PitchVision Academy Batting Coach, Gary Palmer, continues his series analysing English batsmen's technique. This time Ian Bell comes under the spotlight. If you want coaching from Gary, visit CCM Academy.

Many people say Ian Bell has a good basic technique but I think that poor alignment causes the Englishman problems.

When you see him from the side view it looks very good. He fully completes his straight batted shots with high hands and leading elbow whilst maintaining a good diamond shape with his forearms, like so:

However, if you look at him from the front view he is not always aligned well. His alignment is at its worst when the left arm pace bowler swings the ball back in to him on middle and leg stump line where he tends to get 'closed off' and hits around his front pad while hitting across the line slightly:

During the 3rd Ashes Test of 2009 he did this on a number of occasions to Mitchell Johnson and therefore was vulnerable to being out LBW. We saw him get away with an LBW decision but get out later after being struck in front.

If he keeps the same technique and alignment the chances are that the same thing could happen again.

Ian's performance could benefit from the following changes when playing against the left arm pace bowler:

Opening his feet and shoulders will allow his head and initial alignment to face the bowler this will minimise the amount he steps across the crease and gets closed off. With a more open set up he will be better balanced and his head can now lead towards the initial line of the ball for the maximum amount of time thus improving his overall alignment and balance:

With a better set up and head position Ian can now look to score straighter. He can also play through mid on and midwicket with the full face of the bat going through the line of the ball for as long as possible. This minimises the chances of him getting out LBW.

Keeping the back foot sideways makes it difficult to score straight down the ground; especially when you are trying to play straight and through mid on against a left arm pace bowler.

It's preferable to have both front and back foot pointing up the wicket when playing the shot. This will contribute to Ian being well balanced and aligned with the ability to place the ball with minimum risk to his target areas.You can see that position here.

I believe these changes would lead to consistency and could turn Ian Bell into the player we all know that he is capable of being: Consistently churning out big hundreds and becoming a match winner.

If you want to learn everything there is to know about technique, check out Gary Palmer's interactive coaching courses. Gary is a coach with over 20 years experience teaching players to become first class cricketers. For the first time he has put his drills online, only at PitchVision Academy.