Cricket Equipment � Training � Alternative Fitness Regimes

If you fancy a healthy alternative to cricket training and equipment, why not try a different approach?

If you're looking for a healthy alternative to your usual cricket training regimes, why not abandon your cricket equipment and take up Pilates?

Pilates is a way of exercising that improves flexibility and strength, enhances posture, balance and co-ordination and develops core strength. Incorporating Pilates into your training programme is the perfect way for cricket players to improve their posture which in turn will improve the way they handle their cricket equipment.

Developing your core strength means improving the strength in your trunk from your shoulders to your pelvis. Using Pilates when you are training can help cricket players achieve their dream of hitting an ace shot with their cricket equipment, whilst also reducing the risk of them getting injured on the pitch.

Safe and Effective

Pilates is a slow, intensive approach to training the body using stretching, strengthening and control to create a balanced body, which makes it a safe and effective exercise to help you manage your cricket equipment more effectively.

The Professionals

Pilates provides key benefits for both batsmen and bowlers, which is why many top cricketers use it in their training. Mike Atherton, the former England captain, swore by Pilates as a way both to recover from injuries and to prevent future ones. Graham Thorpe, another England batsman, abandoned his cricket equipment and used Pilates to overcome serious back problems he'd acquired from playing the sport.

Pilates In Bowling

Bowling coaches are particularly concerned to eliminate the 'mixed action', in which the feet point in one direction whilst the upper body points in a different one. A good Pilates teacher can devise a set of exercises to help a bowler become aware of what this alignment feels like. Practising the exercises before going out to bowl will enhance 'muscle memory'.

Experts Recommend It

�Aspects of Pilates are used in our training all the time�, Nigel Stockill, head physiologist and biomechanist for the England Cricket Board, recently told the press. He added that Pilates was, �particularly beneficial to cricketers because it helps them to recover faster from sports injuries and has a strong focus on the abdominal muscles and back�.

Training for the over-50s

Pilates is also suitable for the older, amateur cricket player. Finding a safe training programme to suit an older person's body cope with the wear and tear of swinging their cricket equipment is important.

For Pilates to have a real effect on how you play cricket, you need to be strict with your training regime. Two times at least, or three sessions ideally will help you get the right results from your cricket equipment.

Sports HQ is the European division for Confidence Sporting Goods, inc., the famous manufacturer from Palm Springs , California . We sell a huge range of cricket equipment and accessories. Because we sell directly to you, you can expect to save up to 70% on normal retail prices when buying from us.

Call us today on 01527 598388 for more information or to place an order.