Topic: Coaching younger players (Read 12086 times)

SOULMAN1012 · « **on:** June 22, 2021, 05:05:59 PM »

So just wanted to get the views of any coaches out there on a view I�m starting to formulate on how young players are coming into senior cricket.

Iv seen on multiple occasions this year young players about 14-16 who are mainly batters come in and there techniques seem totally drilled to facing bowling machine in half volleys and nothing else. They chew up lots of delivers and seem to play nothing else but a drive or forward defence and that�s about it.

Prime example if the last two Iv seen turn up in there full county age group kit and can�t hit a ball off the square. We play against some of the big prem and div 1 clubs in our league and they all have young players in there 2nd teams but they seem so annoyed with themselves when they get 10-15 off say 10 overs or get out playing an expansive shot because they seem incapable of rotating the strike or doing anything to put the bowler off a length.

So what�s happening with coaching, is it to much bowling machine driven coaching and so wrapped up in technique as opposed to actual game situation??

Buzz · « **Reply #1 on:** June 22, 2021, 05:46:06 PM »

You are going to need to break down their technique and approach to get the to reset where their scoring areas are.
Away from a bowling machine.

I start with under arming balls at the players chest and get them to pull them. Working hard on their ball striking is a good start.

Then feed them balls in more realistic league areas, short of a length and get them to work out what their scoring areas are going to be.

Then it is a case of what are the strike rotation options.
It doesn't take that long.

Finally there is the mental aspect, what are they trying to do are they working out what the bowlers are trying to do.

When batting it is key you don't get two youngsters batting together if you can help it. You need a senior pro to talk them through it.

It is depressing how few half vollies outside the off stump I get when I play. 😂

AJ2014 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 22, 2021, 06:45:17 PM »

I had the honour to bowl to an eleven years old. And I bowled like 45 minutes to him. Off side shot he played, were just wonderful! Very relaxed and fluent.
Is weak on the leg but within that time he showed improvement.
It's the talent and the will that account! He's been coached from the start, that's a big advantage! And I'm very sure he'll make one hell of a batter! If he keeps his motivation and hard work.
He said he's a bowler too, wants to be a good all rounder. I asked him to bowl, and he turns out to be good bowler, his first delivery after that long batting just spot on! Asked about his fielding, he said, that's not that good.

AJ2014 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 22, 2021, 06:53:24 PM »

I asked his dad what number he bats, he said, at 4. Reason being he wants to bowl as well. Then I try tried to convince him to let his son bat as an opener one week and lower next. Before we left, he said, actually I will bat him as an opener and see how that goes.

JTtaylor145 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 23, 2021, 07:45:01 AM »

I think this is where the sidearm tool comes into it's own. Bowling machines are great at drilling a specific shot or area but the sidearm provides a bit more variety.

It has been a while since I've been involved in coaching but I think it's important to go beyond technique and look at mentoring as well. By this I mean sitting down with players at the end of the game/coaching session and going through what worked well and what could be improved on. You have to be realistic with the people you are coaching, they might see ABD hit one out of ground and think "I can do that" but it's how you tell them that they most probably can't but this is what they can do instead (placement/running between the wickets).

Any practice that you do has to have a purpose even if it is a case of today we are working on playing the ball late and running singles against a bowler who is limiting the scoring. I see far too much practice for the sake of hitting a bowling machine ball.

Technique is important but a holistic approach to coaching that looks at the development of the player/person is how I would prefer to be coached. Any player needs a mentor or someone they can talk to about the game. The hard part is finding good mentors with the players/club at heart.

Wozaboxa · « **Reply #5 on:** June 23, 2021, 08:56:47 AM »

One thing I like to do is match situation training, if I have use of an old Strip i'll get the batsmen in and just under arm him some balls to start, place cones where a normal type field would be set and get them to try and hit the gaps, then I'll get one of the younger lads to bowl at him with the instruction as if it was a match and you were defending 15 off the last over, this helps both bat to think about the shots he's playing and work it around and bowler to think about how to bowl in pressure situations.

I'll then bring in another bowler etc... I don't believe facing a different bowler every ball as you do in nets is realistic but it's a necessary evil when club netting. But when I can I try and get 6 balls off the same bowler.

NT50 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 23, 2021, 09:47:50 AM »

I�m not sure about anyone else�s club, but I find the most frustrating thing regarding youngsters is fielding.
We have a couple of lads who play county age group and their fielding is (No Swearing Please) hot as they�re always on their toes, walking in etc.

But the ones who aren�t are pretty much always on stand-by mode. They don�t walk in, they don�t even focus on the batsman and seem surprised every time the ball comes near them. We have one in particular who is away with the fairies and costs us runs every week.

edge · « **Reply #7 on:** June 23, 2021, 10:10:13 AM »

Quote from: NT50 on June 23, 2021, 09:47:50 AM

I�m not sure about anyone else�s club, but I find the most frustrating thing regarding youngsters is fielding.
We have a couple of lads who play county age group and their fielding is (No Swearing Please) hot as they�re always on their toes, walking in etc.

But the ones who aren�t are pretty much always on stand-by mode. They don�t walk in, they don�t even focus on the batsman and seem surprised every time the ball comes near them. We have one in particular who is away with the fairies and costs us runs every week.

Ha plenty at my club do this and they don't even have the excuse of being young!

