Athlete World

What we found in our own work!

In a recent case study, we worked with few bowlers having an illegal action.

Instead of simply trying to “fix the elbow”, we looked at the entire kinetic chain.

Our objective was to redistribute the mechanical workload across:

Ground → Front Foot → Pelvis → Trunk → Shoulder → Elbow → Wrist → Ball

The idea was simple:

Don’t ask the elbow to create what the rest of the body isn’t contributing.

By improving how the athlete generated and transferred force through the lower body, front-leg mechanics, pelvis, trunk and shoulder, we were able to substantially change the bowling action and reduce the excessive reliance on elbow extension.

⚠️ Important disclaimer: This case study represents our observations and the response of one athlete. It should NOT be interpreted as proof that front-on actions cause illegal bowling actions, or that limited hip rotation/hip–shoulder separation necessarily causes chucking. Those relationships require further research.

Our broader hypothesis is that when force generation and transfer through the kinetic chain are inefficient, some athletes may compensate by increasing the contribution of more distal segments, including the bowling arm.

That’s why we believe illegal bowling actions should be investigated as a whole-body movement problem, rather than simply an “elbow problem”.

Watch the full analysis.

And remember:

Bent arm ≠ illegal action.

15° elbow extension during the ICC-defined phase = potential illegal action.

Educational content only. Formal legality is determined through the applicable cricket regulations and authorised biomechanical assessment.

One correction I’d strongly recommend for the video: don’t say “the elbow is the last link in the kinetic chain” as if that means it should never contribute. The elbow absolutely contributes to ball velocity. Your argument is that its contribution should occur within an efficient proximal-to-distal sequence, rather than excessive elbow extension becoming a compensatory mechanism. That distinction will keep the biomechanics credible.

🔒 Terms & Disclaimer

✅ This video is based on a real Athlete World client journey.

✅ To protect the athlete’s privacy and comply with the consent agreement between Team Athlete World and the client:
• The athlete’s name has been changed.
• All visuals, character representations, and supporting clips used in this video are digitally recreated.

• These visual recreations are used solely to protect the athlete’s identity while accurately communicating the educational concepts and the overall transformation story.

• The scientific principles, coaching process, and performance outcomes discussed remain representative of the athlete’s actual journey.

🇮🇳 From India to the USA 🇺🇸 - the goal stayed the same: become a better fast bowler.

Distance doesn’t limit progress when training is built around the right problem.

Over the course of his journey, this Athlete World Remote Training Program athlete improved not only his bowling technique, but also the underlying physical qualities that support performance, movement efficiency, force production, sequencing, stability, and the ability to transfer strength into bowling speed more effectively. 📈

Every athlete has a different bottleneck. Finding it is far more important than blindly working harder.

If you’re serious about improving your pace and performance, start by understanding what actually needs to change.

SportsScience Biomechanics RemoteCoaching CricketPerformance PaceBowling