miCricketCoach

Guaranteed: How to play the perfect shot every time

David.Hinchliffe — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:21:43 +0000

Gary Palmer, PitchVision Academy Batting Coach, has 20 years of coaching experience and has come up with a fool-proof way of achieving perfection in batting. If you would like group or one-to-one coaching with Gary visit CCM Academy.

We all know batting is more to do with the mind but it's impossible to succeed at the highest level with a flawed technique.

The more perfect your technique becomes the less you need to think about it. This allows you to focus all your concentration on watching the ball with confidence and an uncluttered mind.

But you can't walk into a match and expect to be perfect.

To achieve perfection you need to practice hard and hit lots of balls over a prolonged period of time with a meticulous eye on detail of technique, building up your muscle memory, concentration, work ethic, discipline and mental toughness.

This method of coaching is called 'grooving' and I swear by it.

Why is grooving important?

Grooving sessions are solely about technique.

They are different to 'traditional' nets and matches which are about the game plans and watching the ball while judging length and line. You can't improve technique in these situations, which is why grooving is so important.

Grooving is not just hitting balls for 10 minutes; it's hitting balls for an hour or more. If you have alignment, balance, or poor completion of shot issues, they can be quickly identified and corrected early on in a grooving session.

The longer you hit the better you get until perfection is constantly achieved.

And 'constantly' is the important word.

Grooving works when the coach sets the highest standard. If there is even the slightest flaw the coach and player should address it immediately.

Accepting nothing less than perfection is part of the process.

It's no good saying 'good shot' to a talented player if part of the technique is incorrect. All that happens is the player thinks they have got it right and will try to reproduce it.

Doing this will not eradicate any flaws in technique.

You won't get perfect technique as second nature.

And you certainly won't be able to bat naturally.

How to use grooving to get a perfect batting technique

The technique of the straight bat shots (on, off and straight drive, front and back foot) are the basis of a good player and are no. 1 priority.

The grooving process I have established over many years of trial and error is:

Groove shots through repetition with a meticulous eye on technique with an easy feed first.
Groove shots from all angles over and around the wicket.
Intensify the feed by making the deliveries progressively faster.
Introduce swing, in and out, over and around the wicket.
Introduce off spin/left arm spin again over and around.
Introduce run chase scenarios and make them progressively challenging.

You can see all the drills and scenarios for this process I use in my online coaching courses here:

The videos and downloads will give you everything you need to know to progress.

While you can and should start with simple tennis ball drop and bounce feeds, I recommend the Bola bowling machine to progress the grooving process by allowing accurate delivery of swing and spin bowling.

The coach should lead the grooving session and the development of a players technique because the good coach knows what is best for the player. He or she understands the mechanics of technique better than players do. It's something you need a lot of years coaching experience to learn.

Cricket Show 72: Drop the ego

David.Hinchliffe — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:41:14 +0000

With Kevin away, David is joined by Gary Palmer and we get the final part of our interview with ECB and Lane4 psychologist Wil James.

If you missed the other parts of the interview with Wil you can get them here:

On the show this week we cover:

The problem of coaching players with big egos.
Why being a good coach is about more than playing experience.
Coaching style: Telling vs. asking.
How to drop your own ego as a coach.
How batsmen can deal with different coaches giving different information.
"A kick up the behind or a hand round the shoulder" is man-management more complex than that?
How to draw out quiet players and shut up the loud ones.
Why it's important to know yourself when you lead or captain others.
The top 3 cricket mental training tips for young cricketers.

Don't forget this week we are giving away a free coaching course on the show. Listen to the end of the show to find out how you can do it. It's all in the subject line...

We are looking to improve the show with your help. Click here to fill in a short (less than 3 minute) survey on the miCricketCoach Show.

You can submit your own questions to the show here.

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What the IPL can teach you about dealing with pressure in cricket

David.Hinchliffe — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:12:28 +0000

Imagine for a moment you have signed for the Deccan Chargers. It's your first game and the stadium is packed to the rafters.

On TV millions more watch on hoping you will put in a match winning performance for their beloved team. Meanwhile the world's finest Twenty20 players warm up in preparation to take you on.

Succeed and you will be adored. Fail and you will be nobody.

It's that kind of pressure that can ruin your game.

But you don't have to be an IPL player to feel pressure. You be stressed in school or club cricket. You can feel under stress as a coach as well as a player.

Pressure can happen at any level.

How does this happen when cricket is supposed to be fun?

The only 3 reasons you are stressed

When you consider a game or moment in a game to be important, the pressure goes up. When you think your skills are not enough to deal with the situation, you get stressed.

