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[charliemott]

Really struggling to get forward at the moment to play off the front foot. Any help will be great.
Cheers

[WalkingWicket37]

I was told as a 13 year old "act as if you're trying to stamp on the ball"
Did this against the bowling machine and have not had a problem playing off the front foot since, simple but effective 

[charliemott]

Thanks il give it a go, any more ideas fellas?

[LEACHY48]

I was always taught to make your head follow the ball, if you lean towards the ball then your foot will follow. Therefore, if you lean towards the ball and push your weight forward the you will 'get forward'. 90% of batting is to do with your head.

[GarrettJ]

Try landing on your heel and then going onto your toes for proper weight transfer. As mentioned you should lean in with your head

[lukemannionzimbabwe]

Also, try a trigger movement, as the bowler is jumping shift your foot forward, it's always easy then to get forward and to move back, hope this helped.

[charliemott]

Will give this a go in the nets cheers lads

[Andypara]

Ware a helmet and as said try stamp on the ball pitch the helmet gives you more confidence of getting forward to the ball

[fasteddie]

(another good idea on it's way)

The head movement dictates the feet placement in this case.
If you lean forward with your shoulders your head will follow and eventually your front foot.
Try it in a quiet place first but if you can imagine leaning on a full length delivery and watching it go to extra cover you are on the right path.

[pacman75cricket]

Have top coach & have opposite problem too big a stride(lunge) coach says as others have said head goes foot will follow. Think you fall over otherwise

[GarrettJ]

Also, try a trigger movement, as the bowler is jumping shift your foot forward, it's always easy then to get forward and to move back, hope this helped.

I think you have that the wrong way round. To go forward in the right handed stance position a human pushes of their right foot (back foot). By triggering forward you are planting your foot. Ok against slow bowling but not 75mph plus, you will be very susceptible to lbw

[Cys1]

Oh boy, I can see another debate on the merits of various coaching tips coming up!
As with everything, taking on a bit of advice is easy, executing it correctly will be more difficult.
I agree that the head should lead. If you lunge with only the front leg your head will firstly never get into line with the ball and secondly your weight transfer through the shot will be incorrect and lead to driving balls in the air and nicking off outside off stump.
You do however have to lead with the head correctly. This does not mean leading with the head across your stumps since this will cause you to put your front leg down the wrong line and be an LBW candidate. The simplest way to this is to lean forward in your stance with your weight going forward directly to the stumps at the bowlers end. This will keep you balanced at release and you will be able to move forward easily.

A trigger can be used but pls keep the movements small as to avoid your head moving too much. It should also be done well before the bowlers delivery stride so you are in a balanced position again before initiating your second movement towards the ball.

Hope this helps a bit, and hopefully I have not confused you more.

[Cys1]

I think you have that the wrong way round. To go forward in the right handed stance position a human pushes of their right foot (back foot). By triggering forward you are planting your foot. Ok against slow bowling but not 75mph plus, you will be very susceptible to lbw

GarretJ, I a tally think he is correct here. Irrespective if he is right or left handed and I'm only aware of humans playing cricket although some players do behave like animals sometimes!
Anyway, pls try this quickly. Move backward using only your back leg, as you suggested.
Then try pushing backward off your front foot. I think you will find the second movement to be much more efficient. Secondly, I do not think he was encouraging him to plant his front foot but rather to have his weight on his front leg.

[jackmorris]

im the same, i find it hard to get on the front foot, but im having a net today so i will use these tips and see if i can improve a bit

[GarrettJ]

GarretJ, I a tally think he is correct here. Irrespective if he is right or left handed and I'm only aware of humans playing cricket although some players do behave like animals sometimes!
Anyway, pls try this quickly. Move backward using only your back leg, as you suggested.
Then try pushing backward off your front foot. I think you will find the second movement to be much more efficient. Secondly, I do not think he was encouraging him to plant his front foot but rather to have his weight on his front leg.

Having your weight on your front foot is planting, it's the reason Chris gayle struggles with shorter bowling on comparison to anything pitched up. It's also why his foot movement appears sluggish

Stand one one leg tell me which leg allowed you to move forward??  Obviously the back leg.

Its simple to answer your question.

dip your front shoulder and the weight simply transfers to the front foot and your head is now in the forward position. You are ready to go back without leaning back.

I have a few questions.

If you forward press to a bowler who is bowling 80mph away swingers and he suddenly throws in one that cuts back into will you be in a nice position to play it?

If a bowler strays down the leg side or on leg stump can you easily move forward to on drive or not play around your pad?

If you forward press and need to go back how do you transfer the weight backwards with moving your head from the forward position in your stance?

I can tell you 100% that at the higher levels if you plant your front foot early you are going to struggle a lot. At a lower level you will be find but why not practice like the pros even if you are only subject to recreational cricket where the bowler is 65mph maximum, it would make batting a lot easier.

Back on subject

You must hold your front leg in as long as possible with a small amount of weight still on your front foot but more on your Backfoot. Say 70/30 just before delivery stride. Not a big back and across just a small step to create the unweighting of your front foot.

All you need to do to go forward is lean in and push off your backfoot. If you stay like this you can easily on drive as you are not committing your front leg and having to play round it which can also cause tipping over.

So I would say stay still or go back and across if you can keep your head still but never forward press.