Follow through
After hitting the ball you must follow through with the bat. This will provide extra power in the hit. You should then be standing facing the way that you hit the ball.
Dropping the bat
After you have hit the ball you must not drop the bat. You must run to each base holding the bat. If you drop the bat in a real game of rounders you will automatically be out.
Bowling
In a game of rounders one player from the fielding team will bowl the ball to each player that is in bat from the batting team. There are various techniques that can be used and need to be used. These are the following techniques:
How to be thrown
When bowling the ball it should be thrown with a smooth underarm action.
Accuracy
To be a good bowler you must have good accuracy and aim. You must aim the ball between the knee and the shoulder of the batter. You must also have good wrist action to be able to put spin on the ball and also deliver the ball successfully.
Speed
When bowling the ball it can be bowled at any speed as long as it is bowled underarm. A speedier bowl is harder for the batter to react to and hit.
Spin
A very good bowler will put spin on the ball to try and make the batter miss the ball. This is a very good technique but is very hard to master the spin when you have to have good accuracy with it.
Variation
A lot of bowlers will try different variations of bowling. They may bowl first bowl it low but above the knee, then bowl it high but again below shoulder height and also bowl it slow or fast. This could benefit you because you may be able to find out whether the batter is good at these types of bowls and use them against him/her.
Consistency
To be a good bowler you should have good, consistent bowling, being able to get all the balls between the knee and shoulder of the batter. You should also be able to bowl a ball for a right or left handed batter.
No ball
A ball is classed as a no ball in rounders if it is:
- Not a smooth underarm action.
- Above head or below knee.
- The ball bounces on way to you.
- Wide or straight at body.
- The bowler's foot is outside the square during the bowling action.
- You can take a normal run on a no ball, but once you reach 1st Post you cannot return. You score in the normal way.
If a bowler bowls two consistent no balls it will be an automatic half rounder to the opposing team.
Fielding
This is an essential part of rounders and having a strong fielding team can bring great advantages to the team. Fielding is when the team who are not batting are out in the field and their objective is to prevent the opposing team from scoring any rounders. To do this they need to have good spatial awareness, be efficient and work well as a team. They need to be able to retrieve the ball effectively and stump the necessary posts or pass the ball back to the bowler. Fielding requires and involves the following:
Concentration
When fielding you should have good concentration. You must not take your eye off the ball for a second otherwise it could result in the opposition getting runs or even injury.
Tactical awareness
When fielding you should you be tactically aware. You should look at the bowler. Is he/she left or right handed and is he/she known for having a good hit. You should also be alert of what is going on. For example if a player is running round about to make a whole run then you would want to throw the ball to last base to try and get him out.
Hand eye co-ordination
To be a good fielder you should have good hand eye co-ordination which in this case enables the eyes and hands to work together to produce a desired movement- catching the ball.
Catching
When the ball is struck in the air and you go to catch it there are really two types of catches they are the English method that is fingers pointing into the sky, hands out in front of chest and once caught brought into the chest. There is also the Australian method, which is hands out just in front of face and once caught brought into chest.
Long barrier
When the ball is struck by the batter and is rolling along the floor fielders will use the long barrier method. This is going down on one knee so that your leg is in the path of the ball. You then put your hands out to pick up the ball. An advantage of this is that if you miss the ball with your hands then it will just hit your leg.
Accuracy
To be a good fielder you must have an accurate throw so that when you get the ball and see where it must go it must be an accurate throw so that it goes to that place.
Reactions
Most good fielders will have good reactions which is the speed that you react to a given stimuli which when fielding will be catching or stopping the ball.
Communication
When fielding you should communicate with your other fielders so that you don’t for instance go up for the same ball and mess up.
Back up
When fielding you should back up your other fielders so if someone goes to catch or stop the ball you should be behind them ready to get it if they miss it.
Backstop
In rounders a player from the fielding team will be standing behind the player that is in bat. Their job is many things such as if it skims off the bat of the batter and they catch it that player will be out. If the batter misses the ball and there is a player from the opposition running, they can throw it to the player at that base and that player will be out. Also if the batter misses the ball twice then they can throw it to first base and that player will be out. Techniques that backstop requires are as follows:
Hand eye co-ordination
To be a good backstop you need to have good hand eye co-ordination which in this case enables the eyes and hands to work together to produce a desired movement which would be catching the ball.
Reactions
A good backstop will need quick reactions, which is the speed in which we react to a given stimuli, which in backstop is catching the ball.
Throw
A backstop will need a good throw so that the ball will go to the destination that is needed to get someone out. It will also need to be an accurate throw.
Decision making
A backstop will need to make good decisions in order to get a player out. For example they could have the decision either to throw the ball to first or forth base. They will need to make the appropriate choice.
Tactical awareness
A backstop will need to be tactically aware. They will need to look around the field at who’s on which base so if the batter does miss the ball the backstop can throw the ball to the right base.
Position
The backstop should be in a down low position so that when the ball is missed and is down low the backstop will be in a position to quickly catch it and throw it to where it should go.
Catching
Catching is probably the most important thing to be able to do when in backstop. You should be down low with your hands in a cup shape in front of your chest.
