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[Akewstick]

I suppose it's about confidence. Staying still and backing yourself to play the ball on it's merits. My problem I guess is that if I stay still and the ball is pitched up  I'm confident that I can get forward and throw the balance of my weight into a drive, but if it's short I just don't feel like I have the time to rock back and play the pull (especially, as was the case last night when my teammates where using a new ball at indoor nets!!) So what generally happens is I'll start to dominate the bowlers when they are bowling decent lengths so they will start bowling short, back of a length. I suppose I could just defend everything with the splice of my bat/glove but I want to score so I start pre-meditating the short delivery and going back and across, inevitably they then pitch it up and I'm in no-mans land. Then my brain explodes

Disclaimer: This is in nets, out in the middle it's normally a case of me going out, playing all around a straight one and heading back to the pavillion

I'm just going through exactly this, new to the game, except I was weak on the front foot and strong on the back, so I drilled the drive for the whole winter. I've just now (in the nets) very recently started being able to judge length and move fowards and backwards. I did it with two things-

1. The thing other people have mentioned about intending to push your front foot out as the ball comes down because whatever happens, you are going to push that front foot out, either to the pitch of a full one to play your shot, or jam it into the ground in front of you to get back and up high for the pull.

2. Urgency. A really REALLY extreme sense of urgency. Perhaps this isn't great advice because I haven't heard anyone else say it but in order to move forward or backward after seeing the ball I have to really aggressively watch the length and while I'll naturally lean into full ones, I'm watching like a hawk for one that stays in the hand a split second longer and digs into the pitch back of a length and I need to move as fast as I physically can to jam that front foot into the ground, push my back foor back and across to stand up tall and extend my arms through a pull shot.

[HallamKeeper]

I have only recently started playing and have spent a lot of time in the nets with bowling machines trying to catch up on all the experience I've missed out on. Consequently I am not that good at picking up the length quickly as you know the length with bowling machines pretty much all the time. My coach suggested putting different coloured socks on different lengths in the hallway at home and get someone to call a colour and then play a shot at an imaginary delivery on that line and length.

I've been messing around with different trigger movements to try to battle my natural instinct to go onto the front foot. Mainly I just want to get some energy into my feet, especially against spin, so at the moment I just keep the my weight on the balls of my feet and transfer it slightly between each foot as quick as I can as the bowler approaches (keeping the rest of me still) then as he is about to deliver and open up my front foot and take a slight step forward trying to keep my weight balanced. My theory is that most shots will be front foot so I am in a decent position to go forward but if it is short I can push backwards for the pull/hook or get back and across quickly.

Probably won't work but you've got to try haven't you?

[ProCricketer1982]

I have only recently started playing and have spent a lot of time in the nets with bowling machines trying to catch up on all the experience I've missed out on. Consequently I am not that good at picking up the length quickly as you know the length with bowling machines pretty much all the time. My coach suggested putting different coloured socks on different lengths in the hallway at home and get someone to call a colour and then play a shot at an imaginary delivery on that line and length.

I've been messing around with different trigger movements to try to battle my natural instinct to go onto the front foot. Mainly I just want to get some energy into my feet, especially against spin, so at the moment I just keep the my weight on the balls of my feet and transfer it slightly between each foot as quick as I can as the bowler approaches (keeping the rest of me still) then as he is about to deliver and open up my front foot and take a slight step forward trying to keep my weight balanced. My theory is that most shots will be front foot so I am in a decent position to go forward but if it is short I can push backwards for the pull/hook or get back and across quickly.

Probably won't work but you've got to try haven't you?

As someone who only started playing in 2011 and has pretty much learnt everything from a bPeking machine I don't personally relate to what you find. I think a bola is the best way to learn lines and lengths and what (No Swearing Please) to play etc. why is it? Because you can face thousands of the same ball and mentally learn it etc

[Seniorplayer]

The problem you will have if your first movement is  foreward is                                                                                          that what ever   the distance foreward you go if the ball is short pitched you will have twice the distance to go backward leaving less time to get into position to play the shot.

[HallamKeeper]

I generally pull off the front foot so a small movement forward isn't an issue. I think if you make any movement, back and across or otherwise it is all fine as long as you are balanced. I don't play at a particularly high level so most of the pitches I encounter are slow and low, doesn't mean you should go forward to a ball pitched halfway down but you can get away with misjudgements. 

