Working too hard: Irfan Pathan's obsessive training may be behind hamstring injury

[1983-2011]

When the selectors announced the Indian squad for the tri-series in the West Indies on June 17, Irfan Pathan was very much part of the squad. But the BCCI suddenly sent out an email on Monday that Irfan had been ruled out due to a hamstring injury and his place in the team would be taken by pacer Mohammad Shami Ahmed. After playing in the opening warm-up game against Sri Lanka on June 1, Irfan didn't get a single game in the Champions Trophy. And while it isn't uncommon for players to get injured while training, it is surprising that there was no news of any injury worries for Irfan before June 24 - a day after the end of the tournament. Speaking to Mail Today, former India bowling coach and Delhi Daredevils head coach Eric Simons said Irfan is a hard worker and it could have been in one of the net sessions that he injured himself. 'Bowlers are always pushing themselves to perform even in the nets, particularly when they are not in the playing eleven and are trying to make an impression without actually having the opportunity of game time. 'The batsmen also want good competition in the nets and are always asking the bowlers to give more. So it is very possible to injure yourself in a net bowling session. 'Irfan works hard – sometimes too hard – on his bowling and that could have caused the injury,' he said. Former India pacer and Delhi Daredevils' mentor T.A. Sekar echoed Simons's sentiments. 'Hamstring is the strongest muscle, but then injuries can happen any time. 'While I am not sure if it is pull or a tear of the muscle, as there hasn't been any proper information provided, hamstring injuries can also happen during training. Irfan has worked a lot on his fitness and looked fine during the IPL, but the issue is that when you are bowling non-stop, even on the training ground, fatigue sets in and with minimal time to regain your strength, the overall fitness level starts decreasing and injuries crop up. I think that has been the case with Irfan,' he told Mail Today. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2349212/Irfan-Pathan-Obsessive-training-cricketers-hamstring-injury.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[msb1991]

I think we are in a weird middle ground where gym training improves performance but there is the same number or maybe more injuries than before. I think in 20 years, international cricket will start to get on top of injuries.

[Muloghonto]

I think we are in a weird middle ground where gym training improves performance but there is the same number or maybe more injuries than before. I think in 20 years' date=' international cricket will start to get on top of injuries.[/quote'] Thats coz bowlers today are overcoached in the fitness department. Back alignments, shoulder strenghtening, weights on quads & hamstrings. Fast bowling used to be a simple idea as far as fitness goes: run atleast 2-3 kms every day, do situps to strengthen core & strech a bit to keep limber. Thats what the Kapil Devs, Malcolm Marshalls, etc. did. True, they didnt have much knowhow or professionalism in recovering from injuries but they were so much fitter and less injury prone in general. This is why kids today have trouble believing ' OMG! he bowled 8 striaght overs of 145kph twice in one day ? no, me must've been 135kph trundler'. Because todays bowlers are not match fit. They are gym fit.

[maniac]

^Heard a Wasim Akram interview where he said that the best way to get into rythm and match fitness was to bowl as much as possible in a real scenario (not nets)... He said how fast bowlers nowadays got over-protective of their bodies. It's true though guys like Akram himself or some of the WI fast bowlers didn't catch a lot of break as they bowled 100's of overs days on end in counties apart from their International commitments. DOn't know why people complain about over-playing someone in the IPL or not so important ODI's like the bilateral series :dontknow:

[msb1991]

Thats coz bowlers today are overcoached in the fitness department. Back alignments, shoulder strenghtening, weights on quads & hamstrings. Fast bowling used to be a simple idea as far as fitness goes: run atleast 2-3 kms every day, do situps to strengthen core & strech a bit to keep limber. Thats what the Kapil Devs, Malcolm Marshalls, etc. did. True, they didnt have much knowhow or professionalism in recovering from injuries but they were so much fitter and less injury prone in general. This is why kids today have trouble believing ' OMG! he bowled 8 striaght overs of 145kph twice in one day ? no, me must've been 135kph trundler'. Because todays bowlers are not match fit. They are gym fit.

