The Cricket Association of Bengal
ASIAN CRICKET COUNCIL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
PEAK PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME
Running Technique: Posture while sprinting
Be fit to be a better cricketer.
Head – in line with trunk, not swaying, jaws relaxed.
Body – running should be as a controlled fall, slight forward lean during acceleration and erect and tall at full speed. Body should be stable with no unwanted rocking.
Arms – aggressive in motion with each arm moving as one piece. Elbows at right angles swinging close to the body, hands relaxed with thumb resting lightly on flexed fingers, fist loose and comes upto nose level only and back as far as the buttocks, always forward and backward like a piston, not side to side. Arm swing is initiated at the shoulder. Shoulders relaxed not hunched.
Legs – weight of body on forefoot, not on heels, directly under the body. Front knee thrusts forward in the direction of the sprint, not sidewards, and raises up so that the thigh is almost parallel to the ground. Foot rises up with the knees towards the buttocks (important for leg speed turnover). Complete extension of the hip and knee on the rear leg. Foot strike is soft and silent.
Drills for Running Technique improvement
1.Shoulder and Arm movement: Standing or walking, practice the arm swing with emphasises being on the aforementioned details above. Repeat until you have it under control.
2. Running balance hold: hold the following position for as long as possible then alternate 5 reps x
20 secs each leg.
Front thigh horizontal with the knee flexed so that the foot is just under the buttock.
The supporting thigh and hip is extended and up on the toes.
Arms held in the correct running posture, trunk upright and taut.
3. Knee Lift: one of the important aspects of sprinting is the drive or momentum provided by the knee as it comes through in the swing phrase. This can be exaggerated and practiced in the following drills.
a)Single leg high knees:
a difficult drill to master and hence requires concentration
keeping the abdominal braced at all times, not allowing flex in the spine at all
bring one knee upto horizontal (or just past) then extend fully as if in sprinting
start slowly and gradually increase the speed of the movement. Do not perform rapidly if there is insufficient stabilisation of the lumber spine / abdominal
add in the arm swing accordingly
repeat for a few minutes each leg
b)Walking or jogging with arm swing timed with a high knee lift.
c)Skip for height (plyo):
develop thrust and power in a vertical direction. The goal here is to lift off the ground as high as possible.
use both arm and leg drive powerfully
make the foot contact with the ground as rapid as possible.
repeat x 20 bounds (x 10 each leg) x 5 sets.
d)High knees – effectively it is running
Running with emphasis on getting the knees upto horizontal.
Arm movement as usual.
Repeat 10 x 20 meters.
4.Stride Length: Another important factor in sprinting is to develop an adequate stride length, but doing this whilst maintaining trunk and body control. This can be practiced in the following drills.
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a)Lunge Walking
stride walking with rear knee ‘feather touching’ the ground, flexed at a right angle.
take care to keep the trunk stable, with no movement of the chest either forward or backward
take small steps initially with the efforts coming from the legs.
remember your arm movements
complete a distance of 20m x 5
b)Skip for distance (plyo)
Rather than sprinting, encourage fast running (80%) with striding out with longer than normal steps to gain distance.
Use arms and legs to drive forward.
Repeat 20 bounds (i.e. 10 each leg) x 5 sets.
- Leg speed and Heavy feet: A common problem is players having heavy feet. For efficient running, one must minimise the time of contact between the foot and the ground. The following drills work well.
a)Butt kicking: Running forward, keeping the knees together, try and kick your heals up against your buttocks as fast as you can. Repeat 10 x 20 meters.
b)Fast feet ability: the aim is to move the feet as quickly as possible and only lifting them a couple of inches off the ground at the toes. Each ‘set’ should last for 10 seconds at most x 5 sets.
c)Falling starts
Standing feet together, fall forward until you have to either step or land on your face.
Use this as the start of a short sprint over 5 meters
Repeat x 10, emphasis on the arm swing and drive with the knees
Progression: Once everyone seems to be running well, then the Running Technique Session will need to be turn into a Speed Session.
Progression
Each session will need to begin with 5 minutes of the basic drills just to trigger off the memory of the improved technique. After a stretch there are any number of speed programmes that can be used. The following are a few examples:
1. 10 x 50m @ 80% pace, walk recovery
5 minutes rest
10 x 25m @ 80% pace, walk recovery
2. 10 x 50m @90% pace, walk recovery
3 minutes rest
10 x 25m @ 100% pace, walk recovery
3. 20 x 25m @ 100% pace, walk recovery
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