'Good fast bowlers know how to endure pain'
Troy Cooley talks to Siddhartha Vaidyanathan on how fast-bowling coaching has evolved over the years
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
19-Oct-2007
When he made his first-class debut for Tasmania in the mid-1980s, Troy Cooley was considered the fastest bowler the state had ever produced. Ironically then, it was not as a bowler but as a coach that he made it to international level: in 2003 he joined the ECB's academy and two years later was instrumental in England's epochal Ashes-winning campaign, before heading back to Australia to help them win back the trophy. How has fast bowling - and the coaching of fast bowling - changed over the two decades Cooley has been in the business? Cricinfo interviewed him to find out.
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Can you talk us through your playing days and the lessons you learned from your fast-bowling experiences?
I loved bowling fast and was inspired by a generation of bowlers like Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding.
I loved bowling fast and was inspired by a generation of bowlers like Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding.
I was given some good attributes: I had a fast arm, could run quickly and felt that I could bowl fast. Through my youth and school cricket I was a bit of a tearaway. My first coach was Jack Simmons, who came to Tasmania early and identified me as a fast bowler ... and away I went.
Is it true that you suffered because of poor coaching?
I suppose in those days the coaching was very limited. It was like an attrition type thing - if you made it, you made it; otherwise you broke down.
I suppose in those days the coaching was very limited. It was like an attrition type thing - if you made it, you made it; otherwise you broke down.
I was identified early for Tasmania, played Under-19, had a good start to my first-class career and then got injured. It was when I was 17 or 18 and it was a stress fracture. Dennis Lillee had gone through a stress fracture but, really, the doctors didn't know a lot. So if you had a serious injury in those days, you were probably mis-diagnosed a few times, injected, told to rest. And then you came back and it wasn't fixed. There was a lot of frustration about rehab. You weren't given any sort of guidance. So if you were lucky enough to go to rehab and get back, you still had the problem with your technique.
People didn't have an idea about workloads. You just bowled and bowled and bowled. In Tasmania during the winters we bowled on concrete indoors (because it was freezing cold out). We bowled a lot indoors, trying to get better and stronger. Now, of course, we know about workload issues, strength and conditioning, muscles, adolescent bone structure. We didn't know then.
How did the comeback go?
I got through the injury, started playing again, had a good season, and broke down again. So that was hard. And each time I broke down I came back a little bit more tentative. I wasn't as free as when I first started. You start to worry about a few things and that played massively on me. I suppose it started to restrict my freedom. I didn't have a lot of coaching until Dennis Lillee came and bowled at us. That's when I got any specific coaching, but Dennis was still playing at that stage.
I got through the injury, started playing again, had a good season, and broke down again. So that was hard. And each time I broke down I came back a little bit more tentative. I wasn't as free as when I first started. You start to worry about a few things and that played massively on me. I suppose it started to restrict my freedom. I didn't have a lot of coaching until Dennis Lillee came and bowled at us. That's when I got any specific coaching, but Dennis was still playing at that stage.
Injuries and lack of coaching were obviously problems, but were fast bowlers more natural in your day? Was their action and physique more original?
In one aspect, yes. But there was also a flip side: that they always used to coach only one way. Science and research have helped us now. Earlier all coaching came straight out of the MCC coaching manuals. They used to tell you to get side-on because it was the only way to swing the ball and it was the strongest position to get into. So everyone, regardless of the limitations of their bodies and their individualities, was coached massively in the side-on position. But the coaching process wasn't long enough. To change a potentially bad action you need time.
In one aspect, yes. But there was also a flip side: that they always used to coach only one way. Science and research have helped us now. Earlier all coaching came straight out of the MCC coaching manuals. They used to tell you to get side-on because it was the only way to swing the ball and it was the strongest position to get into. So everyone, regardless of the limitations of their bodies and their individualities, was coached massively in the side-on position. But the coaching process wasn't long enough. To change a potentially bad action you need time.
So you had a body that was probably more open in the action, but then you had a coach come in for one or two sessions and try and swing you around side-on. This resulted in so many mixed actions. Simply because the coaching wasn't properly structured to teach somebody. As I look back at my technique, I was more a semi-open-chested bowler. I was coached to go side-on.
There's obviously more science and research these days, but are some fast bowlers over-coached?
