Steffan Jones, former professional cricketer and cutting-edge strength coach, has joined the PitchVision Academy coaching panel and his brand new course is available now.

Steff is trainer to a range of cricketers and has developed a tried and tested training programme for fast bowlers that: prevents injury and increases bowling pace. He brings with him a reputation of career-saving results with methods adapted from other sports to bring astounding results. 

The course has never been available online before, but today you can get your hands on it thanks to PitchVision Academy.

It is the result of years of experience and hundreds of players who vary in age from teenagers up until former Test players in their late 30s.

There has never been a more cutting edge fitness training plan available for upcoming fast bowlers outside the professional game.

Ask any Strength Coach about the fitness needs of fast bowlers and they will all quickly start talking about the core.

The term is loose, but it broadly means your "midsection". It is vital for you to be strong and stable in that area if you are looking to bowl fast, prevent injury or both.

And who isn't?

Of course, core training can et complex with a lot of differing theories so it gets confusing quickly.

Do you do crunches or not? Are your hamstrings part of the core? What about this "anti-rotation" buzz word you have heard?

This week's winner of the Cricket Show podcast question competition is Del. He wins a free coaching course from PitchVision Academy.

The winning question was:

"At what time in the day would you say it was too late to train a cricketer of the age of 13? Our club will have sessions at 8:00-9:30 on a Sunday night. I think this is too late not only as he has school but is there any problems that could arise to injury?"

Listen to the panels answer to his question here

To enter your own question for the chance to win your choice of online coaching course send your questions in here.

We look to our heroes for advice, and group has more hero worship than Indian cricketers. How could they lie to their fans?

Be it mis-information, spin or taken out of context, these are the truisms taken as gospel by the fans that, in fact, won't help your game if you are trying to emulate the stars:

Ashish asked a question I think a lot of young fast bowlers wonder,

"What are some good bowling exercises for teenage fast bowlers to do at home? I heard fast bowlers need a strong core, shoulders, arms and legs."

Ashish has heard right in that bowlers need strong everything!

The new year brings new hopes for getting fit, and for cricketers that means very specific things: run faster, bow faster, hit harder, throw longer, keep up stamina and prevent injuries.

All worthy aims of course, but there is a trap waiting. If you fall in you can forget about your dreams of improved fitness this year.

What is this trap?

There is no doubt that fitness is crucial to the modern cricketer to improve performance and prevent injury. The benefits are well proven.

But fitness is also a minefield.

There is so much information available yet much of it is at best no benefit and at worst dangerous.

That's why you should get the PitchVision Academy newsletter.

The weekly email cuts through the rubbish and takes you straight to the tips, ideas and programmes that actually work to help you reach your goals for the year.

Gary Palmer, the PitchVision Academy batting coach, sheds light on the biggest hoax in batting.

Cricket has advanced in so many ways in the last 60 years. So why do we still hold onto the same ideas when it comes to classical batting technique?

Coaches and players have always called batting a side on game. But I have learned that batting is more front on than side on.

In my experience, when I say this most people disagree instantly and switch off.

The PitchVision Academy Cricket Show is on a Christmas break, but there is still the archive if you still need advice from the team.

So, here are my favourite episodes of 2012 for you to catch up.

This archive article was published in 2008. Republished today with an edit to bring it up to date.

Whether you aspire to play at professional level or not, there are many things you can learn from first class players.

Professional players rely on their form for a living. Without it they would be out of a job. More often than not that means they are doing everything they can to stay on top of their game. You can apply some of this determination to improve your results.