Your local cricket club practice might consist of going for a quick jog around the cricket ground, followed by some fielding drills and then straight into the cricket nets. Although net practices can be useful, it is important to realise that you can do much more with your training sessions, especially as a fast bowler. 

A local club gets ready to practise in Pune, India (original) - CC2.0 Photo by P.L. Tandon

TOP 10 TIPS FOR PRACTISING FAST BOWLING

GET READY TO MOVE!

Always do a dynamic Warm-Up before bowling and make sure you are fit and well enough to train. You're much more likely to get an injury and under-perform in cricket practice or matches if you are not physically and mentally prepared. 

Bangladesh warm up before taking on England (original) - CC2.0 Photo by Synwell

TECHNIQUE IS KEY 

Spend time practising and improving the different parts of an efficient fast bowling action. Being able to bowl fast and straight is heavily influenced by technique, so it is worth setting aside time in cricket practice sessions to improve your bowling technique so that you can bowl faster and straighter, more easily. 

Rene Farrell practises her bowling technique (original) - CC3.0 photo by YellowMonkey

PROCESS vs OUTCOME

Be clear whether you are practising to improve your processes (e.g. improve your technique) or to improve your outcomes (e.g. hitting the stumps). Most of the time these should be kept separate so that it is easy to focus on what you are doing during any cricket practices.

James Anderson & Chris Woakes (ENG) practising bowling

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

If you want to practise an outcome, be specific and measure your success e.g. "how many times in 2 overs did I bowl a good length?". Keep a note of your scores to start with, and monitor how you get on over a period of time - that way you will be able to see whether you are improving or not.