We naturally tend to blame the situation such as the crowd or sledging by the opposition, but it's our response to the situation is just as important. In other words, there are three reasons you get stressed:

The environment is stressful (big game, lots at stake, rep level scouts watching)
Your negative reaction or perception to the situation (you are hit a skier and think "what if I drop it?")
Your physical and mental response which psychologists call arousal (sweating, heart rate, worry, confusion, nail biting)

The difference between players who deal with pressure and those who crack is the former know how to manage the three causes of stress.

And that's nothing to do with how good a player you are. That's why you often see lesser talented players doing well in the IPL: they have 'mental strength'

(Which is shorthand for saying they know how to deal with pressure)

How to manage pressure

So now we know stress can only come from 3 places, it's just a matter of learning how to deal with that pressure when it happens to you.

But there is no one-size-fits-all.

You need to know where the problem lies.

For some players, getting clammy hands (arousal) leads to remembering the last time they felt stressed and failed (negative reaction) which stresses them out.

For others it's the negative thought that comes first and the physical reaction that follows.

The good news is that wherever the flow of pressure and stress is coming from there is a way of dealing with it.

Reducing stress in the environment: This is difficult as a big game is a big game. However you can do certain things to reduce the pressure. Be technically as good as you can be. Make sure you have a routine that you trust, be clear about your role on the day, and focus on enjoying playing for the sake of playing rather than the rewards on offer.
Reducing arousal: If you find your stress comes from your response to the environment such as increased heart rate, inability to concentrate, faster breathing or pacing you are having an arousal response. The most common way to deal with this is imagery, but you can use any technique that works for you. The Alexander Technique is another example.
Reducing negative reaction: If you spot negative thoughts popping into your head before any physical reaction you are having a perception response. There are a number of ways you can push these thoughts aside, but a popular method is the stop technique.

An environment like the IPL might seem to be a huge cause of pressure, but the real secret to playing well in that situation is how you respond.

If you can manage that response you will be able to play in any level of cricket from an IPL match at Eden Gardens to a game on the Maidan.

If you want more cricket thinking tips and lessons from the IPL don't forget to get the free PitchVision Academy coaching newsletter.

Field setting: Off spin, Twenty20 middle overs (IPL special)

David.Hinchliffe — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:30:32 +0000

This article is part of "The complete guide to cricket field settings" series.

The middle overs of a Twenty20 game are the black sheep of cricket: unglamorous and disregarded and nobody likes talking about them.

But a loss of focus in this period is all it takes to lose a close match where every stolen single counts.

Even in short format games (be they 16 8 ball overs of traditional evening cricket or the more modern Twenty20) there is a period where the game pace changes and there is a lull before the final push for the line.

Usually this takes place between overs 6-12, but can be longer if wickets are falling (or indeed shorter if the batsmen are carving it to all parts on a flat track). It's the time for spinners to make a mark and restrict scoring.

In this field setting we are talking the IPL as a model. That means a field restriction of 4 players inside the 30 yard fielding circle and a maximum of 5 on the leg side.

We are also going to assume the pitch is a 'typical' Indian wicket with not much pace or bounce but some turn.

Bowling to this field

Your main role in the middle overs is to restrict the score and frustrate batsmen into hitting out before they are ready. For that reason your standard line needs to be straighter and you give the ball less flight than you would in longer formats.

Aim to get the batsman playing forward as if he or she can go back the have more time to work the ball into the gaps. Pitching the ball somewhere around 12-14 metres from the bowlers popping crease should do the job. Use the batsman's footwork reaction as a guide to length.

These tactics force the batsman to play straight or into the leg side where you can cut off the shots with your boundary runners.

Extra cover and mid off are key positions for you, stopping drives which will be most batsmen's escape route from the pressure. Place extra cover too square and he becomes redundant.

You can bowl to this field from over or round the wicket.

Bowling variations

As the batsman is looking to score off more deliveries than any other format, you can't let them get used to your bowling line, length or pace. To do so means they can premeditate an aggressive shot and score easily against you.

That's why it's important to vary from your stock delivery often if the batsman is on top:

Flight. The ability to place the ball in the same spot but with different heights on the ball is very deceptive. On slow wickets you can vary the flight of almost every ball, or just throw in the odd flatter/loopy ball if you feel the batsman is in a rhythm.
Arm ball. The ball that drifts away from the right hander is an excellent way to deceive the batsman and get a dot ball (or turn a boundary into a single). It's also a wicket taking ball. Pitch it further up and with a middle stump line.
Doosra. If you can bowl the one that goes the other way (a rare skill), bowl it at middle stump on a length and hope it catches the edge or the top of off stump.
Yorker. The very full ball is not just for the seamers. It's hard to hit a full and straight ball anywhere but down the ground.
Position on the crease. Adjusting where you deliver the ball can upset a batsman's timing. Try bowling from bowling crease instead of the popping crease, or going wider on the crease to change the angle.

