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[mo_town]

I played my first firendly of the season last weekend. Scored 41 but struggled to keep the ball on the ground. There were too many shots played in the air. I am a naturally aggresive batsman so blocking is not something that's part of my game. I was lucky to survive a few times (a few were not timed well enough and one was a drop at long on). It wasnt all bad as I got some good boundaries along the ground and a cleanly hit six down the ground. Can someone please guide me on how I can work on keeping the ball on the ground without changing my style of playing.

[ProCricketer1982]

play it later... chances are you are simply playing on the up

[Akewstick]

What I did was - focus on playing the ball under my eyes. It helps to realise that this is actually the best way of timing the shot and getting the most power into the ball as well, you're gaining power rather than losing it by making sure you connect at the bottom of that swing, even if you need to not swing the bat as hard in order to do it.

[InternalTraining]

^ I agree with this.

Another way to apply this technique is to get your weight forward by moving your head first and getting close to the ball. Kevin Pietersen says that you want to kiss the ball. Move your head first and close to the ball, rest ( your body, feet) will follow.

[mo_town]

Thanks for the advice!! It was much better in the second practice game. It was a tougher challenge keeping the ball on the ground this time around as I faced a lot of spin (of the loopy kind ).. I focused on getting my weight forward and playing the ball under my eyes and that helped. I was in mich better control of my drives.

[amritpremi]

Other than that I would like to ask are you using a very curved bat? I was playing recently with my SS Gladiator which is a bit more curved than usual. The first shot I played in a game with was a soft cover drive which I usually play down the ground and usually ends up with cover fielder but this time it just flew well over the covers fielder yielding a 4, unbelievable for me but others thought a great shot. For a moment I was worried I would be caught but was relieved to see the ball flying over the fielders head. I believe the reason it went aerial was due to bat's curve, my other bats would have just kept the ball down on the ground. Now I am in a bit more control of the bat than I was when I used it initially.

[kavidosaja]

Lean forward keep your head straight and lean into the ball

[LDifa]

Kallis has a master class on sky sports, where he his hitting tennis balls late so they bounced up near his body!

[brokenbat]

Kallis has a master class on sky sports, where he his hitting tennis balls late so they bounced up near his body!

do you happen to have a link?

[LDifa]

http://www1.skysports.com/news/12040/9766638/

[brokenbat]

Try this drill... have someone throw underarm to you.. WITHOUT MOVING YOUR FEET (but still keeping head forward, and top hand dominant), try hitting the ball hard into the ground. you will see that you have no choice but to let the ball come under your eyes before you whack it.

key is to keep head forward, eyes level, and maintain good shape so you don't pick up any bad habits.

[kal_m]

Loosen up the bottom hand, you drive with your top hand and as others suggested play it a tad late