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[petehosk]

Hi all - a number of people have asked about Gary's coaching and I know a number have shown interest in Gary's tips (link below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4jSxExtPkM

So I decided to share a 4 hour coaching session with @roco - Aaron was moaning about having blisters on his delicate hands last time so he decided he needed to share the time to keep his hands soft and supple, bless him 
We actually took 1 or 2 buckets each and swapped which seemed like the best option to last the full session.

I was always told that side-on is the proper way to bat - but Gary coaches a more open setup which felt a bit strange to start with but seemed to work quite well. He started me with both feet pointing towards the bowler and in the striking position. Other little tips were to lift my back foot to ensure that I get my head forward and walking through to ensure I follow the correct line.

The reason I felt I needed this coaching is because I felt I had got into bad habits over the last couple of years! In previous seasons I had happily hit quite a few 50s and the odd bigger score! My last big score was hit 3 years ago (batting 3 and hit 97*) and still remember how balanced and smooth it felt - and how solid I was in my stance....my feet were in line and bat was coming down smoothly in a perfect line. Roll forward to last season and one decent T20 score but no score higher than 40 apart from that! And my back foot started moving to leg side as I strike the ball so balance was obviously not great.
So I started recording some net sessions and more and more seemed to be going wrong. Too much bottom hand, bat not coming down straight, playing across the line, walking forward when plating shots, unbalanced and cr@p timing. Long list so felt I needed to work on it!

So session with Gary was good fun - he had the bowling machine on 60-65mph I believe? ( @roco may be able to confirm) He also had it swinging maximum - possibly on 4 swing setting? So forced to play late and under your eyes.
Anyway - I have edited the sessions so that it is not too boring. I will post the links as I download them and they are there to get an understanding of how the session is worked. Feel free to criticise all you want - there is plenty wrong with my batting but it is more about slowly improving. My intention is to book a couple more sessions with Gary before next season and to continually groove the new techniques. Above all I want to try to keep it simple and natural!
So please be gentle with me chaps.....

[petehosk]

My first session with Gary - bola machine on full swing and I realise now that I need to get by back foot round even more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQn1Uo8H08w

[petehosk]

And next one loaded:

https://youtu.be/LWTGBI091dE

[petehosk]

Now some spin bowling coaching. It is only when checking footage after that I can see how I was not opening up enough.
This first spin session was the hardest as it was a totally foreign concept.
50 seconds into this you get to see GP show me the method. Also the bowling is set to spin but on a length which is very awkward!

https://youtu.be/lrC9H0VDtRg

[petehosk]

I really need to get in a better position:

https://youtu.be/0GXsOGSvnRs

[petehosk]

Is the start position in those video for front foot drills or for everything?

If you are talking about the position when both feet are pointing towards the bowler, that is more about hitting the ball from a good position.

[petehosk]

Last one. This one has Roco in as well (sorry @roco as didn't edit you out)

https://youtu.be/JEqdKv-uR70

[skip1973]

Not criticizing here but your hands seem a fair way apart on the handle, have you tried altering this for a bit more control?

[Northern monkey]

Don't beat yourself up too much about your batting Pete.
I've seen you bat, and unfortunately I've had to bat on the same crap wickets as you this year, and that to me is half the battle.
Not so much technique, etc, it's just the wickets have been incredibly slow, very very green, and the teams we play use dodgy cheap balls.
Not really ideal in the hunt for runs,(not many in the club ended up with a double figure average this year)

But interesting to watch, and definitely nice to see you enjoying batting
Hopefully the wickets are better to bat on next year and your confidence can be put to use

[ppccopener]

Very interesting to see on tape Pete, striking on the ball off the front foot seemed very good indeed

[roco]

The session is less about teaching you the range of shots and more about getting in a good position to play any shot

Cheers Pete for putting in me at the start of learning

It's mostly front foot drive but from 4 angles and swing settings so never up and down

I was using this to try to play over top as I'm comfortable coming down to spin and playing a long ground but want that release shot over top

Was fun mr Hosk as always

[petehosk]

Not criticizing here but your hands seem a fair way apart on the handle, have you tried altering this for a bit more control?

I only started playing cricket at 40 years old so I welcome any tips which I can work on to improve my game!!
In the past I have tended to grip the bottom hand a little too firmly and played too much with it. Therefore I was making an effort to keep it very loose and open to try and ensure the top hand was being used more. That may have had something to do with it but I will check next time I net - thanks for the tip.
Happy to look at anything to improve......I am sure there are a few other things I need to improve. But Gary probably wanted to take the more major things first as there was a lot he could have worked on 

[roco]

I was more wondering if the forward press (with head more than foot position in most of the videos) was something he coached or something you naturally find helpful? How did these coaching sessions set you up for the short ball for example as I imagine that set up leaves you venerable to rib ticklers? I'm planning to toy with a lot of different things over the winter so it is good to see all these videos with something different

I have found im on the short ball quicker with this set up

Can't say for 100% as I play the short ball very well anyway but I seem to be able to get on top of it more from this set up and has helped me develop a cut shot which I didn't have before

[petehosk]

I have found im on the short ball quicker with this set up

Can't say for 100% as I play the short ball very well anyway but I seem to be able to get on top of it more from this set up and has helped me develop a cut shot which I didn't have before

@DorsetDan I think the idea was to work on the basic setup and playing shots from a decent position.
I play defensively well off the back foot anyway, whereas Roco is a more attacking player than me so plays short ball well and more attackingly than I do.
Funnily enough I used to bat mainly with a horizontal bat when I started playing so cut shot was fine. It was a the rest of the shots I struggled with 

At my age I was hoping to play 2nd XI where you have enough time to play several shots by the time the ball gets to you! So not an issue!

[potzy248]

Hard to know if some of the things I'm going to mention are what you were trying to achieve.
You have a lot of momentum into the ball, which is all good if you are striking it well but could cause problems if the ball is turning or seaming and swinging away. It also makes it harder to push back off the front foot for backfoot shots.
You also look very rigid when playing your drives and you don't cock your wrists much or break them through the shot (Sort of looks like a more aggressive defensive push than a off drive) which will mean you won't get as much power as you could. You don't have to break the wrists at the end of the shot but you look on the conservative side of not breaking them.
When using your feet you still want to follow the basic rules of still head and playing the ball under your eyes. When playing spin it seemed like you were playing away from your body a lot.
Good transition though through the videos which is what you want to see from a good coach.