Upper body muscle strength and batting performance in cricket batsmen.
The aim of this study was to determine if upper body muscle strength (as measured by the 1 repetition maximum bench press) was associated with cricket batting performance. Cricket batting performance was defined by the maximum hitting distance during a batting task and batting average and strike rate during 1-Day and Twenty/20 (T/20) matches. Eighteen, provincial level, elite cricket batsmen participated in the study. Upper body muscle strength was found to be positively correlated with maximum hitting distance (p = 0.0052). There were no significant correlations between upper body strength, batting average, and strike rate for both the 1-Day and T/20 matches. The results of this study have implications for coaches choosing a particular batting line-up. Batsmen who have stronger upper bodies could be favored to bat when a match situation requires them to hit powerful strokes resulting in boundaries. However, coaches cannot use upper body strength as a predictor of overall batting performance in 1-Day or T/20 matches.
Department of Sports Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa. talieps@cput.ac.za
Mogammad S
MS
Taliep
Sebastian K
SK
Prim
Janine
J
Gray
D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult