We had a wonderful throwing based question from Peter on the podcast recently. Peter was coming back from injury of the shoulder and looking to build a throwing technique which would take pain away from that area.

I suggested that he made his throwing action more efficient. This increases power and significantly reduces the chance of throwing injury. So, what does this look like?

We can break it down into several phases, each one leading on from the next.

Phase 1: The table top wrist flick

The last link of the throwing kinetic chain is the wrist. It will be travelling faster than any other part of your body by the time all your forces of come up from the ground, through your body and into your throwing arm.

Place your throwing elbow on top of a tabletop created by the other forearm and hand.

Minimise the movement about throwing for arm and propel the ball with a wrist flick to our partner who is standing no more than 2m away from us.

The aim is to deliver a short distance, flat throw directed straight at your partners chest.

Feel your fingers and wrist directly behind the back and the top of the ball. If we are able to achieve this then it will help us maximise the force that we apply in the direction of our target.

Phase 2: The power position

What we are looking for in a power position is the front arm to create a "C" shape.

The elbow points towards the target (not the the front hand).

This C shape should be level with the shoulder. This can be seen in the picture below.

The throwing arm should look like an "L" with the ball pointing away at the top of the throwing circle.

It's crucial that the angle of the "L" is between 90-110 deg. If the angle is less than 90 degrees then it puts a huge amount of pressure on the elbow, shoulder and impedes power production when we put the elbow and throwing arm forward ahead of release.

The shape of the throwing hand at the back of the throwing circle resembles a 'snake-bite'. This ball points away from the target. The benefit of the ball being in this position is that as the body rotates, the hand will come through last and the fingers will be directly behind the back and top of the ball.

Most people have the ball facing the intended target at the top of the throwing circle and this leads to the fingers throwing the side of the ball at point of release. The result is that side spin is applied to the ball which negatively impacts on release speed, accuracy and power.

The way to practice this is to stand in an athletic throwing position with the feet wide apart. Place a ball in the throwing hand and hold your hands together at the bottom of the throwing circle.

The hands part. The front arm raises to the "C" position and the throwing hand passes the thigh into the "Power L" position at the back of the throwing circle.

Check at this point for the angle of the throwing arm, look to see what alignment it takes as the ball should be visible to a front on camera and watch to see if the "snakebite" is on show.

Repeat this motion 4 times to learn the movement and then on the 6th the front arm closes like a chicken wing into the side of the body.

This helps pull through the throwing side of the body in and ensures that the throwing arm moves in an appropriate plane on the way to release.

Throw the ball with minimal effort (you are throwing for form, not pace here) and then finish the throwing arm with a long reach down towards your shin.

This will spread the "deceleration" phase over a longer period of time and range. Many people injure their shoulders because they cut the follow through off short, which means that the throwing arm decelerates far too quickly.

A short and sharp follow through causes a braking motion which is similar to a car slamming on the brakes. The shoulder is the passenger who is hurled forward against the seat belt and then pulled back into the seat. It's a huge jolt.

Then compare this to a gradual braking process over 70 metres before coming to a gentle stop. That's what finishing at a fully range will feel like to your shoulder.

Phase 3: Add in follow-through step

The follow-through is absolutely crucial in keeping the throwing shoulder healthy and meaning that we can throw over a long period of time with great effectiveness.

In addition to the long and deep reach with the throwing arm, we now also incorporate a step through at this phase of the drill.

In exactly the same way as a fast bowler, the follow-through stride helps us to decelerate more effectively and over a longer time and range.

All we do in addition to phase 2 is add this step.

Phase 4: Starting square

All good fielders use their feet brilliantly before they pick the ball up. As a result they ensure that their body is relatively square to their target as they make contact with the ball.

This also has a very positive effect on the upcoming throw as the movement from the square to sideways back to square again facilitates significant levels of torque in the mid-section of our body. This adds power and pace to the throwing action.

All we do in this phase is start off square to our target before stepping forward with our back foot. This takes us into our power position.

We then pull our arms through and then finish with that long reach and follow-through step.

Phase 5: One fluid motion

Just speed up the motion of Phase 4!

Rules:

1. Listen to your body, it will tell you when you are ready to make the transition to the next phase.
2. As a basic guide, do sets of 6 throws in each phase. Repeat the sets until you feel that you have mastered that phase.
3. Throw no more than 40 throws in any session.
4. If you only get to phase 2 in those 40 throws then start your next session at Phase 2 and go again.
5. If your shoulder starts to get sore then stop. Your body is giving you feedback on either your technique or your throwing volume.

