The Effects of Different Delivery Methods on the Movement Kinematics of Elite Cricket Batsmen in Repeated Front Foot Drives

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to examine differences in delivery characteristics and the resulting response exhibited by ten elite cricket batsmen when hitting repeated front foot drives against three different ball delivery methods; a bowling machine, a Sidearm™ ball thrower and a bowler. Synchronous three-dimensional Vicon motion capture technology and high-speed video were used to track batsman, bat and ball motion, and a range of discrete timing and kinematic variables were extracted from the resulting biomechanical model. Results showed significant differences in speed and ball release-to-impact time between the three delivery methods, thus questioning the validity of the bowling machine and Sidearm™ in the way they are currently used as true representations of batting against a real life bowler. Findings from the timing and kinematics of the subjects' movements suggest a different technical response is also exhibited when facing the different delivery methods; for example batters were found to initiate movement earlier and have a lower maximum bat speed against the bowling machine, but initiate and complete their front foot stride earlier as well as moving their COM further forward in the Sidearm™ trials.

A curve fitting methodology to determine impact location, timing, and instantaneous post-impact ball velocity in cricket batting

“…Due to the longer impact durations found in tennis (4.4-6.2 ms), 20 as opposed to cricket (1.0-1.5 ms), 2 impact is considerably less likely to occur between frames, thus reducing the possibility of errors in estimating impact timing and location. Indeed, when capturing at 4250 Hz, as in existing batting studies, 5,8,9,21 or at 480 Hz, as in the tennis study by King et al, 19 the interval between capture frames of 54 ms or 2.1 ms, respectively, presents a high possibility of missing impact.…”

“…Ball release speeds between 32.0 and 40.0 m s 21 are common for international fast bowlers, 3 and while the ball slows down during its flight and contact with the pitch, it can still be expected to reach the batsman with 82-86% of its initial speed (32.8-34.4 m s 21 for a 40.0 m s 21 delivery). 4 Due to this high ball speed, short impact durations of approximately 1.0-1.5 ms, 2 and the relatively low sample rates used in typical human motion capture studies (250-300 Hz), 3,5 the precise instant of impact is often missed by the motion capture system. These difficulties in ascertaining impact timing, as well as rapid marker movement and tracking errors caused by spin on the ball, make determination of the impact location of the ball on the bat face problematic.…”

The relationships between impact location and post-impact ball speed, bat torsion, and ball direction in cricket batting

“…Only two studies have attempted to quantify the relationships between impact location and post-impact ball speed and direction in cricket. Bower (2012) used a pendulum to swing a cricket bat at low speeds (5.8 -7.3 ms -1 compared to 18.9 -20.8 ms -1 in a realistic hitting action; Peploe et al, 2014) towards a stationary suspended cricket ball. Impacts occurring centrally and 1 cm either side of the midline were found to generate significantly higher post-impact ball speeds and apparent coefficients of restitution (ACOR) than impacts occurring 2 and 3 cm from the centre.…”

Relationships between technique and bat speed, post-impact ball speed, and carry distance during a range hitting task in cricket

“…Events corresponding to the commencement of the downswing (DS), start (SS) and end (SE) of the forward stride, and the time of bat-ball impact (IMP) were identified for each trial from the kinematic data (Peploe et al, 2014). IMP was identified from a change in the anterior-posterior ball centre direction.…”

“…Additionally, the percentage of runs in one day internationals obtained by clearing the boundary has gradually increased from 5.9% in 1983 to 8.7% in 2013 (Narayanan, 2013). To date no studies have investigated the technical aspects of range hitting (batting for maximal ball carry distance) in cricket, with the majority of research focused on establishing the mechanics of the front foot drive (Elliott et al, 1993;Stretch et al, 1998;Stuelcken et al, 2005;Taliep et al, 2007), or identifying differences in technique when facing different delivery methods (Gibson & Adams, 1989;Renshaw et al, 2007;Cork et al, 2010;Pinder et al, 2011;Peploe et al, 2014). While participants executing the front foot drive in previous studies conceivably placed their primary focus on control and precision in striking the ball along the floor, during range hitting players strive for maximum ball carry distance and launch speed with little emphasis on placement.…”