Print

[bk]

Seve Ballesteros used to say that he only ever had one swing thought at a time and it almost always related to the beginning of the swing e.g. club back low and slow, head still with chin up off chest, left shoulder fully rotated under chin etc. He reckoned if he started properly the rest would look after itself. the only change to this (that I can still remember) related to bunker shots and taking the right amount of sand.


Anyway, my point is that if you can get the trigger right the rest should follow. The trigger may be your pick-up; it may be your initial foot movement; it can even be getting your head going towards the ball. i still think the key is not to over analyse. Practise real-match scenarios so that they become second nature and find a ay to kick off that skill/behaviour. Once you've got that you'll have a base to go back to when things aren't going well.

[ppccopener]

I didn't fully understand the premise of this question when I read it last week, but I'm going through a slump in form at the moment and coming off the field yesterday this thread popped into my head.

For me, I knew what the problem was, and I knew what the solution was, I just couldn't put it into practice, so the approach definitely had to be: battle it out. My problem was what @bk was saying about trying to take in more than one thought. It's a dilemma that you can't think "play with a straight bat" and "move your foot to the pitch of the ball" and "connect under your eyes" all at the same time, however, you do need to do all those things, one or two is not enough. Easy as it is to tell someone "clear your mind and watch the ball, the rest will fall into place", it's not so simple when you know in fact there are three technical things that, if you do them, would work. It's hard not to have them in your mind.

I do know though, that clearing my mind and watching the ball like a hawk is what's going to get me through it, and it's time at the crease that allows me to remember what that feels like. I haven't scored more than 2 runs till yesterday, and I got 9, but that 9 took me 5/6 overs, I remembered what it felt like to see the ball all the way onto the bat, with a clear mind, I got my front foot across to a full half volley, I rocked onto the back foot to defend a short one, I left well outside my off stump, and I believe again. It wasn't a successful innings but I felt closer to getting in that zone where I trust my ability, and my season can finally actually start.

im glad you have written this post. If batting was easy, everyone would be scoring runs all day long, it just doesn't happen for most of us at club level.
I've scored lots of runs in the past, last season in league cricket I averaged 11 and fell further down the order and eventually out of my team and into the thirds, so all the runs ive scored in the past counted for nothing-and that's EXACTLY as I want it to be....

I netted at Dummer and Eversley with some top blokes from the forum-this helped work on technical parts of batting which creep into our game and everyone has them..Some technical advise can help, some small changes can help but essentially when you are batting in a match it's more in the mind than anything..

If you read thru some of the advice posted i'm really pleased having originally posted the question people on here know about batting, and can offer knowledgeable advice-and have done so.

the 55 I scored on Saturday was my highest score in League cricket for a season, it's not a hundred is it? so plenty of work to do nothing is 'cracked' yet..

Sighting the ball from the bowlers hand, a strong mind and determination will get you thru when you are batting.

weight into the ball, a straight bat, and watching it like a hawk WILL work in the long run-over the season.

You have got to clear the mind...yes it's easier said than done, but it's key.

Good luck and let's keep this thread going, at some point we will struggle-as was pointed out on a previous post-if we were that good we would do it for a living..we don't.
 

[TGB1997]

I experienced towards the end of last season a drop in batting form, I started the season with 51, 39, 39, 40* and then after that I struggled to get runs for some reason. I think it may have been that I moved up teams within the club and not getting as much batting time as I would like as my primary role is bowling but when in the lower teams I batted near the top of the order. On Sundays I played against some good teams but I think due to having a good time on Saturdays I felt more confident. Towards the end of the season I managed to scratch a 30 but it wasn't a convincing knock. It took me 4 games to finally get out in the middle and have a bat. I felt much happier than the end of last season and got 8* from 15 in a supportive role to our number 7 who got 59*, my job was mainly to stay in and get him back on strike which worked as we managed to get 280-8 from our 50 overs. I just tried to be as simple as possible with my technique just trying to get my head over my front pad and keep my head still. My advice would be to just have positive intuitions and try to be solid with your shots as by feeling like your are hitting the ball well then you will feel happier and more confident to play your shots.

[Boondougal]

I too came off the field on Sat and thought of this thread. I've had 2 innings this season and scored 10 and 18 respectively. Admittedly i'm not a tip it and run batter, on Sat i hit 4 fours and a 2 but it was against medium pace, the ball was sitting up and i was just able to rock onto my back foot and pull/hook the ball. It felt great to connect.

The downside of course was that when the change of pace came i didn't adjust my game and start again, i chased a wide one and buy the time my mind was saying let it go the bat was already swinging. I was reaching a rediculus amount for it and guess what... i edged it into slip... it was good catch.. but it was the lack of crease time that did me here.... yes it was great to hit the bad ball and just allow myself to do it instinctively but the lack of crease time meant i didn't have the discipline to play the right shot at the right time.

I obviously understand technique and good execution is important but after playing since i was 13 (all be it with long gaps in-between) i know what my strength are and i know what shots i can play and usually play well. On Sat i got out to a shot i should never have played... thats got nothing to do with technique and all about knowing my limits.

