The challenge with any wicket-keeping drill is to make it relevant, functional and challenging.

Last week, we were doing a standing back drill using the Katchet board. I was throwing the ball onto the board as hard as I could to challenge the two keepers. The keepers are both County Age Group players and in one of the cases, an England International.

It soon became apparent that both were not being challenge sufficiently by the drill and that my shoulder was getting warmer and warmer. We needed to solve a problem.

That solution was the Sidearm. Since a recent Sam Lavery article on coaching kit, I have noticed more players have purchased Sidearms. It's great to see sessions where players are practising batting in pairs against the sidearm. It’s a brilliant piece of kit.

I decided to ease my shoulder by attempting to throw the ball onto the Katchet using a Sidearm. The results were awesome.

Here's my view,

• The ball came out with flames on it, a complete contrast to my medium “dobbers” of the previous round.
• I could deliver the ball with good technique rather than forcing it onto the Katchet board. It didn’t hurt anymore.
• When I missed the board the ball still carried to the keepers. This slower ball was often dying on the way to them and this meant that the keeper needed to adjust to the different pace and trajectory. When I failed with my intended delivery I was still able to challenge the keepers
• I was having huge amounts of fun! I think this may come across in the video?

The player's view,

• Both the keepers that were in the session were instantly challenged by the increased pace through the air and the speed of deflection from the Katchet board.
• They both reported that the ball came through a bigger variety of heights which meant that they had to make decisions about their catching technique and their movement to the incoming ball.
• The motion of me throwing onto the board with a little run up allowed them to get into their “Z” or ready position with the same timings as they would in a game with real bowlers.
• It became fun and simulated standing so far back that they pictured themselves in a Test Match environment keeping to their nation’s quickest bowler.
• They became competitive with each other yet also hugely supportive of each other. Both keepers realised that the task difficulty of taking balls deflecting quickly at pace was significant.

The outcomes were,

• Both players took catches that would be repeated again and again on TV if they happened in a game.
• One of them now uses this drill as part of his pre-game preparation. Only for 12 balls, yet he reports that he has moved better and quicker in the matches in the last week.
• They both want to do the drill next week in out keeping session
• It has given me a new “delivery skills” focus. And you know how passionate I am about delivery skills.
• It’s inspired my fellow coaches within the programme to become good at hitting the board from close range. Competition in the office is rife!

Combine your kit to challenge any keeper or any ability. And have a lot of fun in the process.