Avoid bowling

Like all fields, loose bowling can be punished, but you do have protection in key areas to try and restrict the easy flow of runs.

Too many stock balls. If the batsman realises you are putting the ball on the same spot without variation can work the ball around for singles and twos using the pace of the ball and the gaps in the spread out field
Too many unpracticed variations. Variations are vital in T20, but if you bowl them without having practiced them first they just end up being bad balls. Make sure every variation you try in the middle has had plenty of work in the nets.

Field Variations

To add pressure to a new batsman, deep gulley can move to slip or point can go to silly point (although not for more than a couple of balls)
Mid off can be at orthodox or on the edge of the circle.
Point can move out to the boundary as an off side sweeper.
If the ball is turning consider a fielder saving one on the leg side behind square.
Fielders in the ring can be tight on the single to squeeze the batsman or on the edge of the circle giving one but more likely to save a boundary.

Batting against this field

The batters main aim in this phase of the game is to be workmanlike and disciplined. The field is spread so hitting boundaries is harder, but scoring singles and twos is easier. Six an over is a reasonable rate and can be done by rotating the strike with minimum risk.

Play straight, looking to score in an arc between mid off and midwicket, especially if the bowler drops short so you can play back foot drives and pulls with control.

The late cut to anything wide outside off can pick up runs if it beats the man at deep gulley.

Don't get tempted into going 'inside out' and driving against the spin as this is a risky path that can lead to you missing or mistiming the ball. If you need to improvise try hitting over the leg side by clearing the front leg.

The sweep is productive against over the wicket off spin, but it can be risky if the bowler is going around the wicket because the line is straightening onto the stumps.

Images supplied by PitchVision - Coach Edition software

Wicket-keeping tips: Positioning when standing up

David.Hinchliffe — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:48:16 +0000

This guest article by first-class and international 'keeper Nic Northcote is an extract from his new book "Wicket-Keeping: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering the Art": Available now on PitchVision Academy.

Standing up to the wickets is the most difficult element of wicket-keeping to master and is an area where great keepers are distinguished from good ones. With the evolution of the modern game towards shorter formats and more aggressive batting, wicket-keepers are expected to effectively be able to stand up to the wickets in order to prevent the batsman from being able to advance down the pitch.

Distance from Wickets

When standing up, the wicket-keeper must attempt to get his body and gloves as close to the wickets as possible for the following reasons:

It reduces the time required to make a stumping as the keeper has to move his gloves a shorter distance to the wickets; and
When standing up to the wickets, the keeper rarely has enough time to move his gloves to catch a ball edged by the batsman. Therefore, by keeping his gloves as close to the wickets as possible, the keeper is able to reduce the distance between the batsman’s bat and his gloves, and the angle of any deflection / deviation caused as a result of the batsman edging the ball is also effectively reduced. This gives the wicket-keeper the best possible chance of being able to take the catch. The schematic in Figure 1 illustrates how this principle works. A wicket-keeper with his gloves in Position 1 will manage to catch a ball edged by the batsman that he would not have been able to catch if his gloves were further away from the wickets in Position 2.

Line outside Off-Stump

When standing up to the stumps, the wicket-keeper must take his stance slightly outside the line of off-stump. He must be in a position that allows him to clearly watch a standard delivery in the line of off-stump from the bowlers hand and onto the batsman’s bat (or alternatively into his own gloves). It is important that the wicket-keeper is able to see the bowler’s wrist in his delivery action as this will allow him to immediately determine the line of the ball and get into position to take the delivery as early as possible. It is also important that the keeper does not stand too wide of off-stump as this will make it more difficult for him to take balls down the leg side due to the distance that he has to move in a short period of time.

Although the line could differ slightly for different batsmen or bowlers, Figure 2 illustrates the typical positioning of the wicket-keeper when standing up to the wickets for a right-handed batsman.

Want to know the secrets of how to change a game with a moment of wicket-keeping brilliance? Pick up a copy of "Wicket-Keeping: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering the Art" and become a better keeper today.

Don't make this mistake in the opening overs

David.Hinchliffe — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:38:19 +0000

Power plays are a terrible invention.

They make IPL games more fun to watch when Tendulkar and Jayasuriya are flailing it to all parts.

But the whole idea seems so contrived and, well... restricted (at least to a declaration loving traditionalist like me).

