Psychology | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

What’s your cricket ambition for 2008?

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One of the big aims of this site is to help club cricketers reach their goals. So today I want to know what those goals are.

Whether you are hoping to make it as a pro through to breaking into the club third XI I want to hear what you have.

Last year my own aim was to have my best season ever. I was stronger, faster, more prepared and as a result I had a better season despite the terrible weather here. Initially in 2008 I just want to be as ready for the season as I have ever been through my fitness and nutrition. Maybe you have a similar aim. Maybe you just want to improve technique.

Jeremy Snape's little known ways to improve your cricket thinking

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Want some top tips from a professional cricketer and sport psychology guru?

This week England and Leicestershire player Jeremy Snape celebrated the launch of his new member's area at Sporting Edge by talking cricket thinking and the World Twenty20 with me.

What was your experience at the World Twenty20 like and what did you learn?

How to succeed on the field when you don't have enough talent

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It's possible you may not need as much talent as you thought to become a success on the cricket pitch:

Readers Tips: How to stay in form

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Ever wondered how all that high and mighty sport psychology actually works on the pitch? Tom from SimplyCricket gives his own personal experience of working on his concentration to improve his batting form.

form.jpgIt was during another (reasonably long for me) stint at the crease that I began to wonder what was behind my purple patch with the bat. Sure, I had shown glimpses of being able to grind out innings in the past but as most people will tell you, I'm in the team to bowl; any runs scored are considered a bonus.

The PitchVision Guide to Inspirational Quotes

Ok, we cant take credit for it, but we found this on YouTube. It's definately worth reading......and taking in!  

Planning an Innings

Firstly, let me say there are many ways of planning an innings! This is just one. You have to adopt a planning process that works for you – that is, one that is successful and you can easily replicate every week. It should be a way of approaching each innings and one that you feel comfortable implementing.

What Jonny Wilkinson, Dougie Brown and your cricket team have in common

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Warwickshire cricketer and part time BBC cricket commentator Dougie Brown's insights into the minds of top players can often be very perceptive. During a recent commentary he came up with a gem.

“The player's minds will be ice; their bodies will be on fire.”

It was almost word for word the same as the pitchside report from England during the Rugby World Cup Final, an approach personified by the physical excellence and metronomic boot of Jonny Wilkinson.

Does your club make this mistake when you train?

A couple of seasons ago the cricket club I play for were in trouble in the league.

With one game to go the first team needed a win to avoid a fate worse than an England Twenty20 performance: Relegation to the depths of the third division.

We were confident victory could be ours. Home advantage and a weak opposition gave us the upper hand. The first team all turned up for extra training on Thursday. The captain demanded the selected team arrived at 11:30 the morning of the match (start time is 2pm) for practice and warm ups.

Cricket confidence can feel like a bank account

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"Confidence can feel like a bank account sometimes and after making some solid investments today, I know that the skills will be there when a withdrawal is made under the pressure of a big match."

Jeremy Snape

I love this analogy for building confidence on the cricket pitch.

Do you make these mistakes as captain?

Who was the best captain you ever played under? Hopefully you learned a lot from them. If you didn't you might still be making these mistakes:

  1. Ignoring advice. Advice is a funny thing. There is always plenty around when the team is doing well, but when you are getting soundly thrashed the captain is on his own. Despite this a good captain always takes on as much advice as he can (even if he has to seek it out). Everyone has an opinion and often it's different from your own so consider everything.