I believe that strength and conditioning training is the reason that the international medium pace bowler bowls 135kph these days whereas I think there were more 125kph bowlers in the 1970s and 1980s. Brett Lee can still bowl 140kph and a big part of that is that he works very hard on his conditioning. He is in tip-top shape. However, seeking for improved performance can result in muscle imbalances which cause injuries. To exaggerate, if a bowler has a giant and super-strong right shoulder, he'll probably be able to bowl pretty fast. However, it will put stress on surrounding muscles and he'll break down quickly. It is attractive to believe in the old methods, as you do. There is a lot to be said in favour of keeping things simple. However, this can cause problems too. Richard Johnson was an England bowler who allegedly did a whole load of situps and he was never free from back injuries and never made it to have an England career despite being a fine bowler. If you have strong abdominals, you need a strong back to have the balance in the muscles. Balanced muscles do not necessarily improve performance, but they go a long way toward injury prevention. You must fine tune the body to stop it breaking down. The other path is to not alter the body drastically. However, in seeking performance improvements, you must sometimes push the body to its limit.

[MCcricket]

INJURIES happen AND THIS IS A SMALL ONE, IRFAN IS FIT AND STRONG, HE WILL BE BACK SOON, HOPEFULLY GOES TO SA WITH A TEAM.

[msb1991]

^Heard a Wasim Akram interview where he said that the best way to get into rythm and match fitness was to bowl as much as possible in a real scenario (not nets)... He said how fast bowlers nowadays got over-protective of their bodies. It's true though guys like Akram himself or some of the WI fast bowlers didn't catch a lot of break as they bowled 100's of overs days on end in counties apart from their International commitments. DOn't know why people complain about over-playing someone in the IPL or not so important ODI's like the bilateral series :dontknow:

Akram was a fine Test bowler from his first Test series. He had no need to spend time in the gym or hours in the nets. He could achieve things during matches. However, for bowlers who are not blessed with so much talent, then you must work hard in the nets and gym to improve. Unfortunately, injuries can result from this. If I had someone who was as talented as Wasim, I'm not sure I would tell him to train too much. However, that is very rare.

[Muloghonto]

I believe that strength and conditioning training is the reason that the international medium pace bowler bowls 135kph these days whereas I think there were more 125kph bowlers in the 1970s and 1980s. Brett Lee can still bowl 140kph and a big part of that is that he works very hard on his conditioning. He is in tip-top shape. However, seeking for improved performance can result in muscle imbalances which cause injuries. To exaggerate, if a bowler has a giant and super-strong right shoulder, he'll probably be able to bowl pretty fast. However, it will put stress on surrounding muscles and he'll break down quickly. It is attractive to believe in the old methods, as you do. There is a lot to be said in favour of keeping things simple. However, this can cause problems too. Richard Johnson was an England bowler who allegedly did a whole load of situps and he was never free from back injuries and never made it to have an England career despite being a fine bowler. If you have strong abdominals, you need a strong back to have the balance in the muscles. Balanced muscles do not necessarily improve performance, but they go a long way toward injury prevention. You must fine tune the body to stop it breaking down. The other path is to not alter the body drastically. However, in seeking performance improvements, you must sometimes push the body to its limit.

Look, I've never seen gym fitness translate into real hard work ethics in the workplace. The strongest and toughest of the laborers I've ever seen are not gym rats but who pretty much only work,play and sleep. Gym guys tend to be very unfit when it comes to hard work. The same thing we see with bowling as well. Bowling speed is more about technique than anything else. yes, you need strength in certain areas- your butt and hamstring has to be strong, strong core and limber arms but 'balancing the core' and BS like that are 'overdoing it'. True, having an allround physique will help you transfer your action more metronomically, which is why legions of trundlers exist today, while back in the day if you were not a natural athlete like Marshall,Holding or Donald, you had to rely on unconventional 'unique' actions to generate genuine pace. Walsh and his 'hip snap' is something you never see anymore, neither the 'haai-yaa' monster jump of imran. What is unquestionable though, is that modern bowlers spend far less time actually running around and bowling and far more time lifting weights than they did before. The spate of injuries are also far worse now than before. Pretty much the only thing modern gym life and medicine has done, is cut down the turnover rate of injuries by half or better while the lack of 'match fitness' has translated to bowlers breaking down far more often. Durability, as in heavy labor jobs, so in sports, is all about the KISS principle: Keep it Simple, Stupid. Indian farmers will outlift, out-run and out-everything you despite never having benchpressed. Same with dockworkers who will easily be better at their job than gym monkeys despite hardly every going to a gym and going out for beer after work. Gym fit does not translate to match fit in most sports. Only in very few discplines of athletics does gym fitness translate to match fitness.

