Not specifically a bowling related thread, but I thought it was worth putting one in here to share my experience with the other leggies, some of whom I know have had (or probably do have) similar issues to my own.
I went to see a sports therapist today to get checked over prior to commencing my gym training (see thread here... http://www.bigcricket.com/community/threads/gym-exercises-for-leg-spin-bowling.55651/ ) to make sure there were no issues that would prevent me from doing any of the exercises in the program that MV! laid out for me near the end of page 3 of that thread, and also to check I wasn't going to injure myself. In addition to that, Liz Ward had suggested a few potential problems that I should get checked, one of which was "posterior capsular contracture" which was a possible cause of numbness in my arms whilst sleeping.
The good news is that I dont have any serious injuries, or posterior capsular contracture. However I did have a few other issues, none of which I had any idea were there!! So the short end to this story being that its well worth everyone spending the £30-40 on an appointment with a good sports therapist to get checked out now. If you find these problems early then you can correct them, left uncorrected theres a good chance of serious injury down the line!
Now onto the longer end of my story lol, whats wrong with me! I've got a scoliosis on my spine, basically my right hand shoulder muscles are stronger than my left, and that imbalance is causing my spine to bend laterally across to the right! Sounds fairly serious, I was worried when the therapist told me! But apparently its not too bad so long as I correct it. Basically my bowling is very biassed on my right side, so I have to do gym work to balance things back out, and keep that up permanently to prevent it from reoccurring in future. I'd imagine this is an issue for most bowlers who don't do any other activities that require equal use of both sides (e.g. rowing), and I'll bet very few have ever had it checked or done anything to resolve it.
My core is very weak, so I've got to do a lot of work there to strengthen it. This in turn should then help me massively with some of the issues with my bowling action, such as my upper and lower body synchronisation, my leaning over to the side, lack of hip drive, etc. Plus a stable core is the basis of pretty much everything anyway, so I should see huge improvements in my overall strength and power, and that will also help with batting and fielding as well as my bowling.
I have an imbalance in my upper leg muscles that causes my knee to pull across because the inner muscles are too weak. I have some simple leg raises to do in front of the TV to resolve this. And my lower leg isn't a problem, but I've got a balancing drill to do in the gym to raise my awareness of my lower leg stability to help prevent injuries whilst I'm bowling.
Overall nothing too major, but lots of things that could potentially develop into much bigger problems, that I had no idea were present, and have presented no pain or problems!! The moral here being that its well worth getting checked over a few times a season, especially if you're making changes to your bowling action or are fairly new to leg spin (the same applies to other bowling styles too though). Even more so if you're not particularly athletic or haven't been previously, which was pretty much the case for me.
Hopefully now by sorting these issues, plus the general strength and conditioning I'm doing at the gym anyway, I should be able to take my bowling to another level next season. I'm targeting 45-50mph stock speed and I don't actually think its hugely unrealistic to achieve. My indoor bowling speed yesterday was equal to or quicker than most of the medium pacers!! Bearing in mind they bowl at 45-60mph outdoors off of 10+ stride fast run ups., whereas indoors you only have space for 5-6 walking steps, and I've got a lot more explosive power because I only bowl off of a walk up.
I went to see a sports therapist today to get checked over prior to commencing my gym training (see thread here... http://www.bigcricket.com/community/threads/gym-exercises-for-leg-spin-bowling.55651/ ) to make sure there were no issues that would prevent me from doing any of the exercises in the program that MV! laid out for me near the end of page 3 of that thread, and also to check I wasn't going to injure myself. In addition to that, Liz Ward had suggested a few potential problems that I should get checked, one of which was "posterior capsular contracture" which was a possible cause of numbness in my arms whilst sleeping.
The good news is that I dont have any serious injuries, or posterior capsular contracture. However I did have a few other issues, none of which I had any idea were there!! So the short end to this story being that its well worth everyone spending the £30-40 on an appointment with a good sports therapist to get checked out now. If you find these problems early then you can correct them, left uncorrected theres a good chance of serious injury down the line!
Now onto the longer end of my story lol, whats wrong with me! I've got a scoliosis on my spine, basically my right hand shoulder muscles are stronger than my left, and that imbalance is causing my spine to bend laterally across to the right! Sounds fairly serious, I was worried when the therapist told me! But apparently its not too bad so long as I correct it. Basically my bowling is very biassed on my right side, so I have to do gym work to balance things back out, and keep that up permanently to prevent it from reoccurring in future. I'd imagine this is an issue for most bowlers who don't do any other activities that require equal use of both sides (e.g. rowing), and I'll bet very few have ever had it checked or done anything to resolve it.
My core is very weak, so I've got to do a lot of work there to strengthen it. This in turn should then help me massively with some of the issues with my bowling action, such as my upper and lower body synchronisation, my leaning over to the side, lack of hip drive, etc. Plus a stable core is the basis of pretty much everything anyway, so I should see huge improvements in my overall strength and power, and that will also help with batting and fielding as well as my bowling.
I have an imbalance in my upper leg muscles that causes my knee to pull across because the inner muscles are too weak. I have some simple leg raises to do in front of the TV to resolve this. And my lower leg isn't a problem, but I've got a balancing drill to do in the gym to raise my awareness of my lower leg stability to help prevent injuries whilst I'm bowling.
Overall nothing too major, but lots of things that could potentially develop into much bigger problems, that I had no idea were present, and have presented no pain or problems!! The moral here being that its well worth getting checked over a few times a season, especially if you're making changes to your bowling action or are fairly new to leg spin (the same applies to other bowling styles too though). Even more so if you're not particularly athletic or haven't been previously, which was pretty much the case for me.
Hopefully now by sorting these issues, plus the general strength and conditioning I'm doing at the gym anyway, I should be able to take my bowling to another level next season. I'm targeting 45-50mph stock speed and I don't actually think its hugely unrealistic to achieve. My indoor bowling speed yesterday was equal to or quicker than most of the medium pacers!! Bearing in mind they bowl at 45-60mph outdoors off of 10+ stride fast run ups., whereas indoors you only have space for 5-6 walking steps, and I've got a lot more explosive power because I only bowl off of a walk up.