NT50 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 23, 2021, 10:12:10 AM »

My personal favourite is the ones who walk in, then when the ball gets hit their way, they stop and wait for it to come to them. Defeats the entire point of walking in 🤦🏻😂

ProCricketer1982 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 23, 2021, 11:49:31 AM »

Bowling machines are great for drilling a shot but like Buzz said.. start with under arms and progress up

Most clubs just use machines in lieu of any actual coaching or training and just let people (nt just kids) Bash balls with no real aim

obviously as amateurs we won't have 'all the shots in the book' but you still try and train as many all round shots as you can. Then with the player, assess which they like playing (because lets face it.. enjoyment is the key thing!) and which they are good at, not so good at.. then work on the mental side .. aka.. look to play their strong shots, put the weaker ones away until you're on 50 etc etc.

Kids I've found have lovely looking shots but have zero ability to adapt to the game or willingness and while people will say 'they are young'.. it's kinda the mark of a good player if they adapt their game to suit the situation, the pitch.. the bowler etc.

Realistically though, most kids just want to have fun so whatever as a coach you do.. keep it fun. After all, our games really don't matter and if it isn't fun, they will walk away sooner rather than later and the game loses out

LockieEP · « **Reply #10 on:** June 23, 2021, 12:53:50 PM »

Quote from: NT50 on June 23, 2021, 09:47:50 AM

I�m not sure about anyone else�s club, but I find the most frustrating thing regarding youngsters is fielding.
We have a couple of lads who play county age group and their fielding is (No Swearing Please) hot as they�re always on their toes, walking in etc.

But the ones who aren�t are pretty much always on stand-by mode. They don�t walk in, they don�t even focus on the batsman and seem surprised every time the ball comes near them. We have one in particular who is away with the fairies and costs us runs every week.

A lot of this comes down to confidence....its hard for some of us old gits to remember the nerves of playing senior cricket for the first time and in particular the perceived pressure of league matches. the captain also needs to get the fielders in the right place. Just because they are young they are not all going to be gun fielders or prepared to throw themselves at the ball. No Nasser Hussain style cap throwing when miss fields happen - we all miss some from time to time. They also appreciate more the importance of fielding as they get more experienced.

Butterfingerz · « **Reply #11 on:** June 23, 2021, 01:15:46 PM »

Every winter I deconstruct a players batting no matter what age or ability. During the season a player will always fall into bad habits whether it is footwork, balance, bat plane etc and rebuild form the ground up. Over time we progress onto the bowling machine to repeat and grove a pattern. Session by session we slightly modify length and line before then moving to the Side arm approx. 6 weeks before the season starts, this allows much more variation into what comes down at the player.

Bowling machines have their place at any time however can be relied on too much.

Regarding fielding, ALL group session start with 20-30 minutes of fielding drills. Just yesterday I was working with our Under 11's, they're all nailing it. I outline the importance of fielding on a regular basis to all groups whether it be under 9's or 1st XI.

cobweb1510 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 23, 2021, 01:45:15 PM »

Quote from: NT50 on June 23, 2021, 09:47:50 AM

I�m not sure about anyone else�s club, but I find the most frustrating thing regarding youngsters is fielding.
We have a couple of lads who play county age group and their fielding is (No Swearing Please) hot as they�re always on their toes, walking in etc.

But the ones who aren�t are pretty much always on stand-by mode. They don�t walk in, they don�t even focus on the batsman and seem surprised every time the ball comes near them. We have one in particular who is away with the fairies and costs us runs every week.

One of my sons team didn't show up last match, so he ('keeper) had to bowl 2 overs and field one over. It was immediately apparent that he was much more "switched on" than his team mates. When I thought about it though- it made sense. He has to expect every ball to come to him as a keeper, and prepare for it every ball. The normal fielders might have been stood there for 20+ minutes without the ball coming near them. It's very hard to maintain that level of concentration and intensity- especially when you know it's going to be wasted the vast majority of the time. That said, it also isn't trained as much as it should be- with a focus on nets to improve batting and bowling.

AJ2014 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 23, 2021, 02:23:33 PM »

I was talking to the current club chairman about juniors getting into 1st and 2nd XIs. He said that in club meeting he raised this point and told them that as club we're failed in doing this! Having 1500 juniors. Reasons being they lose interest in the game, not prepared to train more frequently, they start another sport.
This is from a man who's played 30 plus years for the club, played Surrey Premier league!

Jimbo · « **Reply #14 on:** June 23, 2021, 02:31:00 PM »

You have over 1000 juniors and they're not regularly making it into your Saturday league teams? We've just got over 100 for the first time this year and last weekend we had 6 current/former junior players in the 1st team, plus more playing in the 2s and 3s. Think you've got a bit more going wrong than just kids wanting to do something else with their Saturdays...

Author Topic: Coaching younger players (Read 12086 times)

SOULMAN1012

Coaching younger players

Buzz

Re: Coaching younger players

AJ2014

Re: Coaching younger players

AJ2014

Re: Coaching younger players

JTtaylor145

Re: Coaching younger players

Wozaboxa

Re: Coaching younger players

NT50

Re: Coaching younger players

edge

Re: Coaching younger players

NT50

Re: Coaching younger players

ProCricketer1982

Re: Coaching younger players

LockieEP

Re: Coaching younger players

Butterfingerz

Re: Coaching younger players

cobweb1510

Re: Coaching younger players

AJ2014

Re: Coaching younger players

Jimbo

Re: Coaching younger players