[Muloghonto]

Akram was a fine Test bowler from his first Test series. He had no need to spend time in the gym or hours in the nets. He could achieve things during matches. However, for bowlers who are not blessed with so much talent, then you must work hard in the nets and gym to improve. Unfortunately, injuries can result from this. If I had someone who was as talented as Wasim, I'm not sure I would tell him to train too much. However, that is very rare.

Its not just Wasim, its bowlers like Lillee, Thommo, Holding, Kapil, Imran- pretty much all of them who's mantra was 'sit-ups, pull ups, stretches and run 2-5 kms a day' as the end-all, be-all to training. As such, most of them ended up injured far less often than modern bowlers. Yes, we know of Imran's injuries as well as Lillee or Thommos but if you look closer, they may've lost a year or more in recovery, but they did not get injured as often as the standard bowler does today. Akram was one of the more injury-prone of the 'old time principles' guy who lasted a long time and even then Akram rarely missed an entire series and mostly had on-off niggles with his groin. Not hamstring today, back next year, stomach the year later, then shoulder blown out, etc. What is inescapable fact is that bowlers from the 70s-90s generation were more durable than the ones today. The ones who played county cricket (most of the Pakis, West Indians, Saffers not to mention, Englishmen) put in far more professional overs/hours and days/year playing cricket than their modern equivalent. Empirical data suggests that they were, therefore, fitter than the modern bunch. How, what and why remains to be determined and I think its due to their KISS principle of staying match-fit, not gym fit. Other factors may apply too.

[straighttalk]

Look, I've never seen gym fitness translate into real hard work ethics in the workplace. The strongest and toughest of the laborers I've ever seen are not gym rats but who pretty much only work,play and sleep. Gym guys tend to be very unfit when it comes to hard work. The same thing we see with bowling as well. Bowling speed is more about technique than anything else. yes, you need strength in certain areas- your butt and hamstring has to be strong, strong core and limber arms but 'balancing the core' and BS like that are 'overdoing it'. True, having an allround physique will help you transfer your action more metronomically, which is why legions of trundlers exist today, while back in the day if you were not a natural athlete like Marshall,Holding or Donald, you had to rely on unconventional 'unique' actions to generate genuine pace. Walsh and his 'hip snap' is something you never see anymore, neither the 'haai-yaa' monster jump of imran. What is unquestionable though, is that modern bowlers spend far less time actually running around and bowling and far more time lifting weights than they did before. The spate of injuries are also far worse now than before. Pretty much the only thing modern gym life and medicine has done, is cut down the turnover rate of injuries by half or better while the lack of 'match fitness' has translated to bowlers breaking down far more often. Durability, as in heavy labor jobs, so in sports, is all about the KISS principle: Keep it Simple, Stupid. Indian farmers will outlift, out-run and out-everything you despite never having benchpressed. Same with dockworkers who will easily be better at their job than gym monkeys despite hardly every going to a gym and going out for beer after work. Gym fit does not translate to match fit in most sports. Only in very few discplines of athletics does gym fitness translate to match fitness.

there is a problem in your analogy...gym fit is a term that is loosely thrown about. If you work out to stay fit (not to look good)..u gain fitness and that fitness is transmitted to real life. Now you brought the point of laborer or farmer and how he will outgun an average gymfit person in farming or hard labor. You are right but not because he is fitter but because he has trained his body in doing that exact same thing...and he is at an advantage compared to the person squatting or deadlifting. However, if they compete in a natural sport, the results might be different. A fit person should train aspects of his fitness: muscular strength, aerobic and anaerobic endurance, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, and balance.

