Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Cricket Training, Fitness and Injuries => Topic started by: The Palmist on October 16, 2014, 09:17:35 AM
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This may come across as boring and lengthy to some but I really need the motivation and what better place to maintain a diary than this forum. Sessions are rather expensive so no new kit for me next season. I have decided to spend all coaching money on batting improvement only.
Sesison 1 – 15/10/2014 @ Cricket Asylum
This was more of an assessment session. I will add videos as soon as my pitch vision licence is sorted. Tom was absolutely brilliant and we started with some side arm throws. These things are brilliant and did take me by surprise at first.
I was rather good with back foot shots and defences. I was able to spot the slower deliveries and managed to block the Yorkers rather well. My weakness being the deliveries coming right in at me with some bounce and inability or lack of confidence to drive.
Coach then analysed the video with me and spotted my grip which was fundamentally wrong. My top hand didn’t wrap around fully, infact I had my thumb on top in line with the spine throughout. Also my bat was fairly straight but pointing to second slip, he suggested getting it straighter. Stance was fairly balanced.
Coach also made some notes about strengths and weaknesses. My natural inclination is to cut and pull and while cutting I was sometimes not waiting long enough or moving my right leg meaning my shots were going straight to fielder at point or cover. Also I ended up walking after every shot which is probably due to my head being too forward and not in line with rest of the body.
Next was some match scenarios. Like batting at number 3 and I have just come in and batting with number 11 where we need 20 runs off 24 balls with a combination of leg spin and off spin. I managed to get the situation right to the last two balls.
Coach’s feedback was to work on the grip, I need to get the hands together and top hand wrapped around fully, which I am finding really awkward at the moment but going to persist. He said that while we need to work on skills, he was happy with my temperament and advised me to be a bit more positive. He also commented about me being too wristy at times and my wrists naturally tend to turn for every shot, advise it to keep it straight for the drives.
Overall a good session, I am booked for some more and will keep the thread up to date purely for my motivation.
Session 2 – 22/10/2014 @ Cricket Asylum
This session was dedicated to getting those drives right. Bat grip is a lot better but there is still some gap between two hands which needs to go basically.
Coach started with getting me in driving stance, i.e. front leg lunging forward to where he was going to drop the ball, back leg almost straight, weight on front with head above the front toe. I was asked to drive on second bounce and stay in position to get muscles being used to driving. This was rather painful after 30 consecutive drops and as I got tired my grip suffered. He varied it with placing a squeezy ball under my front foot and then under my back foot. The whole idea was to hit through the line and keep head position. It felt like being in a forward lunge forever. We did this for about a hundred drops.
There was a bowler practising his stuff in another lane so coach asked if he could bowl to me and this was one of the best bowlers I have ever faced, regularly clocking 70mph+ I was happy to let the swinging balls go and managed to hit a few protecting the stumps and I would in a match situation. There was a nasty one which caught me on the thigh, aero stripper wasn’t covering that area and I regretted selling on the stretton [note to self, get a larger size aero or another thigh guard]. It is still stinging. We watched the video after that and I could see that I was moving even before the ball was released and that I was not committed to driving a few times. Coach said that he is happy with my discipline and would like me to go for the balls and not worry about edging/nicking. He also said that I need to commit to the shots and again head position was a concern. At times I was driving with head either too wide off the toe or too far back. Overall it was great facing the quickie.
We moved on to some more drop feeds but this time I was asked to be in my stance and step forward as the ball was dropped i.e. not in drive position as first drill. Again after 100 or so feeds I could really feel it coming together. We moved to some underarm rolls and things are looking better.
Now comes in the bowling machine, not sure what the speed was set up but it felt quick. The first ball took my middle stump away, obviously it was a jaffa of a delivery. By this time I was shattered and could feel the lack of commitment in shots. Again I was moving too early and instead of hitting straight, kept hitting in the cover region. The few perfect drives I managed were not captured in the camera
So things to improve:-
- Head position above the toe with body in line
- Both hands together in grip
- Move when ball is released and not before
- Not to turn body sideways and keep wrists rigid [I am too wristy at times which is not really a bad thing]
- Keep head down else it goes up in the air
- Commit to the shot, really commit to it
- Didn’t really play anything off backfoot or cut but the few I did, I got in to shot early, coach advised to wait a little
What I noticed already is that my top hand is doing most of the work now with bottom hand just acting as a guide for balance. This is new to me and I am very pleased with the result. I can feel the top forearm burning like after a gym session. Will be doing some exercises [not those kind] to gain some strength.
Thank you for reading and hopefully I will get some videos this week.
Session 3 - 19/11/2014 @ Cricket Asylum
It has been a few weeks since last update. The sessions have been off for one reason or another but I have been shadow practising drives, running and trying to gain some strength.
Third session yesterday:-
We started with front foot drives on the bowling machine and the feedback was that my body balance is everywhere really. Otherwise the drives are coming on nicely, from no drive to some drives, so there has been progress.
Then we did some drop feed and underarms.
This was followed by another bowling machine drill where the coach will shout high or low, meaning I have to play a shot for 6 or 4. This was quite fun.
