This, I hope, will eventually become the heading for an extra chapter in my batting book - but I still need to gather my own thoughts and (hopefully) be influenced by people on here first....
In real terms I am trying to ask the person being coached the difficult question: when you are out of form and don't know where the next run is coming from – what do you start from? You can’t rely on the coach when you are in the middle – just look at the recent malaise of English batting, I bet the coaches in the dressing room of Gooch, Flower and Thorpe could do a better job at the moment than Trott, Bell and Patel – but they are all retired!
The second question then becomes: do I know my game well enough to help myself?
To help answer this question we must think what does the expression “I know my game” mean? To me it means how you play with all the flourishes and excess removed – playing a simple defensive shot, or a simple work to leg – no risk just batting in its simplest forms. What do you guys think?
My issue is that when I have been coaching I have found that too many players experiment with their batting but frequently end up in a muddle trying too many different things, mainly because they don't understand the basis that they are starting from or why they are changing something.
This is multiplied when they are out of form – which perversely is the time when most people look to change their technique, making it more complicated, rather than simplifying it.
Some of the best players who really know their game understand about bad form are able to limit themselves and grind out some time at the crease until batting comes a bit more naturally. These as a cricket supporter are a whole load less frustrating to watch then the flamboyant “this is the way I play” kind of batsman, who rely on one shot to get them back in to form – but when it clicks again they are devastating.
So my first challenge is to ask how do you learn what your basic technique is? – Whether you are Shiv Chanderpaul, Mark Waugh or some bloke on the village green.
To help answer this question how about asking yourself:
When you are in the nets, what is your basic grip, stance and back lift?
As you are getting your eye in, what are the first few things you concentrate on getting right?
Then, and only then, can you ask yourself:
What you are trying to work on?
Why do you think you need to work on something?
Are you trying to correct a fault or try something new?
And how will any of the above help me become a better player
My view is that you can only change something when you know what you are starting from. What do you guys think?
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Topic: Batting: Understanding your own game (Read 8658 times)