Mark had a question:

"As a coach, when do you think is the right age to introduce children to strength and conditioning style training?"

It's a tough one for coaches, because our job is traditionally to make player's better through improving technique. But nowadays, "making players better" also includes understanding biomechanics, psychology and - yes - strength and conditioning.

This is because these elements are not distinct from technical coaching. If you understand the basics of how people move, you can feed that directly into better, more individual technique.

And that is where strength and conditioning crosses over most; the mobility and stability aspects that go beyond just understanding that lifting weights makes your muscles bigger.

S&C is not bodybuilding. S&C is not exhausting players. it is:

• body awareness
• strength
• mobility
• stability
• balance
• power
• speed
• endurance (or work capacity)

All as specific to cricket as possible.

So, as a coach, you are able to introduce basic S&C elements from a very young age, matching the methods to the players.

The type of "S&C" you do with a 6 year old is going to look very different to a 16 year old who is playing state age-group cricket. But it is still S&C.

Of course, you will get to a point eventually where you can do no more work. You have limited time with players and all age players do plenty of stuff away from cricket training that you can't control. You job is simply to create as much crossover to performance as possible in the time available. And that includes S&C in some form or another.

You can find out more here: How to Use Fitness Training to Make Better Young Cricketers. [E]