About Me

Steffan Jones

Cricket Coach

Rajasthan Royals

Taunton, England, United Kingdom

Rajasthan Royals High Performance Fast Bowling Coach. Overhead throwing global consultant and skill acquisition specialist

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question

Q: The game now demands more knowledge.

The current era of cricket makes it imperative that coaches adhere to the principle of 'The governing dynamics of coaching'.

You have to have knowledge of all aspects of bowling performance. It's no longer OK just to say the same things as your former coaches said to you.

It's no longer good enough just to focus on past playing experiences. That's OK for tactical awareness, which is only 1 aspect of the Fergus Connolly 4-CoActive model.

There is so much more that happens before you get to the WHERE to bowl.

In the past, you had an OFF SEASON and an IN SEASON. wherever you were in the world. Some had longer than others, but there was a definite block pattern to the bowlers' calendar year.

That no longer exists. With the continued focus and growth of franchise cricket, planning, workload management, and periodisation become the number one priority in coach education in my view. When I talk about periodisation, no, it's not only S&C PHYSICAL TRAINING it's also TECHNICAL and TACTICAL planning. All aspects of bowling must be planned together so everything compliments each other. For example, you can't work on technical changes if you're hitting a hard hypertrophy block in the gym.

This is why you must have knowledge on all aspects.

A bowling coach needs to have an impact at all levels.

• Long term bowling development. So, a 3+ year plan
• An off season periodised plan for individuals and the team/bowling group
• An in season morpho cycle understanding. How to get bowlers to peak on game day
• Franchise morphocycle understanding. How to recover from match days and how to get IMMEDIATE PERFORMANCE benefits on match days. Yes, with the correct planning and training techniques, you can get bowlers to bowl sharper, faster with more clarity of thought in a day. Tricking the brain and potentiating the nervous system.

Now is the time for progression and to push the boundaries of what has been traditionally thought of as "bowling coaching." Times have changed, the game has changed, we now need to be better as coaches.

question

Q: If you bowl 90+ mph you can be carried

You can be a 1 dimensional (1D) player

If you bowl anything less you’ll be better off spending time on the other aspects of your game than trying to get that small % gain.

Below 85mph you have to be 3 dimensional (3D)

You know deep down if you bowl rapid. I mean proper pace not Instagram pace. If you’ve not been the fastest growing up, trust me you’re not magically going to be the fastest past the age of 20!!

Spend time working on your batting and fielding. You can still be really successful but work on become 3D. Become the 3 dimensional player not that bowler who spends 99% of the time trying to improve 1mph. Going from 79 to 80mph. Those speeds will never allow you to be the 1 dimensional professional cricketer

Honesty drives better performance

Note: That’s me scoring 105 against New Zealand in 1999.

Working on being a 3D player👍

question

Q: How do you get fast bowling fit?

During his record-breaking Ranji trophy year, Jaydev Unadkat said it perfectly

Heart of Bowling relies on the skill of running.

Running is key

You have to reverse engineer the game and train specifically for it.

Here are the metrics for an IPL game . You need to respect the volume and the intensity you run at.

Let's not fool ourselves as players and coaches. Cricket is pretty sedentary compared to other sports.

Like I said, it's about time of feet and building the base of aerobic fitness.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/601/steffan-jones/blog/1392/how-do-you-get-fast-bowling-fit

blog post

How do you get fast bowling fit?

During his record-breaking Ranji trophy year, Jaydev Unadkat said it perfectlyHeart of Bowling relies ...

question

Q: There is a reason Brett Lee was as fast as he was

Two attractors were evident from the very beginning of the impact zone. Attractors in the bowling sequence have a domino effect. Setting the kino sequence up correctly from the start by hitting the attractors has a huge positive effect on ball velocity

1. Upper body first

Creating tension around the trunk and pelvis through correct stretching of the oblique slings. Creates control of collision on the back foot contact

Fast bowling is about utilising the SPIRAL FORCES that happen in the body and is free energy. Getting the timing and sequencing right will allow effortless and efficient speed

The spiral tension creates stability around the pelvis which in turns aids the front foot contact, swing leg extension and retraction

2. Extending the trunk while rotating

In fast bowling the upper body should move independently from the lower body (notice his pelvis is open/facing forward- the back door and front door closed as such, whilst his torso has a slight turn)

This is how tension is created

Extending the trunk encourages stability in the lumbar spine. It also guides the scapula into the correct position.

“When the bowler extends their thoracic spine, they put the four rotator cuff muscles at or near their optimal length, promoting stability in the next attractor (rotation around the shoulder)

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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia