The influence of knee joint flexion-extension on wrist joint speed in cricket fast bowlers

The purpose of this study was to assess the sensitivity of wrist joint velocity to manipulations of knee joint flexion–extension kinematic waveforms through the use of a forward kinematic approach. The bowling kinematics of twelve male cricket pace bowlers were entered into a forward kinematic model using MATLAB software. Participants‘ knee joint flexion-extension kinematics were manipulated in two ways: 1) offset by ± 20° and 2) amplified by a factor of ± 2. Both manipulations led to increases in resultant wrist joint velocity at the time of ball release. An offset of 20° extension increased wrist joint velocity by 5.6% whereas an amplification factor of 2 increased wrist joint velocity by 29.9%. These results support the notion that a flexor-extender knee joint technique is ideal for cricket pace bowlers.