It's not so much over-coaching as it is incorrect coaching. You've got to have a pretty good understanding of what you're going to do. You've got to have a very good basis for changing an action. Today you have a lot of information on individuals and what suits each. Now there are many actions between side-on and front-on. If you haven't got that skill and knowledge and haven't got the time to back-up what you're going to coach in the transition period, you're doing the athlete an injustice. Maybe some coaches don't have an understanding of what's required for an individual.
It's not so much over-coaching as it is incorrect coaching. You've got to have a pretty good understanding of what you're going to do. You've got to have a very good basis for changing an action. Today you have a lot of information on individuals and what suits each. Now there are many actions between side-on and front-on. If you haven't got that skill and knowledge and haven't got the time to back-up what you're going to coach in the transition period, you're doing the athlete an injustice. Maybe some coaches don't have an understanding of what's required for an individual.
What would you say are the steps to follow to produce a fast bowler?
I'd list five basic steps that a bowler must have as a starting point.
I'd list five basic steps that a bowler must have as a starting point.
Fitness. Fast bowling is a skill with a high injury-rate. Research has proved that 17% of fast bowlers are out at any point of time. So you've got to be fit and you've got to have a very good base of support. The specific ways that bowlers can be fit is dependent on how the conditioners and physios operate. Specific fitness is paramount.
Run-up. Fast bowlers need to be able to repeat their action. For me, you need a good, balanced run-up. Now that's one part of your action which you can work on and get better at easily.
Jump. You need a good jump into the crease, one that moves along the momentum line or target line.
All the champions I've worked with have had one common quality: they always knew they were going to be picked for their country, they always knew they were going to do well and there was nothing that was going to stop them
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Strength and stability. You've got four times your weight going on your back foot when you land. And your front foot needs to take nine times your body weight. So you must have the strength and stability to endure such strain.
And finally a good follow-through.
Those are the basics you're looking for. You can be side-on, semi-over, front-on but you need to be able to repeat those steps day in and day out.
So you don't believe in modelling one bowler's action on another?
It's very dangerous to model an action on somebody else. We're talking of people who are built different, who move differently. Some are tall, others are bulky. You must be able to look at individuals. You can help put a good environment around a skill, build in fitness and strength. I see a person, not a model.
It's very dangerous to model an action on somebody else. We're talking of people who are built different, who move differently. Some are tall, others are bulky. You must be able to look at individuals. You can help put a good environment around a skill, build in fitness and strength. I see a person, not a model.
And then there's the whole mental aspect.
Absolutely. All the champions I've worked with have had one common quality: they always knew they were going to be picked for their country, they always knew they were going to do well and there was nothing that was going to stop them. Take the top ten fast bowlers in the world and you'll find they all bowl very differently but their basic make-up is pretty similar. You'll see fitness, strength, stability, attitude, a solid action ... and most importantly all good fast bowlers know how to endure pain. You need to know what pain you can bowl with and what pain you need to stop at.
Absolutely. All the champions I've worked with have had one common quality: they always knew they were going to be picked for their country, they always knew they were going to do well and there was nothing that was going to stop them. Take the top ten fast bowlers in the world and you'll find they all bowl very differently but their basic make-up is pretty similar. You'll see fitness, strength, stability, attitude, a solid action ... and most importantly all good fast bowlers know how to endure pain. You need to know what pain you can bowl with and what pain you need to stop at.
As a fast-bowling coach how do you go about building a battery?
As I told you, 17% of the fast bowlers are sitting out at any point of time. So there is a very high injury-rate and you've got to have back-up. I was once sitting with Lillee and Rod Marsh and Rod said, "Dennis wants ten fast bowlers at any point of time." And I said, "I can't handle so many. It's too much." But he was right. You need to be able to get seven or eight good quality players, mould them into a strong unit and grow as a unit. In the early stages of development, bowlers have certain qualities. And if you can put a team together that can work together on a day's play, the captain can look around and say, 'He can bowl in any situation.' You need to build a pack that can survive together and then grow together.
As I told you, 17% of the fast bowlers are sitting out at any point of time. So there is a very high injury-rate and you've got to have back-up. I was once sitting with Lillee and Rod Marsh and Rod said, "Dennis wants ten fast bowlers at any point of time." And I said, "I can't handle so many. It's too much." But he was right. You need to be able to get seven or eight good quality players, mould them into a strong unit and grow as a unit. In the early stages of development, bowlers have certain qualities. And if you can put a team together that can work together on a day's play, the captain can look around and say, 'He can bowl in any situation.' You need to build a pack that can survive together and then grow together.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is an assistant editor on Cricinfo