Nevertheless, as my own (50 over) league has brought in a fielding circle this season and it's a staple of Twenty20 cricket at every level, it's time to look how the pros do it.

Mainly because we don't want to make the same mistakes as they do.

It's not about the tactics

Pinch hitting or building a foundation, pacemen or spinners, along the ground or over the top?

All are viable tactical options.

All have been used with success by different teams at different times.

And that's the rub: There is no one tactic that is best suited to all teams in all conditions.

If you try and crowbar in a tactic you are not up to just because it's in fashion then you will end up having a disastrous first 6 (or 10, or 20) overs.

It's a mistake the England ODI side have been making on and off for years (see the long quest to try and replace the aggressive Marcus Trescothick at the top of the order).

What is a good power play about?

It's about the players.

Tactics are only as good as the player's ability to make them work. If the opening batsmen are a pair of slow plodders there is not much chance of you smashing 60 in the T20 power play.

That's why you have to adapt to what you can do.

Look at the strengths of your batsmen and bowlers and decide which tactic best fits them.

Then make sure those players are totally clear as to what their role is (according to Shane Warne and Jeremy Snape it was the secret of the Rajasthan Royals IPL success in the inaugural season).

That's far more likely to succeed because it's not the tactics that score the runs and take the wickets. It's the players.

And that's a tactic that is universal. It works at any level, in any conditions and in any country because it's adaptable.

If you want more cricket tactics and lessons from the IPL don't forget to get the free PitchVision Academy coaching newsletter.

image credit: Dan...

Cricket Show 71: Switch hits and learning from business

David.Hinchliffe — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:03:08 +0000

It's official; Kevin's team missed out on the finals this season so we catch up with how he felt the season went. Find out why it's not all bad news.

Plus, Gary Palmer returns to give us more insight into the technical side of batting. ECB psychologist Wil James also joins us for the third part of his in-depth interview on the mental side of the game.

Questions we cover this week include:

How to gel a new team together
How important is to learn new shots like the switch hit?
How much leeway is there with batting basics?
Can club and school cricket learn from the business world?

We are looking to improve the show with your help. Click here to fill in a short (less than 3 minute) survey on the miCricketCoach Show.

You can submit your own questions to the show here.

How to listen to the show

You can download the show onto your computer by right clicking on the link below and choosing "Save Target as..."

You can also subscribe to the show for free:

Click here to subscribe in iTunes.

If you don't use iTunes You can add the feed manually.

How to exploit batting weaknesses: Width of stance

David.Hinchliffe — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:00:18 +0000

This is part of a series on How to exploit batsman's weaknesses. To see the other weaknesses click here.

Every good coach will tell their players to stand ready with their feet a comfortable distance apart. While this is usually about shoulder width, some players will stand differently.

The modern trend is to stand with a wider stance than the coaching book recommends (like Chris Gayle or Graeme Smith), but there are also players who follow the Jack Hobbs method of keeping the feet close together.

At club and school level, these technical flaws lead to errors.

Why is it a weakness?

In his course: "Improve Your Batting With Simple Changes to Your Setup", Gary Palmer explains why the having a wide or narrow stance is a weakness.

You can view that portion of the video and see what the side and narrow stances look like by clicking here.

In the video Gary explains:

A wide stance makes it difficult to move your feet quickly.
A narrow stance makes it difficult to stay balanced, increasing your chances of toppling over.

Outwitting the wide stance

A wide stance is a batsman's way of hedging his or her bets. It allows you to play with less footwork because you have gone both forwards and back without moving. As a result it's favoured by big hitters who like to 'stand and deliver'.

If you are bowling to one of these players, the way to take advantage is to get the batsman 'feeling' for the ball.

This means extracting as much movement as possible through the air or off the pitch. The sluggish footwork means the batter is slow to get in position which increases the chances of edging the ball.

Outswing and the ball spinning away from the bat is the best way of doing this as the feet of the batsman don't move, but the bat follows the ball leading to the bat moving sideways away from the body and a loss of control (this is sometimes called "curtain-railing").

You can see the batsman in the wrong position on the back foot here:

As you can see, the full face of the bat is not at the ball and it hit being hit square, allowing you to set squarer fields and plenty of off side catchers behind the bat.

Inswing and the ball spinning in can exploit the slow feet for catching batsmen LBW.

Spinners have a special advantage over the wide stance player. As they are more likely to get stuck flat footed they are especially vulnerable to the ball above the eye-line that dips late in flight.

Outwitting the narrow stance

Although less popular these days, the narrow stance batsman can survive in lower level cricket where the bowling is slower and the wickets less bouncy.

