How to bowl 150 km/h: the physics of the 160 club
Only five bowlers have been clocked above 160 km/h. Five different actions, the same physics: momentum from the run-up, a braced front leg, hip-shoulder separation and a whip-like sequence from hips to wrist.
Key points
- 161.3 km/h is the fastest ball ever recorded.
- The 160 club: Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Jeff Thomson and Mitchell Starc.
- The front leg takes nearly seven times body weight; the hips stop dead and propel the upper body.
- Ball speed is rotation times lever length: a long, straight arm turning fast.
- To build it: sprint, jump, throw medicine balls, train legs and core, and stay side-on or front-on, never mixed.
Read the transcript
Only five men have ever bowled faster than 160. Here's how they did it. 161.3, the fastest ball ever bowled. So, how do you bowl at 150?
At 150, the batter gets less than half a second. Shoaib Akhtar: a sprinting run-up and an arm like a whip. Brett Lee: pure rhythm, high front arm, all driving at the target. Shaun Tait: a slingy round arm, raw shoulder speed.
Jeff Thomson: the javelin sling, ball hidden behind his back. Mitchell Starc: 6 foot 5, left arm, long levers. Five actions, same physics. One: run in with rhythm.
Momentum is free speed. Two: brace the front leg. Nearly seven times body weight hits it, and the hips stop dead. That stop propels the upper body forward.
Three: hips open first, shoulders stay back. That stretch stores energy. Four: hips, trunk, shoulder, arm, wrist. Each one peaks after the last, like a whip.
Ball speed is spin times length: a long, straight arm turning fast. To build it, sprint, jump, throw med balls, and train legs and core. Stay side-on or front-on, never mixed. Your back will thank you.
Whose action would you copy? Tell me in the comments.
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