At this point, we decided to take a break from front foot drives and coach wanted to see how I do with short balls. See some videos, I was absolutely rubbish even though I always thought this is my area of strength.
The feedback from yesterday was to have confidence and belief in myself. Coach repeatedly says to me that I need to stop playing check shots and follow through. My problem is that the more power I try to generate the more balance I lose, I also feel a searing pain in my triceps when I follow through too hard. I keep trying to play away from the body and rarely play in line with the ball.
This time we got the videos working, a selection below, they are only about 5secs long.
Full
http://pvgo.to/bzgqkr (http://pvgo.to/bzgqkr)
http://pvgo.to/buwmbb (http://pvgo.to/buwmbb)
http://pvgo.to/nnkcse (http://pvgo.to/nnkcse)
http://pvgo.to/cybusu (http://pvgo.to/cybusu)
http://pvgo.to/sqmyvm (http://pvgo.to/sqmyvm)
http://pvgo.to/exodoi (http://pvgo.to/exodoi)
http://pvgo.to/jjnarp (http://pvgo.to/jjnarp)
http://pvgo.to/aloyib (http://pvgo.to/aloyib)
http://pvgo.to/tucvka (http://pvgo.to/tucvka)
http://pvgo.to/xxnqjg (http://pvgo.to/xxnqjg)
http://pvgo.to/amfxmc (http://pvgo.to/amfxmc)
http://pvgo.to/dvhdxf (http://pvgo.to/dvhdxf)
http://pvgo.to/eteoqu (http://pvgo.to/eteoqu)
Short
http://pvgo.to/bloeqc (http://pvgo.to/bloeqc)
http://pvgo.to/bvtbkj (http://pvgo.to/bvtbkj)
http://pvgo.to/qfoyfw (http://pvgo.to/qfoyfw)
http://pvgo.to/dqflsa (http://pvgo.to/dqflsa)
http://pvgo.to/ybkgik (http://pvgo.to/ybkgik)
http://pvgo.to/fmfqwj (http://pvgo.to/fmfqwj)
Classic
http://pvgo.to/mkwmqe (http://pvgo.to/mkwmqe)
Session 4 – 23/11/2014 @ Cricket Asylum
Well it was an early morning session and I turned up at 9AM as promised but the coach had double booked himself so he asked if I mind waiting for an hour. He set me up on bowling machine with auto feeder so I was happy to practice on my own for an hour.
By the time we started our session I had already practised a lot of drives so we went straight to some drop feed drills and facing short balls. Coach pointed out that there is still a wide bat pad gap causing me to lose my balance. He was impressed with the progress I had made and wanted to get to the crux of my technical problems.
He highlighted two main problems
1. Foot not moving in line of the ball and wide bat pad gap
2. My right shoulder turns in and I end up facing the bowler, he insisted that I play side on as much as possible and that my left shoulder should be pointing towards the direction of shot
For number 2, we did some underarm throws, where I was already in a position for back foot drive towards cover with my shoulder pointing the correct way.
It was a fairly long and tiring session but I get the feeling that we have narrowed the areas of improvement down to a handful. I will be doing some drills at home to get muscle memory.
Session 5 – 03/12/2014 @ Cricket Asylum
Final session for this year. Coach focussed on gap finding. We started with a bowler bowling at me and I was asked to play my natural game and find gaps in hypothetical field settings. Then we moved on to do some drills using soft balls and stinger machine. Started with playing on drives between two cones, then same for off and straight drives. Target was to find the gap 50% of the time before moving on to next drill.
Coach suggested I stand up a little straighter and more side on.
That’s it really, we have a good idea of areas I need to work on i.e. bat and pad gap, head position, balance and confidence. Signed up for another 5 lessons to be scheduled during new year.
Our Team nets start today and then some more nets booked at Headingley in January. I am not going to have any money left to buy any cricket equipment next year
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have you booked a course? how long is the course? how much etc?
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I would kill to live somewhere where coaching like this was an option!
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coaching cost a fortune in the uk. If it were cheaper I suspect you'd find a lot of people would do it
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Thanks guys, to answer above questions.
Most of the courses I looked at are aimed at kids, youngsters. I gave it some serious thought and have purchased 10 [one to one] sessions in bulk [cheaper this way] and the course will be bespoke to my ability and future aspirations. I had the option to divide coach's time in to batting, bowling and fielding but since I have already signed up to a ten week course at Headingley [this is a group course] in January, I decided to utilise the one to one time just for batting development.
One to One Sessions are costing me £300 for 10x1 hour sessions, pitch vision licence is extra £25 and it allows you to analyse and view your video from anywhere.
Procoach Yorkshire at Headingley are doing 10x2 hr group coaching sessions for £210, they say that coach to player ratio is roughly 1:8
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coaching cost a fortune in the uk. If it were cheaper I suspect you'd find a lot of people would do it
Absolutely but still cheaper than what most of us spend on kit in one year :-P
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Absolutely but still cheaper than what most of us spend on kit in one year :-P
true. However, I'd have hoped coaches would want to provide more value
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Personally I think £30 per hour is quite reasonable, they've got to make a living after all - to get a £30k equivalent salary they'd have to be booked up for 4 hours per day, 5 days per week, all year round and we all know that'd be hard to achieve (and that's without any associated costs for lane hire/equipment involved).
