Thanks for the replies I'll watch the KP video and see if there are any lessons he can adopt. If I glue him to the chair he might sit and watch it with me!
ppccopener I might not have explained things very clearly. His shot selection was fine- anything getting close to off was defended or played with a straight bat. It was when he got a bit of width to "flash" at he was mis timing it. In the nets he is pretty reliable, and it looked to me that he was playing a bit early at them- which I put down to over eagerness/nerves. That said, I'm a non cricketer so it might be a technical issue I am unequipped to deal with.
My contribution to his development now seems to be throwing balls at him as hard as I can for an hour, and buying him kit
I love it!
No problem...so with the balls being left outside off it can help groove timing and the key which I possibly did not mention is watching the ball right onto the bat.
There are some players who turn their head almost as the ball passes, this is really useful for judging the ball.
As others have mentioned it's slower outside than nets normally so the ball does not come off at the same pace. The key is play it late and let it come onto the bat, watching and letting go balls outside off helps groove watching the ball. It also helps locate the off stump which is key if he wants to bat higher up the order when he is older.
As with all advice you have to try things and work out what he is comfortable with, something will click he can use in a game.
I have done a ECB coaching course as many others on here will have done but I'm mainly self taught, the basics of batting don't change much....it's a small practice routine to try or another option to look at.
At his age enjoyment is the most important part of the game, you can make a few suggestions, try them and one will work and he will absorb that into his game.
It's a technical game but none of us should be too heavy on technique, if your throwing balls down at him that is the most important thing, hitting lots of balls at his age really is key