The bio mechanics and Physiology of fast bowling

[Malcolm Merlyn]

We all are encountering words like Sretch Reflex,Hyper Extension,Fast twitch Fibres when we talk about fast bowling I decided to do some research on them and combine them with my knowledge of medicine....i reached a few conclusions.....please add you comments and rectifications to them Stretch reflex:A stretch reflex is a muscle contraction in response to stretching within the muscle. It is a monosynaptic reflex which provides automatic regulation of skeletal muscle length. According to books a muscle always tries to maintain its normal length, so when a muscle stretches it tries to come back to its original length as quickly as possible.the more a muscle stretches the more quickly and powerfully it tries to come back to its position.something like a sling shot.the more muscles you use and the more you stretch the greater is the power.You can try this by 1st standing with your legs spread like a bowler in his delivery stride and bowling like a high arm bowler with your arm coming near your ears.in the second case try to bowl roud arm.you will feel more stretch in more muscles and greater intensity of the stretch.So it explains why some slingy bowlers are quick 2.Fast twitch Fibres also called type 2b fibres.they have a very fast contracting time,very large motor neurones,they produce very high power by anaerobic degradation of glycogen and createnine phosphate but they are most prone to fatigue and also there duration of activity is low of around 1 min on continous use.So a person with lot of these fibres can produce more power and hence bowl fast 3.HyperExtension:If a part of the body such as a joint is overstretched or "bent backwards" because of exaggerated extension motion, then one speaks of a hyperextension (as with the knee). This puts a lot of stress on the ligaments of the joint, and need not always be a voluntary movement, but may occur as part of accidents, falls, or other causes of trauma it is like if you take your shoulder backmore you can throw with greater power.some people like shoaib akhtar have hyper extensive joints.by which when they extend their elbow and shoulder instead of stopping at midline like normal indidviduals these joints fo into hyper extension and cause huge stretch on muscles bringing in huge amount of stretch reflex and hence power.and the person may be able to use that power to bowl fast these are my initial conclusions on the basis of what i came across and what i already knew about medicine and anatomy and physiology. Please comment,add or rectify on them

[vvvslaxman]

It reminds me of a seinfeld episode where George suddenly gets brainy (because of no sex) and starts explaining to a baseball player how he could scientifically hit the ball longer using a physics formula.

[King]

Sports science although has improved heaps over the years it still cannot explain a lot of movements. Not all movements (body mechanics) work with everyone. If you go by science and body mechanics cricket wouldn't have had Bradman, Hadlee, Tendulkar, Lara and the likes. Unless a player's movements is slated to lead to an injury he should be let to use what comes naturally to him making little tweaks here and there.

[Sachinism]

Cue Ian Pont

[Malcolm Merlyn]

It reminds me of a seinfeld episode where George suddenly gets brainy (because of no sex) and starts explaining to a baseball player how he could scientifically hit the ball longer using a physics formula.

i'm brainy as such only.....:finger:

[Malcolm Merlyn]

another theory regarding fast bowling is....taller bowlers can bowl quicker becase they have longer levers and a bigger arc of bowling

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Cue Ian Pont

well if anything he said abt atul sharma is true....then hats off to him m his bio mechanics.....but if we consider his explaination in light of stretch reflex it is possible