So i come back to the fact that form will come if you play your own game and have the mental discipline to be instinctive enough when its there to hit (given your own style) and disciplined enough to leave it alone when your being tempted into playing someone else game.

[bk]

I talked to a few pros through the winter about how they approached T20 batting. They all said that they never minded getting out as long as they were playing to their plans. And all their plans involved hitting the ball as hard as they could (unless bunting a "2" or dropping a single). This echoes what KP said in the winter. Just train as hard as you can for the match situation, then go and play with freedom and don't worry about the results. Waht will be, will be.
Easier said than done but it seems relaxation after solid preparation is the key for them.

[ProCricketer1982]

Listening to the pros is fine but they are employed to take risks and won't lose betting slots generally if they fail for a couple of games. Amateurs, if go out there and your role is to just smash it and you fail 3 times your lower and lower and out the team.. Aka.. No incentive to play that role, so people start to fear (assuming they are at the right level and oops can actually get a decent team out etc) getting out as they'll be judged and dropped.

From my own PoV, that's exactly what I think. I could attack more when batting but why risk it? A few unlucky shots/ balls and you lose the opening slot.. Sod that when i pay my money and time today play etc

[bk]

The point about the pro approach is that they train for match conditions, simulating the toughest bowling, batting, fielding etc. I know they have more time and bigger support groups but this has to be the best approach. It's the old "train hard, play easy" mantra. Now, it does require a leap of faith and a bit of effort to do this but it should deliver the best results. I'm not suggesting that we all go range hitting all the time but we can practise e.g manipulating the ball into gaps for a run a ball, practicing touch shots to create "2"s where there are boundary riders, using your feet to make the ball into one you can score off. All of these are low risk and will allow you to get your form back before you launch the big shots.


Best place to be when you're out of nick is the non-striker's end. Let your mate have a go whilst you regather your thoughts and start again!

[ProCricketer1982]

The pro game and amateur game are completely different. They try and recreate pro rules with circles etc but tbh, from what I can tell it makes no real differemce to games.

Meh, don't disagree about train hard as that's what I do but given that 99% of saturday warriors do one club net s week (which realistically is a social slap and biff session) it's more about just playing however is natural to yourself. Rarely see any amateurs using their feet, 1's into 2's amd all the Jazz you're taking about, simply put, the majority aren't capable hence biffers just hitting

[ppccopener]

Hi all

wondering now we near the end of season if any of the advice posted by forum members helped anyone with their batting?

couple of things I took from the excellent advice on here and a couple of things I worked out myself are:

got back to really watching the ball every innings, as in don't take it for granted you are think you are watching it.
play as straight as possible early on
middle stump guard(instead of leg)-this helped know a bit more where my off stump was, so the ball can be let go outside off at the start.
more aggressive hard hit shots, so defence or attack not caught 'in between' - half half.

change of attitude to batting, this year when I walked out to the wicket it was ''what can I do to help the team do well' that varied from a bit of rebuilding if we were in trouble or scoring quickly if we needed it.

so I put(of tried to) out of my mind my own personal score.

seemed to work most of the time as it was a successful season

but did anyone else read the posts here and take something from it to improve?
 

[Wickets-then-runs]

I'm the sort of batter that likes to dominate but when going through a lean patch ax we all do, i just concentrate on watching every ball, keeping out the good balls and turning over the strike. Keep it simple: if its short, look to score. If its full, keep it out...
When you get your confidence back, the quicker runs come...

[OllieWalker39]

I train hard - very hard. But not going lets bang it on 90mph on the machine and hop about. There's little point.

Me and a mate go down and just do drills, simple throws and just getting that muscle memory in there. He's finally convinced me to hit the gym, hence my post on training and fitness recently - and I feel this will allow my game to keep on growing. Having muscle memory will give you that extra tenth or two that you need to look comfortable against some classy bowling, as opposed to being a bit hit and miss.

As regards to match play - now I try to pepper mid-on and mid-off early on. That way I know my bat is coming through true, and I'm playing the ball. Obviously, only if the ball is there to do so. I'll avoid the cut and pull early on - for me cross-bat shots have a habit of getting me caught early on. Even the league's worst bowler is capable of bowling a jaffa, so watch that ball!

[edge]

muscle memory will give you that extra tenth or two

Maybe it would, if it was a thing that existed! Pet hate of mine sorry, but your muscles do not have 'memory', they are controlled by your brain - which is what you're trying to condition by doing technical drills, not your muscles.

[GoodLeave]

Maybe it would, if it was a thing that existed! Pet hate of mine sorry, but your muscles do not have 'memory', they are controlled by your brain - which is what you're trying to condition by doing technical drills, not your muscles.

Valid point. But "Memory memory" doesn't sound quite the same.

[tom line]

Maybe it would, if it was a thing that existed! Pet hate of mine sorry, but your muscles do not have 'memory', they are controlled by your brain - which is what you're trying to condition by doing technical drills, not your muscles.

But if you train the brain enough you can create reflex arcs so you just do the act without even thinking about it as you bypass the thought process

[GoodLeave]

Is there a Doctor in the house?