Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Cricket Training, Fitness and Injuries => Topic started by: rickjames on March 14, 2024, 03:04:08 PM
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So, at the grand old age of 35, I decided to go full 'treat yo self' and get some 1-1 coaching booked. Something I never had as a kid, and ultimately this year I would like to improve my batting. I've never been a particularly good bat, but the disappointment last year of not playing much has given me a drive to at the very least try.
Off I went at 7am last Saturday to go through some initial setup points, and after seeing a few things have altered my stance a little bit, and trying to move/pivot my front foot anything is on middle/leg to give me better access to the ball - something I was clearly not doing at all previously.
After that we had a bit on trying to play the ball late, and essentially trying to get my head in the right position, over my foot. Was asked to essentially try and drive straight at anything that I thought I could. Started off on the bowling machine with a double bounce, but when going up to 55mph found it hard to time anything, and even when I did connect I knew I was going too early, and getting rather frustrated
Had my club net last night going in with the same mindset - just trying to drive straight. Was nice to have that clarity and something to work on, but again, I struggled to connect with anything; was able to whip some balls on the leg side nicely as a result of moving my front foot just a fraction, but got stuck in a whole of leaving balls I could probably cut (something I'm very keen work on) or just blocking it.
I appreciate things magically will not change overnight, and there's a bit of work/skill to it, but does anyone have any kind of simple tips/drills with playing it late that I can do?
Final note - to anyone in London it's well worth checking out NET in the Clapham/Battersea area; probably one of the better uses for a space as part of a railway arch! Callum who runs it is a pretty sound bloke, and I'm looking forward to learning a thing or two from him https://neweratraining.net/v2/
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So, at the grand old age of 35, I decided to go full 'treat yo self' and get some 1-1 coaching booked. Something I never had as a kid, and ultimately this year I would like to improve my batting. I've never been a particularly good bat, but the disappointment last year of not playing much has given me a drive to at the very least try.
Off I went at 7am last Saturday to go through some initial setup points, and after seeing a few things have altered my stance a little bit, and trying to move/pivot my front foot anything is on middle/leg to give me better access to the ball - something I was clearly not doing at all previously.
After that we had a bit on trying to play the ball late, and essentially trying to get my head in the right position, over my foot. Was asked to essentially try and drive straight at anything that I thought I could. Started off on the bowling machine with a double bounce, but when going up to 55mph found it hard to time anything, and even when I did connect I knew I was going too early, and getting rather frustrated
Had my club net last night going in with the same mindset - just trying to drive straight. Was nice to have that clarity and something to work on, but again, I struggled to connect with anything; was able to whip some balls on the leg side nicely as a result of moving my front foot just a fraction, but got stuck in a whole of leaving balls I could probably cut (something I'm very keen work on) or just blocking it.
I appreciate things magically will not change overnight, and there's a bit of work/skill to it, but does anyone have any kind of simple tips/drills with playing it late that I can do?
Final note - to anyone in London it's well worth checking out NET in the Clapham/Battersea area; probably one of the better uses for a space as part of a railway arch! Callum who runs it is a pretty sound bloke, and I'm looking forward to learning a thing or two from him https://neweratraining.net/v2/
The best thing I've ever found for this is a point of contact drill.
You don't move your feet, and attempt to hit balls into the floor right by your feet. It trains you to get your head over the ball and play the ball under your eyes.
You start with underarm feeds and progress onto overarm feeds and eventually on a bowling machine when you can.
It's tough, but great.
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Seconded, there's a good video of ABV doing this something
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ABD videos by far the best. I would try: stay low in an athletic position, with head and body leaning slightly over your left side, letting the ball hit the bat right under your eyes. Another (wrong) way to let the ball hit the bat is to push the bat forward with limp hands, hoping the ball hits the middle. The ABD method is to keep your position strong and athletic - you’re just waiting to almost get bowled before the ball hits the bat. Easier to practice this with balls coming towards your pads (outside off you wanna just leave it for now). Will take some practice but well worth it.
And if this doesn’t work, you can always buy a new bat..
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Cheers all
One thing on Saturday that has helped is sorting out my rather high backlift; shifted it down to when the ball is coming the bat can go up and then down on point of contact. Didn't think it would make such a change but compared to week 1 it certainly did...
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/10496060/batting-practice-ab-style (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/10496060/batting-practice-ab-style)
Geoblocked here so can't check but I think it's this video
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https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/10496060/batting-practice-ab-style (https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/10496060/batting-practice-ab-style)
Geoblocked here so can't check but I think it's this video
Such a good video. He does with a stump what I struggle to do with a SH bat 🤣