I was standing on the 10th tee at Keperra Golf Club, playing a social round of golf with my dad, and good mate Daine. We were all playing well, under our handicaps and enjoying the rare days one might experience on a golf course, well aware this could all change on the back 9. Dad went to get some drinks and myself and Daine waited at the tee box. Whilst waiting, the group behind us came up and we let them play through. Hard to miss with his long golden locks was professional cricketer and mutual acquaintance Nathan McSweeney. Despite the extra 5kg added from this long mane, Nathan was likely in the vicinity of 75kg and 5ft 11. After a brief chat Nathan strolls up, pushes his tee into the ground, pops the ball on top, and then proceeds to belt this ball at least 300m straight down the middle.
Myself and Daine looked at each other bewildered. We shared a similar body shape to Nathan, granted Daine packing a little bit more muscle mass as one would expect from a semi-professional AFL player. We were amazed by the power that was created, and very jealous. How could a bloke of such stature produce so much power? Was it genetics? Luck? Was it a result of a professional strength and conditioning training environment? Specific practice? Skill crossover from cricket? It was in this instance that I realised that whatever it was, I didn’t have it (and no wonder I rarely had any success in the T20 game, or as a golfer for that matter). I was an accomplished gym goer, holding my own in many traditional metrics; I ran a 7min 2km, 5sec flat 40m sprint, I could squat and deadlift over 100kg, perform at least 15 pullups in a row, smash out 50 pushups in a row and perform gymnastics core exercises like “hollow body holds” and “hanging toes to bar”. Sure, perhaps not elite numbers, but a well rounded athlete with good power to weight ratios nonetheless. As a qualified physiotherapist, with interest in the strength and conditioning space, I made a mental note to delve a bit deeper into power, and specifically sport specific power. My ego wasn’t willing to accept “genetics” or “natural talent” as the sole driver.
With Twenty20 cricket growing around the world, having the power to clear the boundaries has never been more important. In the upcoming blog posts I will go into more detail about the mechanics of creating power and how this can be trained specifically, so that you can improve your power game. Don’t end up like me - expand your limits while you’re young and become the best athlete you can be.
If you’d like to chat further about any of these topics, please send me a message on the contact us tab.
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