aquiring & performing movement skills batting

Execution Phase Footwork &Hitting the ball

Footwork is the key to scoring runs (which of course is the objective); it takes you and your bat to the right position to play every ball. Back and across movement - the shuffle on the right foot – is generally executed when facing fast bowlers, otherwise one can anticipate the line and length.

1. Take a stride forward and sideways to get in line with the path of the delivery. The head leads the shot, if the head is in the right position the body will follow
2. At the point of impact when ball meets bat, the head should be over the ball and balanced.
3. The bat should be next to the pad with no gap between.
   4. The back foot should be parallel to the crease.
   5. The front elbow should point in the direction that the ball will follow and be high.
   6. The hips should not be square to the bowler, but rather aligned with the direction from which the ball has been delivered.
   7. The front foot must point in the direction from which the ball has come and most of the weight should be on the front foot.
   8. The front knee should be slightly bent
   9.The grip on the bat should be relaxed on the bat.

Recovery phase

Some batsmen like to hold the position for a couple of seconds, or twisting the straight bat 180◦ showing the makers name to the bowler as an act of no fear.

Progressive Practices

Beginner

A beginner who is entering the game should practice the drill without a bat continuously repeating the movements and shot watching him/her in a mirror or one’s shadow. They could use a bat to practice the hand movements, but won’t use a ball.

Intermediate

An intermediate now has the ability of knowing the drill, and can put it into practice with a bat. An ideal way of doing this is with coaching mats and flexible tees, which vary at different heights for different shots. These coaching mats remove the four variables that hamper development: Lack of time to play the shot, having to deal with a moving ball, finding a true surface to bat on and finding someone to play with. It replaces these by placing the ball in the perfect position to hit every shot. The mats are artificial grass which is portable and ideal for training anywhere any time. It has holes drilled in to represent the line of the incoming delivery. Flexible tubes at different heights are placed in the holes to emulate bounce. Velcro footprints are placed on the mat so the person understands where their feet should go when playing the shot.

2nd Intermediate

The player has now become familiar with general batting movements and techniques. It is now time to get into the nets and practice. The player needs to begin to realise match conditions while practicing. The kit needs to be worn, i.e. helmet, gloves, pads and even whites, if they are to get used to match play conditions, a real cricket ball is now also required.

Throw-downs by a coach or someone else are great places to start. These are deliveries which are just thrown down at the pitch in certain areas to get you used to the ball speed and weight of the bat. These are not fast deliveries but at an easy pace to get in the flow. A bowling machine can now be used which can be set at speeds for your ability of batting, it can vary the line, length, bounce and speed. This is a good training apparatus as it improves reaction speed which is paramount when facing fast bowling.

Advanced

An advanced player can now face a bowler at a slow speed then gradually increase speed to perfect the forward defence. Once perfected the player needs to continue practicing the forward defence regularly so it becomes fixated in the long-term memory and thus comes naturally in a game situation.