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30 notes an hour is pretty good compared to what i've paid before, especially if it includes Lane hire for an hour (even on trade, going to be 15 an hour)
So he's doing it for £15 an hour, which is nothing, especially when the qualifications aren't exactly cheap.
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is this all indoors?
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yes mate all indoors, session 2 added.
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did he give a reason for this bit "would like me to go for the balls and not worry about edging/nicking"
I assume he just wants you hitting balls in training but surely leaving well is as much a skill as trying to smack it.. although, having said that the modern trend is to just throw bat at ball
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Thanks for this. Very interesting reading. The drives you had to do, where they straight drives only?
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Well done for embarking on this journey - looking forward to seeing the video's of your batting.
£300 for a new bat or £300 on coaching - I guarentee this is the right investment for you.
The grip point will be tough, get the top hand right, but don't beat yourself up over a small gap between your hands, that can help some people, especially those wanting to hit the ball along the floor more (but not something coaches actively encourage).
Warning I am not advocating that everyone should do it, just that it has helped a small number of people in the past!!
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did he give a reason for this bit "would like me to go for the balls and not worry about edging/nicking"
I assume he just wants you hitting balls in training but surely leaving well is as much a skill as trying to smack it.. although, having said that the modern trend is to just throw bat at ball
I think from Coaches’ point of view I was playing a bit too safe [as I would in match]. When you see the video, you will know what he meant. He said commit a bit more and he would rather have me nicking one in the nets than in match. In my excuse, those were all very good out swingers and I wouldn’t normally risk having a go at them.
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Thanks for this. Very interesting reading. The drives you had to do, where they straight drives only?
glad you enjoy it mate. My problem is that somehow I always end up playing in to covers, even the ones I am supposed to play straight. Coach gave me a target to hit one straight in to the stumps and kept feeding the balls till I got one.
Drills included straight and off/cover drives. Not moving on to on drives just yet.
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The grip point will be tough, get the top hand right, but don't beat yourself up over a small gap between your hands,
I have got the top hand right [ I think] first time in all these years power is coming from my top hand but I am genuinely struggling to close the gap. When I close the gap, I feel that my range of motion is restricted. I am gradually trying to close the gap but the coach insisted I close it fully and let muscle memory develop and take it course.
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I think from Coaches’ point of view I was playing a bit too safe [as I would in match]. When you see the video, you will know what he meant. He said commit a bit more and he would rather have me nicking one in the nets than in match. In my excuse, those were all very good out swingers and I wouldn’t normally risk having a go at them.
fair enough bud. I wasn't trying to be funny, just that if it's a decent full length, swinging away it's a 'danger' ball.. I would hope coaches wouldn't teach people to be going after it. as you say, in a game you wouldn't so why train differently. There is nothing wrong after all with being more defensive and not gifting your wicket away , does seem to be unfashionable now a days though :(. (I do accept in some circumstances you need too but its easier to do that than 'stop' playing shots etc.
It's interesting to hear your journey and to see what results it brings in games.
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did he give a reason for this bit "would like me to go for the balls and not worry about edging/nicking"
I assume he just wants you hitting balls in training but surely leaving well is as much a skill as trying to smack it.. although, having said that the modern trend is to just throw bat at ball
I presume he's just looking for technical flaws early on, and you don't spto too many of them when people are leaving the ball.
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I presume he's just looking for technical flaws early on, and you don't spto too many of them when people are leaving the ball.
that's why I asked tbh, I assumed he was doing it for a reason and wondered if he said what he was looking for etc.
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fair enough bud. I wasn't trying to be funny, just that if it's a decent full length, swinging away it's a 'danger' ball.. I would hope coaches wouldn't teach people to be going after it. as you say, in a game you wouldn't so why train differently. There is nothing wrong after all with being more defensive and not gifting your wicket away , does seem to be unfashionable now a days though :(. (I do accept in some circumstances you need too but its easier to do that than 'stop' playing shots etc.
It's interesting to hear your journey and to see what results it brings in games.
Not a problem mate, you have a valid point. Pitchvision are messing about with my licence, you will know I meant when you see the video. I think Kulli is spot on here. I have to trust the coach and commit to his methods and hope it brings me some runs in 2015.
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very interesting keep posting it makes us all think about our own games as well
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Session 3 Added with video links in first post, I am a lot worse than I originally thought. A lot of work to be done, feet either coming too far forward or not moving at all, head not in line arrrrgh
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Some shots from Session 4, full synopsis later
http://pvgo.to/xympyz (http://pvgo.to/xympyz)
http://pvgo.to/enkalh (http://pvgo.to/enkalh)
http://pvgo.to/amytvk (http://pvgo.to/amytvk)
http://pvgo.to/phnjzx (http://pvgo.to/phnjzx)
http://pvgo.to/oojelj (http://pvgo.to/oojelj)
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session 4 and 5 added.