Cricket
Cricket
4 yoga practices that can help improve your cricket game
Yoga instructor Dr SN Omkar lists out some breathing and movement techniques with details on how they can help young cricketers in their game.
Dr SN Omkar is a yoga instructor based in Bengaluru.
He has coached many sportspeople in yoga, including the Indian men’s cricket team, Indian women’s cricket team, and several high-profile cricketers as well.
“I conducted regular yoga classes for the Indian cricket team when John Wright and Greg Chappell were the coaches,” Dr Omkar says.
Yoga practioners at a camp in Switzerland
© Lorenz Richard | Red Bull Content Pool
“I have taught yoga to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and others. Tendulkar used to extend his practice time. Currently, I am conducting yoga classes for Dravid’s academy,” he adds.
He has found that yoga can be quite beneficial for cricketers. Here he details some yoga practices that upcoming cricketers can practice at home.
Bhramari Pranayama
This is one of the preparatory poses in yoga that mainly focuses on breathing technique.
How to perform: Sit up straight with your eyes shut. Place your fingers on your eyes and your thumb on your ear. Slowly breathe in and out through your nose, and generate a humming sound when you exhale. You should feel a vibration at the back of your head as you exhale. Repeat this five times.
Benefit for cricketers: This practice helps keep your mind calm and composed, which is useful for cricketers in pressure situations during a match.
Dr Omkar says: “This helps improve heart rate variability and the parasympathetic nervous system, which means your personality will become calm and composed. For cricketers or sportspersons in general, being calm is very important. With slow abdominal breathing you can achieve that.”
Kapalbhati Pranayama
This is also a preparatory pose focused on deep breathing.
How to perform: Sit up straight with your legs crossed. Place your hands on your knees with palms upward. Breathe in deeply and slowly. While exhaling, pull your navel in deep. You will feel your abdominal muscles contract. Repeat this as many times as you can.
Benefit for cricketers: The deep breathing technique of this practice helps to keep your mind focused and also helps with blood circulation.
Dr Omkar says: “Good breathing is the most fundamental thing about yoga. Good breathing is slow and done from the abdomen – which means when you inhale the abdominal cavity expands and when you exhale it contracts. [For this practice] six breaths per minute would be ideal, with four seconds of inhalation and six seconds of exhalation. Our average breathing is about 15 breaths per minute, so with little effort you can make it six.”
Cricketer Lahiru Thirimanne in Kapalbhati Pranayama
© Dimitri Crusz | Red Bull Content Pool
Surya Namaskar
This is a practice which involves a cycle of 12 asanas (poses).
These are the 12 asanas of the Surya Namaskar
- Pranamasana (Prayer pose)
- Hastauttanasana (Raised arms pose)
- Hasta Padasana (Hand to foot pose)
- Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose)
- Dandasana (Stick pose)
- Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with eight parts or points)
- Bhujangasana (Cobra pose)
- Parvatasana (Mountain pose)
- Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian pose)
- Hasta Padasana (Hand to foot pose)
- Hastauttanasana (Raised Arms Pose)
- Tadasana (Standing Mountain pose)
How to perform: Start the cycle of asanas by sitting cross legged with your spine straight. Close your eyes, join your hands like you do in prayer and deep breathe. Now transition into the cycle of asanas.
Benefit for cricketers: The asanas practiced in Surya Namaskar strengthen the core muscles (abdomen, back and torso), and helps cricketers avoid injuries.
Dr Omkar says: “These muscles will be activated and chances of injury will be less. To fold the spine and legs we recommend cricketers to practice Surya Namaskar, which is the amalgamation of several postures in a particular sequence. You should at least do a cycle of 24 asanas and try to stretch it to 48.”
Kate Courtney in a variation of the Ashwa Sanchalanasana of Surya Namaskar
© Paris Gore | Red Bull Content Pool
Utkatasana
Also known as the chair pose, Utkatasana is a deep squat with arms raised.
How to perform: Start by raising your arms upwards at shoulder width. Inhale while doing this. Now slowly bend your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Exhale deeply while doing this. Hold the position for a minute and then slowly raise your body up to standing. Inhale while lifting up. And finally bring your arms back to your sides while exhaling.
Benefit for cricketers: This movement strengthens your back, shoulder, legs and ankles. It also helps strength the muscles in your toes and ankles, thereby improving your balance.
Dr Omkar says: “Body balance depends upon your visual system. While there are many poses for improving the balance of your body, you could try the Utkatasana.”
