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[gdb19]

One of the lads from my midweek team has bought a little portable camera and has been filming our net sessions so I've finally got some footage of me batting.

I know there have been a few of these recently but if anyone has a few minutes free and wants to give their advice I'd be happy to hear it as we haven't got anyone capable of coaching at the nets.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IFCnoqPeMJs&feature=plcp

Few things to mention:

I used to be a number 9/10/11 at a higher standard when I was younger but now at a lower level bat in the top 6. Over the last 3 years I've scored a few runs by playing mainly cross line and just hitting the ball hard but I'm now trying to bat a bit more sensibly.

This is probably one of my better nets but I know of at least a few things to work on. Still need to play straighter and I have a big problem with full length balls on leg as I play cross line and overbalance so end up getting out like that a lot, especially to left armers. Last week I felt this went a bit better as I focused on playing these types of ball straight back or using the on drive.

One other thing, in this week I was trying out a different pick up with my bat going more out to 2nd slip. Gave up on that and have gone back to a stance like goochie but with the bat face towards the floor instead of point as he used to.

Any advice gratefully received as I'd like to score more runs and bat to my ability instead of getting out slogging all the time.

[charlie15]

I'm no expert, but one thing I noticed that I have been guilty of is your hands are quite far away from your body, I've brought mine in closer and it's given me more control.

[gdb19]

Thanks for the reply, nets are on Thursday so it's something to try.

I've been watching the video a bit and thinking about my batting quite a lot. I think I have a few obvious flaws but overall not awful and I should score more runs. I think a lot of my issues are more the mental side of the game as I've never been thought of as a batsman until recently and haven't got the right mindset when I bat in games. I'm always nervous, convinced that I can't stay in long and therefore tend to be too aggressive and play cross line a lot.

One of the guys bowling at me in this video saw me get 30 odd in a game last year where most of those runs were 6's over cow. He didn't recognise my batting in the nets which I think is the key here - sort the flaws out a bit, stop playing cross line, but more patience and relax in games and try to bat like I do in nets.

If anyone else has any other comments please let me know, I'd appreciate it as I do really want to improve.

Thanks

[123*]

I am not brilliant myself (look at my videos to prove it!!!) however you can see how much the bat moves around in your stance and backlift. You start off with a decent stance but then you waft the bat about so much, up and down isn't so much of an issue but side to side is, if you don't get this movement spot on then your bats going to be in the wrong place and how can you play a shot time after time if the bat is not in the right place? It also looks very wand like the way your holding it, your grip seems to be very high, perhaps moving the hands down the grip a bit would help?

You look like you have good hand-eye co-ordination and certainly hit the ball well, it just seems to me that you'd have more success if you were stiller at the crease!

[gdb19]

Completely agree with regards to the backlift. I'd watched a few batsmen online and read about a backlift towards 2nd slip being recommended so I thought I'd try it out. Watching the video I did end up just wafting the bat around and since then I've gone back to something more akin to gooch's backlift but with the bat face towards the ground instead if point.

I think it's worth me getting footage this week to see if I do still move the bat around too much in my backlift.

The grip position on the bat is an interesting one as I find I struggle to get down to fuller length balls so that's maybe why I grip quite high. Ideally I guess I'd like a long blade but that'll need to wait. I'll try shifting my grip down and see how it feels.

Thanks for taking a look.

[123*]

No probs mate, at the end of the day you don't have to be technically perfect to score run's, sure it's great if we all looked like Ian Bell at the crease but it's about what works for you! Try to really emphasize that left elbow when you play the shot, keep it nice and strong, if you watch back it falls away a lot back in towards your body, a stronger high elbow should in theory allow you to play with a straighter bat, give it a try and if it doesn't work then it doesn't matter, at least you gave it a go!

[gdb19]

Cheers, funnily enough the guy who took the footage said to me that he never knew I had a left elbow as until recently most shots were cross line slogs. I'll work on keeping it as high as possible.