectacles in world cricket and it is great that you want to copy him.
You’ll see in a lot of my responses to questions in “Cricket Tips” how I suggest the importance of role models and great players that you can copy.
So well done on choosing Brett Lee as your model of fast bowling excellence, he is one of the all time greats.
Here are a couple of pointers for you to increase your pace and control.
1. Keep Your Focus: Its important for you to keep the goal of wanting to bowl quick.
Even if you have some coaches who try to tell you to focus on line and length, keep your focus on being a fast bowler.
Its easy to train bowlers to bowl line and length,
but we want fast bowlers !
2. Training Fast to Bowl Fast:
Fast Bowlers have a specific muscle type called ‘fast twitch fibre’, this allows athletes to move their bodies quickly, running, kicking, throwing … and in cricket, fast bowling.
Part of training the fast twitch muscle fibres is to activate them … so you are going to bowl spells at cricket practice and in games when you run in and bowl flat out.
I would suggest at nets that once you have warmed up, that you bowl 12 – 18 balls (2-3 Overs) at full speed at your best batters.
In season you can look to do this once or twice a week, with a days rest in between.
This will activate these muscle fibres and get them to ‘fire’ properly.
3. Volume of Overs “In Season”:
Don’t bowl more than 4-5 overs in a spell in a game, (as you are getting stronger and your body is filling out this can be gradually increased), and not more than 12 – 14 overs in a days play.
This should safe guard against injury, we want you to stay fit and strong for your bowling as you get older.
4. Fast Bowling Technique: Control and Accuracy
Keep modelling your technique and action on Brett Lee, its great to have an elite model of excellence to copy.
I’ve pointed out before that Dale Steyn’s model of excellence when he was growing up was Brett Lee.
Regarding control, you can practice getting better control in your line and length by bowling at a target without having a batter in front of you.
Put a marker down on a length on off stump, 5 walking steps from the batsmans stumps.
Warm Up properly and then bowl 4-5 overs at your target – at your normal pace, without trying to bowl flat out,
This accuracy work combined with your speed work will allow you develop speed with control.
Make a note with a pen and notebook of your success rate and aim each week to improve on this.
Reflect on what works for you with your focus and your action, this will help you to get a better understanding of your bowling and how to improve.
5. Strength and Fitness: Check out the section on Cricket Fitness so you can begin to work on your conditioning. To bowl fast you need to be in great shape, so read the cricket fitness tips of former India and current Chennai Super Kings conditioning coach Greg King.
Because your still growing, do the exercises with your own body weight, or very light weights until you have stopped growing ( age 22 for males – 18 for women) … where possible get supervision from a conditioing coach at a gym.
Cricket Mental Toughness:
In developing cricket mental toughness you are training your subconscious mind to be able to be calm and focus on the task in front of you, with appropriate skills and cricket strategy.
Practice setting up match situations with your Coach and Captain so you can simulate pressure situations in games.
When you prepare for these, working out the right fields and the lines and lengths to bowl, it is much easier to stay calm and focused when you need it out in the middle. Pressure becomes something you enjoy rather than have to fear.
Practise acting calm, confident and composed in these match simulations… after a while it will be you, because you have practised it !
Happy Fast Bowling Aditya.
Best wishes Coach
*Note to Coaches: There are lots of medium pacers but not many genuine quick bowlers, so its important we encourage young cricketers who have the desire to bowl quick to run in and do that. Regardless if they bowl the odd wide in their pursuit of pace.
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About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.