[Muloghonto]

there is a problem in your analogy...gym fit is a term that is loosely thrown about. If you work out to stay fit (not to look good)..u gain fitness and that fitness is transmitted to real life. Now you brought the point of laborer or farmer and how he will outgun an average gymfit person in farming or hard labor. You are right but not because he is fitter but because he has trained his body in doing that exact same thing...and he is at an advantage compared to the person squatting or deadlifting. However' date= if they compete in a natural sport, the results might be different. A fit person should train aspects of his fitness: muscular strength, aerobic and anaerobic endurance, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, and balance.

And dude, that is where the 'old school' fast bowling training was better. They trained their bodies into being match fit. You can lift all the weights you want but reality is, we understand little of actual muscle strengths for the torso and more stuff you tone and balance, the more gets thrown outta whack, the discs can take damage, etc. and its just not worth the trouble. It takes away from getting yourself match fit. Guess what bowlers do all day long- run. Guess what the old timers did all day long: run and bowl. Situps to keep the midsection strong (which works if you do it right). Limber. Ultimately your body can only take so much before it kicks the bucket. You cant expect to be the fittest guy on the planet if you do all the muscle work at the gym and run around and do situps and bowl as much as the old guys did. You do something like 4-5 hours work per day and anything more is perhaps damaging. THe old timers got themselves match fit by training to do the exact same thing:bowl, bowl and bowl some more, run, crunches, etc. That is where the modern generation is failing at.

[Rocky Balboa]

Obsessive training my ass. He barely touches 125 kmp even after training so hard...

[rkt.india]

Its not just Wasim, its bowlers like Lillee, Thommo, Holding, Kapil, Imran- pretty much all of them who's mantra was 'sit-ups, pull ups, stretches and run 2-5 kms a day' as the end-all, be-all to training.

Lillie, Thommo both got large number of injuries as they were quick bowlers. Lillie lost a bit of pace after he suffered a serious back injury in 1973. Kapil was never really a quick bowler. Imran was not a quick bowler from the start. Regarding technique, Imran did not have a great technique. His jump did not help him at all. Marshall did not have a great technique as well. Holding was pretty good in what he did. Kapil was pretty good. Lillie had a pretty good action but back injury prone, same for Thommo. and if you want to listen from the legends then listen what Richie Benaud has to say about the techniques of different bowlers. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPDW7hj1yfs]World's Fastest Bowler Competition - 1979 - YouTube[/ame]

[rkt.india]

Obsessive training my ass. He barely touches 125 kmp even after training so hard...

that is because of poor bowling technique not necessarily because of lack of strength or training.

[rkt.india]

Apart from Kapil Dev, there has not been a single fast bowler who has not suffered serious injuries in his career. Kapil Dev never suffered a serious injury but he too had some and he played matches with some as he himself admitted about them in sports shows. Express bowlers like Lee, Thommo, Lillie, Holding, Akhtar have suffered more injuries than others because they [put more effort and pressure on their bodies. Akhtar specially lacked discipline and work ethics of an express bowler.

[jalebi_bhai]

Do fast bowlers do yoga??

[rkt.india]

True' date=' having an allround physique will help you transfer your action more metronomically, [b']which is why legions of trundlers exist today, most sports. Only in very few discplines of athletics does gym fitness translate to match fitness.

This is another fail. We have more fast bowlers in the world who can bowl 140 plus today than any era. Even India producing 140K bowler is what gives you the indication.

[G_B_]

if he is trying that hard and is still so crap in the lines and pace he bowls then that means its a dearth of talent in him which is the problem

[The Outsider]

Apart from Kapil Dev' date=' there has not been a single fast bowler who has not suffered serious injuries in his career. Kapil Dev never suffered a serious injury but he too had some and he played matches with some as he himself admitted about them in sports shows. Express bowlers like Lee, Thommo, Lillie, Holding, Akhtar have suffered more injuries than others because they [put more effort and pressure on their bodies. Akhtar specially lacked discipline and work ethics of an express bowler.[/quote'] You are wrong. Many bowlers like Walsh, McGrath, Hadlee did not have major injury concerns over their careers.

[saneindian]

BCCI should allow the Pathan bros to become freelancers and play in t20 leagues. Their IPL worth is anyways going to nosedive massively, let them make more money outside India.