Iain Brunnschweiler is on tour with the England Under 19 side Sri Lanka. Here's his diary: It's a mixture of great stories and lessons for players and coaches at any level.

Day 1

It’s always a very exciting moment when I meet up with the squad, and it was no different this time as we gathered at Heathrow Airport ready for another sub-continental adventure. There’s one thing I can always be sure about 18 and 19 year old lads: they love stash! It was no different this time, with the players absolutely loving their branded-up England trackies and kit bags.

The most note-worthy moment of our journey out to Sri Lanka, (other than Dan Lawrence’s dress sense once he had got into his pyjamas on the plane!), was me watching a film called The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller. This movie reminded me that life is there to be enjoyed every day, and that going on adventures which take you out of your comfort zone can inspire your mind and body.

This wasn't just entertainment. As a coach I use sources like this to make me consider the next way I can have an impact on player development. It could be be watching a movie, speaking to people who may challenge my thinking, or exposing myself to different environments both inside or outside of sport. It all works to broaden my mind.

Days 2 and 3

Whenever we travel across time zones with a squad, we follow an acclimatisation programme, which has been designed by our vastly experienced physio, Steve McCaig (Macca or "The Bear" as he is known to the staff).

One of the simple things Macca has learned over the years, is that ‘us coaches’ will always want to do more training than the boys need during the first couple of days on tour. When you are in a country with a totally different climate, it is vital that both players and staff don’t go too hard too soon. Otherwise, there is the danger of early burnout, especially while trying to change your body clock and adapt to the local time zones.

Sleep is clearly a vital part of this acclimatisation, and at least half of the squad and some of the staff wear wristbands that monitor their movement both during the day and at night. It has been quite entertaining as those of us who are more interested in the science of our bodies (the ‘badgers’!) have been comparing our sleep monitors each morning. One lad had a cumulative total of 10 hours sleep across three nights. Fortunately we can use this kind of information to make adaptions to player programmes to ensure that everyone gets the right volume of work and rest.

Day 4

Our first scheduled practice was cancelled due to the monsoon-like rainfall in Colombo, but today the sun was out in a vengeance. In my experience of Sri Lanka, when it is hot, it is seriously hot.

We made our way to the Premedasa Stadium for a proper high intensity training session, following our gradual increase of the last couple of days. The quick bowlers were coming in off their full runs for the first time outside, under the guidance of bowling coach, Stuart Barnes. This obviously made Barnesy and the whole fast bowling unit happy for the first time since we left the UK, as they were able to enter into top-level competition in the nets with our batters.

During our final training camp back in the UK, at the fantastic National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, Barnesy tracked the player’s line, length trajectories and speeds. He was able to present information around the lines and lengths that are the most successful in Sri Lanka, and then allow the lads to have a competition to see who could reproduce these lengths the most.

Having the ability to track data like this is incredibly useful for player development, as well as performance preparation. If you clearly know what your objectives are, and you can measure a player’s ability to achieve those objectives, then you can help to build a really information plan to ensure they are progressing with their skills.

Day 5

Our first match day, and a 50-over game against a Sri Lankan Board XI. It turned out that there were several familiar faces in the opposition, as we had played against them in home and away England Development Programme U17 series in 2013 and 2014.

One of the best things about cricket, is the ability to make friends around the globe, and to be able to speak a communal language of sport. Coaching the Sri Lankan side was Roger Wijesuriya, who had run the U17 team previously, so it was fantastic for me to be able to re-ignite our friendship, along with other members of the coaching staff.

On the Sri Lankan team there were names such as Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Kavin Bandara, Raveen Seyer and Thilan Nimesh; names that many of you will not have heard of, but you may wish to commit to memory! I’m confident that some of these names, as well as many of the players in the current England U19 team will be pitting their wits against each other at full international level in the coming years.

We scored 230, with George Bartlett from Somerset scoring a magnificent 94, having come in with us struggling at 36-4. This was a decent total, and the lads were fired up to get out and defend it, before a huge lightning storm engulfed the stadium, putting an end to any hopes of us even bowling a ball.

Once it was confirmed that there was no chance of play, all of the players hit the gym to complete their conditioning programmes.

It was a shame we couldn’t complete the match, but there was plenty to learn.

The players, under the guidance of captain Brad Taylor (Hampshire), had a very productive debrief with each other to reflect on the batting innings. This groups growing ability to review their performances in matches and training, will, I am sure help them to improve as both individuals and a team.