Completely agree with ProCricketer1982 Bola machines are great for learning shots and grooving a technique (muscle memory and all that) but if I see the length of the first ball I know the rough length of the second ball and so on. You can see the person who is feeding the machine, changing it to a different length quite easily. Only way is to look away after each delivery to give them time to change it if they want to.

All I'm saying is that I have found the lack of real bowlers available for nets means that I have relied too heavily on a bowling machine and have grown too comfortable with knowing the length. I'm still going to use a bowling machine on a weekly basis but I also need to work on picking up lengths quickly.

 

[ProCricketer1982]

I generally pull off the front foot so a small movement forward isn't an issue. I think if you make any movement, back and across or otherwise it is all fine as long as you are balanced. I don't play at a particularly high level so most of the pitches I encounter are slow and low, doesn't mean you should go forward to a ball pitched halfway down but you can get away with misjudgements. 

Completely agree with ProCricketer1982 Bola machines are great for learning shots and grooving a technique (muscle memory and all that) but if I see the length of the first ball I know the rough length of the second ball and so on. You can see the person who is feeding the machine, changing it to a different length quite easily. Only way is to look away after each delivery to give them time to change it if they want to.

All I'm saying is that I have found the lack of real bowlers available for nets means that I have relied too heavily on a bowling machine and have grown too comfortable with knowing the length. I'm still going to use a bowling machine on a weekly basis but I also need to work on picking up lengths quickly.

Machines require discipline to use properly. It's exactly the same when people start just buffing through the line or hitting on the up. It's easy on a  machine to do things like that. As you say, if the feeder isn't confident then it's easy to 'pick' the lengths pre delivery. All you have to do is not watch the machine, watch the ball so you don't see it move.

Also, do some nets vs live bowling, I do it a few times a week purely to keep current facing people. Personally, I find a good hard machine session way above any bowler I've faced. Purely on pace, movement, accuracy and ability to set me up etc

[HallamKeeper]

Luckily this last few weeks I've found a bowler who just does 30 mins with me and it really helps. I have a coach who noticed the problem so he is trying his best to stop me being lazy and I'm making an effort to make nets sessions more realistic and taking my time between balls.

[ProCricketer1982]

make nets sessions more realistic and taking my time between balls.

This is what 99%of people don't do in nets. Play normally, properly and realistically

[KarlPennington]

I think I see the ball pretty well now, I did struggle for a while but taking my eyes off it didn't help. I said to somebody in nets last week if you bowl short but the line is outside my off-stump I feel as though I've got lots of time to play, yet you bowl the same ball, same length, same pace into my body I don't feel as though I have the same time to play the shot. he said "If you miss it outside off it goes past harmlessly, miss it in fron tof your body and you are wearing it"

I think it's confidence I'm happy to play a back foot cut shot, just not the back foot pull shot. When I first started I could score square of the wicket only, probably because I was backing away and cutting every shot I attempted, then I learned to score in the cover region, straight and now and then I play a nice on drive or through mid wicket. I've got like a 180 degree scoring zone. Maybe I'll just have to accept that I'm not going to be scoring through square leg and behind square any time soon.

Although to be honest, I find in a match situation instinct takes over - Not looking like an idiot in front off the 3 people watching becomes more important that mis-timing a pull/hook and wearing one.

I just obsess in nets over having every shot in my armour. I pre-meditaed the pull once in a match situation, it was too full I played over it and made my back to the pavillion for 1.

[HallamKeeper]

Plenty of Test batsmen have decided just to not hook.

I was similar to you when it came at my body but weirdly when I tried to pull off the front foot I found I had a lot more success. I think it is because you are being aggressive and coming at the ball so you look at it a lot more closely naturally. Getting hit on the body a few times isn't always a bad thing, you realise it stings but it isn't as bad as you expect.

[KarlPennington]

It's probably not so much getting hit but re-training that natural instinct that says get out of the way when something is coming at you. One day I will drive anything pitched up and pull anything back of a length without thinking I hope until then over-analysis, over-thinking, and under peforming is the order of the day

[HallamKeeper]

I find buying as much kit as possible helps too 

[KarlPennington]

Ha. I'm dangerously close to being the 'All the gear' no idea man. If I had a run for every pound I'd spent on kit I'd be doing Ok.

[northernboy1987]

"All the gear and no idea"? You'll fit in great here then