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What really generates bowling speed??


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Raw muscle power? Flexible muscles? Strong abs? Or something else?

 

Just watch this spell from Amir below and you would wonder how such a skinny boy is generating 90 mph speeds with so much ease. Now I'm not sure how strong Amir was then but if he got into a brawl with Vernon Philander or Harshit Rana, we know who is likely to get beaten up!!

 

 

 

 

Compare this with burly figures like Flintoff and Akhtar who are not lean but are strong as *.

 

 

 

 

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Everything contributes.

 

Right from your run-up which generates momentum to your action which quickly transfers to momentum from body to the ball.

 

Mayank Yadav is a recent example whose momentum & economical action transfers energy. Umran, Umesh, Lee, Mark Wood are few more examples. 

 

In case if the runup is slower or your action isnt that economical, one need to put extra effort at the time of release to generate pace. This extra effort can be courtesy of quick arm release (Amir's case) or wrist thrust (Bumrah) or energy from shoulder (Tait, Aaron).

 

Optimum case is when both former meets later.

 

I am using examples in layman terms based on my limited understanding (and what personally worked), there is biomechanics as well which others can explain better.

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Always wondered this, Boland 125 clicks look much faster then Akashdeep or Nitish Rana bowling 135-140. 
 

Siraj. Bumrah. Shami,Umesh, Ishant had that zip. Bhuvi I would put in the Boland category, he looked quicker at times but funnily slower when he was hitting 140s for a small phase in his career. 135 clicks Bhuvi was borderline unplayable in some spells. 
 

the rest who come up with this reputation hyped on here never looked threatening.

 

Among the fringe bowlers Khaleel had it when he started but now lost it, don’t see it in Avesh. Mukesh has it and Navdeep Sain has it as well but too bad he cannot put 2 balls in the same place.

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17 minutes ago, maniac said:

Always wondered this, Boland 125 clicks look much faster then Akashdeep or Nitish Rana bowling 135-140. 

I think you are talking about delivery speed to batsman rather the release from hand. Coz every delivery loses some amount of pace after pitching, how much, that depends on the release of the bowler.

 

Bumrah even bowling at 140k looks faster than Cummins at 140k, coz he has late release, thus the distance between the release point to reaching the batter is less and hence the drop in pace is also lower.

 

Also, as Bumrah uses his wrist as well to generate pace, it skids off the surface and hence appears faster that others bowling at same pace.

 

Mayank too was using that wrist kick in IPL, hence even his 148-149k deliveries were too quick. But with newer action, he wasn't doing that, hence he was looking less threatening. 

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As @rkt.india mentioned, probably the biggest differentiator is the fast twitch muscle fibers. Sometimes you just get lucky and have more of the fast twitch muscle fibers. Most of the pacers who generate pace seamlessly with an easy, languid action have these type of muscle fibers. And of course you also need to have the right bowling action. But fast bowling is something you're born with, just like sprinting.

 

You can train, exercise, have the right diet but the biggest contributor is the luck of the draw - whether you are born with the right physiology for it. That's why you've someone like Kuruvilla who was 6'6" with a strong physique struggling to bowl around 130kph while some skinny or lanky folks like Amir or Agarkar in the past hit 140s without much effort and no brawn.

 

https://www.health.com/fitness/fast-twitch-muscle-fibers

 

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20 hours ago, MK55 said:

Besides athleticism, fitness, action, momentum transfer and timing, probably what sustains pace is the desire to bowl quick.

 

Just listen to any of Mark Woods or Brett Lees interviews. You would know why these guys don’t lose pace. 

Yes..The Desire!

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On 1/25/2025 at 4:21 PM, singhvivek141 said:

 In case if the runup is slower or your action isnt that economical, one need to put extra effort at the time of release to generate pace. This extra effort can be courtesy of quick arm release (Amir's case) or wrist thrust (Bumrah) or energy from shoulder (Tait, Aaron).

 

Optimum case is when both former meets later.

 

I am using examples in layman terms based on my limited understanding (and what personally worked), there is biomechanics as well which others can explain better.

 

Wrist thrust? you mean like...

 

jake-jake-enhypen.gif

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On 1/26/2025 at 5:44 AM, First class said:

Slinging action also generates pace , examples 

 

Thomson , Tait  , Akthar,  Fidel Edward , Malinga ( was quite fast for a small guy ) , Mitchel Johnson , 

 

Slingy alone is not a guarantor of pace. There was a Sri Lankan bowler in the 90s who tried to copy Waqar but bowled medium pace.

 

I think momentum is the key here, because there is no ideal "body type" to bowl fast. Fast bowlers come in all sizes.

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On 1/26/2025 at 9:26 AM, Ultimate_Game said:

As @rkt.india mentioned, probably the biggest differentiator is the fast twitch muscle fibers. Sometimes you just get lucky and have more of the fast twitch muscle fibers. Most of the pacers who generate pace seamlessly with an easy, languid action have these type of muscle fibers. And of course you also need to have the right bowling action. But fast bowling is something you're born with, just like sprinting.

 

You can train, exercise, have the right diet but the biggest contributor is the luck of the draw - whether you are born with the right physiology for it. That's why you've someone like Kuruvilla who was 6'6" with a strong physique struggling to bowl around 130kph while some skinny or lanky folks like Amir or Agarkar in the past hit 140s without much effort and no brawn.

 

https://www.health.com/fitness/fast-twitch-muscle-fibers

 

 

Me thinks that guys like Flintoff have more slow twitched fibres, but compensate their lack of fast twitched fibres with raw power.

Edited by MechEng
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There was a whole documentary on youtube I saw regarding this. It's also genetic, remember them saying something about how tendulkar had certain type of fiber while X Y Z player would some some other type of fiber (not a biologist so don't remember the name). Something similar for fast bowlers too

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