We offer four strengthening exercises for cricketers to stay in shape and prevent injury.
The cricket season may have come to a close in the UK, but there’s still a lot happening to keep cricket fans excited as we trundle slowly into the dark depths of winter. The 2020 Indian Premier League T20 season was originally scheduled to start in March, but for obvious reasons (which we’d rather not be reminded of) the IPL men’s cricket tournament was postponed and relocated the United Arab Emirates. Play started last month on 29 September and will continue until 10 November. There’s been some impressive bowling action from Jofra Archer already, with hopefully much more to come.
There’s still a lot happening in women’s cricket too; the Women’s T20 Challenge is also due to take place in the UAE, from 4-9 November. Three teams - Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity - will be made up of the best women players from India, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Australian players aren’t taking part, however, because they’re busy with their own domestic T20 season; the 2020-21 Women’s Big Bash League, which is scheduled to take place from 25 October until 29 November. The women’s tournaments promise to be even more exciting than the men’s and we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on the action.
If all of this cricket talk is inspiring you, then embrace it! Now is a great time to condition your body in preparation for next year's season. In this new series of short videos, Senior Physiotherapist Alex Diamond demonstrates four great exercises that are useful for building strength to handle all the varying physical demands of cricket.
Trunk Rotations
Side strains are very common cricketing injury so developing trunk strength is critical. In this exercise - Keep your hips pointing forward and move your torso, arm & head together through the rotation. You can add a diagonal component to the rotation pull as a further progression.
High Row + External Rotation
Throwing and bowling actions are performed above your head, it is important to train your rotator cuff in such positions. The aim of the exercise is to engage your scapular.
Overhead Press
Ensure you are nice and stable through the core and facing straight on. Try to keep your palms facing each other as you move through the action. You can progress this by incorporating some lower limb movements.
Squat Jumps
Cricket involves a lot of explosive movements - whether it's moving quickly between the wickets or out in the field - so it's critical to train appropriately. Plyometric exercises work to develop your power & improve your dynamic sporting performance. Trial lower sets & repetitions (3 x 6-8) aiming for maximum effort on each jump.
We can tailor a strength and conditioning programme to suit your specific needs through one of our Biokinetic packages.
Call us on 0203 893 5100 or book an appointment online.