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[brokenbat]

plenty of debate on this i'm sure, but what is the best way to use a machine, for lets say, a two hour session? cycle through each shot, focusing on the one the batsman is not comfortable with? and also, what speed?

have a bat to knock in - figured i should do something other than just drives, to make the most of the time. any suggestions?

[ProCricketer1982]

Do a search, plenty of stuff on this.

Bowling machines are best for grooving shots, so cycling through all the different shots (say 100 on each) is a start. You can do a round on each but focus on the weak ones etc

As for speed, not much point facing more than 60 most of the time

[TangoWhiskey]

I had a go on a bowling machine for the first time properly on Sunday. It's great fun and in my opinion very helpful to grove your shots. I had a coach helping me out and he was fiddling with it so each ball was coming out slightly different so it wasn't literally just repeating the same movements. Far more beneficial than netting with a bunch of part time amateur bowlers who are only interested in trying to knock your head off.

[ajmw89]

Turn the power on, line up with the stumps, set the desired length, speed, swing/spin and drop the balls in.  easy, innit!

[Cedrictoad]

For added spice with the auto feeder, point it at the stumps and hit both the left and right bias buttons at once!

Does away with needing another person if you are rolling in a group of one that day...

[Petemacdiarmid]

Turn the power on, line up with the stumps, set the desired length, speed, swing/spin and drop the balls in.  easy, innit!

Always one isn't there! 

[Buzz]

Turn the power on, line up with the stumps, set the desired length, speed, swing/spin and drop the balls in.  easy, innit!

Nah - tell the guy operating the machine that you want it short and fast and learn to play shots like this...

[brokenbat]

oh.. the shoulder deflection to third man for four.. my favorite.

[Buzz]

oh.. the shoulder deflection to third man for four.. my favorite.

In that case the Stig was quick enough to pull out of the shot without being hit...

[brokenbat]

on a more serious note.. in terms of grooving shots one is not comfortable with, is it advisable to start initially in the correct position, before the ball is fed? so in this case, our star hooker (no pun intended), would have started already back, and across in the crease, and merely swung the bat when the ball arrived. do this a few times, and THEN move to starting from a normal batting stance?

[WalkingWicket37]

In that case the Stig was quick enough to pull out of the shot without being hit...

Did the Stig then take his lid off, grab a half width training bat and ask for the machine to be 10mph faster??

[ajm90]

In my experience, I haven't had to ask for the feeder to put it quick and short.