stuartbarnesconsulting

Fast-bowling coach | 20+ yrs in pro cricket | I help players, parents & coaches improve faster | Founder of Stuart Barnes Coaching & The Huddle

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Hi, I’m Stuart Barnes.

After 20+ years coaching inside professional cricket, I’m sharing clear, simple insights from elite sport that anyone can use — players, parents and coaches at any level.

If you’re interested in:
•developing skill
•long-term player growth
•advice for parents, players and coaches
•performance under pressure
•simple ways to train smarter

…you’ll find it here.

If you want more, I share deeper coaching resources and long-term development ideas through my Stan Store.
👉 https://t.co/bu38rnQtlJ

You can also join my monthly Substack newsletter The Huddle, where I share reflections, stories and practical coaching ideas.

Thanks for being here. Let’s help more people love the game and get better at it.

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Live analysis https://t.co/J4vFRVqmUZ

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Pressure doesn't build character.
It reveals it.
I've watched players fall apart under pressure that nobody saw coming.
And I've watched others find something in themselves they didn't know was there.
The difference was never talent.
It was what they had done quietly, privately, in the weeks before that moment arrived.
You don't rise to the occasion.
You fall back on your preparation.
What are you building right now for a moment you can't yet see coming?

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Chasing pace can make you slower

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

It’s possible to spot the signs of a drop in performance before it happens.

Here is how.

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

The quiet ones

I’ve worked with some of the loudest personalities in professional sport.

Big characters.

Big presence.

Big opinions.

But the players who have stayed with me longest?

Almost always the quiet ones.

The ones who said little and observed everything.

Who asked one precise question at the end of a session.

Who stayed behind when everyone else had gone.

Not to impress.

Just to understand something a little better.

Noise is easy.

Presence is rare.

And in 27 years I’ve never met a truly great performer who confused the two.

Who is the quietest person in your environment right now and what are they noticing that everyone else is missing?

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

I enjoyed doing this.

Plenty of reminiscing. Mostly good although not all!

Thanks @sundayservice22

[Mark Church @backandacross]

Latest Episode of @sundayservice22 now available..our guest is bowling coach @stuartnbarnes ..cricketing sermon on the journey start to the season..and chance to win a
Mjolnir bat thanks to @Newbery_Cricket https://t.co/0gOdv02PyO

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

The parent on the boundary

I’ve watched thousands of matches over 27 years.

And I can tell you something with certainty.

The most stressful person at a junior cricket match is rarely the player.

It’s the parent on the boundary.

Shoulders tight.

Arms folded.

Calling out instructions between deliveries.

I understand it completely.

They want their child to succeed more than anything.

But here’s what I’ve learned.

The player who feels watched performs differently to the player who feels supported.

One is trying not to fail.

The other is free to try.

Your presence matters enormously.

How you use it matters even more.

What does your body language say to your child from the boundary?

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Trading the comfort of a familiar winter for a new path in self-employment, returning to development roots with aspiring fast bowlers. Balancing one-on-one coaching and growing an online presence globally. #CricketCoaching #NewBeginnings

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Simplicity is genius.

What the best are able to do….

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Struggling to get rid of your wobble seam?
It’s still possible to get the ball to swing.
Here is how…

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Bumrah’s skill of controlling the length of his slower ball is something to watch.

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Ever wondered what the best in the world does?

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

The Shift Bowlers Must Learn to Make

Good winter training builds mechanics.

Good pre-season coaching builds decision makers.

They are not the same thing.

If you spend three to six months working on technique, that becomes your comfort zone.

Humans naturally return to what feels familiar.

So when pressure appears, many bowlers slide straight back into technical thinking.

But the game demands something else.

You need to start asking different questions:

Where is the pressure building?
What length is hardest to score from?
When should the ball swing?
When should it seam?

The best bowlers don’t abandon technique.

They simply move it into the background.

Technique becomes the engine.

Tactics become the steering wheel.

And the bowlers who learn that transition quickest are usually the ones taking wickets when the season starts.

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

Why Bowlers Get Tighter When the Season Starts

There’s a moment every year when bowlers start to feel different.

You can see it.

The shoulders tighten.
The run-up shortens.
The rhythm disappears.

Nothing has changed physically.

What’s changed is consequence.

Winter training is safe.

You can bowl badly and nothing happens.

But when the season approaches there is suddenly something on it.

Selection.
Performance.
Expectation.

This is where many bowlers fall back to the thing that feels safest.

Technique.

They start thinking about arms, wrists, hips and positions.

But the game doesn’t reward technical thinking.

It rewards clarity of intent.

The transition to the season isn’t about adding more thoughts.

It’s about moving attention from how you bowl to what you’re trying to make happen.

Pressure.
Mistakes.
Wickets.

[stuartbarnesconsulting @Barnesconsult]

@CricCrazyJohns He’s up there for sure. Where does @faf1307 stand?