However, the base is less stable meaning the batter will favour playing on the back foot (because it's easier to sit back than lean forward and topple over).

So as bowler your best approach is to pitch the ball up a fuller length on or just outside off stump.

The unbalanced position going forward makes it harder for the batsman to know where the off stump is. He ends up playing at wide balls or getting closed off when playing at straighter balls and playing with half a bat.

Also, it's much harder for him to drive the ball along the ground from this unstable position, so close catchers in front of the wicket (short extra cover and short midwicket) are excellent fielding positions.

Want to improve your skills so you can bowl to these tactics or iron out your batting weaknesses? PitchVision Academy has an online coaching course to help you from the world's finest coaches.

Wicket-keeping tips: The basics of catching

David.Hinchliffe — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:27:18 +0000

A wicket-keeper is required to catch hundreds of balls in a match. These catches can take the form of balls passing the batsman’s bat, edges, high catches or throws from the fielders. The wicket-keeper needs to be able to safely catch with both of his hands - individually and simultaneously -when standing still, running and diving. It is therefore absolutely essential that a wicket-keeper has an excellent basic catching technique. Furthermore, a good catching technique will help reduce the frequency of hand or finger injuries.

Some key points relating to the general catching technique of a wicket-keeper:

Two Hands

As the old cliché goes, two is always better than one, and the wicket-keeper should at all times attempt to catch the ball with two hands and preferably without diving. Swift footwork alone will often enable the wicket-keeper to get his body into a position to catch the ball with two hands and without having to dive.

Watch the Ball

The most important rule when catching is that the wicket-keeper must keep his eye on the ball from its point of departure until it has safely come to rest in his gloves. If possible, the keeper’s head and eyes must be directly above the line of the ball when catching.

Head Still

Another absolutely essential consideration when catching is that the keeper must keep his head as still as possible. If his head is moving, so are his eyes, and the relative position of the ball to his eyes is therefore constantly changing. This is similar to catching a ball that is constantly changing direction, and makes pulling off a successful catch so much more difficult.

Soft Hands

When catching the ball, the wicket-keeper must have what is commonly referred to as “soft-hands. The keeper must try to extend the time of contact between the ball and his hands for as long as possible. By catching with relaxed elbows and moving the gloves in the same direction as the path of the ball (riding the ball), the keeper can soften the impact of the ball on the gloves, thereby preventing the ball from popping out of the gloves.

The opposite of catching with soft hands is referred to as “snatching” at the ball. Snatching at the ball occurs when the keeper goes at the ball rather than letting the ball come to him. Attempting to catch the ball with rigid (or “hard”) elbows and hands often results in dropped catches and bruised or injured hands.

Coaching tip

Catching tennis balls is an excellent way to practice catching with soft hands. Due to the elasticity of the tennis balls, they tend to bounce out of rigid or hard hands far easier than a hard leather cricket ball, and they therefore provide a clear indication of whether or not a wicket-keeper is snatching at the ball. A coach can use a tennis racket to hit tennis balls at the wicket-keeper, who can practice catching them with and without gloves.

Respect is dead

David.Hinchliffe — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:23:13 +0000

Disrespect is part of cricket nowadays.

And that's a good thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about swearing at batsmen and arguing with the umpire. But respect is too often fear in disguise.

Good players don't waste time on that.

Why respect is overrated

At the peak of his powers Shane Warne was a great spin bowler in Test cricket. Towards the end of his career as an Australian international he became a great user of respect.

With a reduced armoury of just a leg break and slider to call on, he used a clever combination of supreme confidence, dominant personality, reputation and bluff to scare batsmen out. He was a master of such tactics and it got him a lot of wickets a bowler with a lesser reputation would have missed out on.

And this happens every week at lower levels too.

You must have played in the game where the whisper goes round that the opposition have a star ringer in the side. Perhaps frighteningly quick bowler is having a game at your level to come back after injury, or you remember last year's game where the star batsman hit your bowlers to all parts.

You give these players too much respect.

You start playing the reputation and not the ball.

And when you do that you give the opponent the advantage.

Be disrespectful

The alternative to respect, of course, is to disrespect everyone.

If you are a bowler, you hate every batsman and want to send them on your way so you can get your feet up. If you are a batsman you consider every bowler to be unworthy to deliver to you.

You know it's only a matter of time until you show how much better you are.

You see, this kind of disrespect is born from self-confidence.

And confidence comes from knowing your game. From knowing what works for you and knowing what your job is.

That way there is no fear and no need to give respect to anyone, whether they really deserve it or not.

image credit: rosswebsdale