This is a free sample of the kind of content you will find in Gary Palmer's exclusive online coaching course: How To Play the Perfect On, Off and Straight Drive.

To be a successful batter it is essential to be efficient in your ABCs:

• Alignment
• Balance
• Completion of shot

Alignment, Balance and Completion of stroke are the 3 main areas of technique to develop and work on. Within these areas you need to refine the details of technique to hasten the development of your own or others performance.

Alignment is the bat path from its position at the top of the back swing to the top of the shot. If the bat swings in a straight line to the target area your shots become more consistent.

You must get your alignment correct in your set up to be able to maintain it throughout the shot. From the top of the back swing through to the completion of a stroke rhythm, or a controlled flowing swing of the bat, is paramount.

To allow the bat to swing in a straight line to the ball effectively the feet and body must be well aligned. Without this feet and body can literally block the path of the bat towards to the ball. This is what coaches mean when they refer to 'being blocked off'.

Being blocked off inhibits the full face of the bat and path towards the line if the ball. Good alignment of feet and shoulders stops this from taking place.

Being balanced is controlling you body position and posture before, during and after a stroke. In simple terms: keeping the head directly over the line of the body throughout the shot.

Balance is achieved by looking to 'play in the v' so your head remains in a neutral position.

From this position you can hit the ball through mid on, mid off and straight. Often balance is compromised because players are all so eager to play on the off side therefore their weight often tips that way.

To achieve balance in front foot shots the head should always be forward of and directly above the front foot. Think leaning rather than falling.

This position is much easier to maintain with a controlled, rhythmical, flowing swing of the bat.

Completion is often referred to as 'holding the shot for the cameras'. The great players emphasise and over exaggerate this with a high elbow and high hands.

Completion prolongs the full face of the bat towards the ball, thus making the hitting zone longer. The longer the bat swings in a straight line with a full blade towards the ball the more consistent the stroke becomes.

Batting is about good lines and correct refined shapes. These three elements are crucial to becoming consistent, more versatile in your stroke making and also help you to survive testing spells of bowling.

Within these elements detailed components of technique need to be fine-tuned.

To get access to the rest of this course, including video demonstrations, worksheets, drills and detailed analysis then click here to buy How To Play the Perfect On, Off and Straight Drive by Gary Palmer.

Ask any power lifter. They don't bother training the core.

Why would you when squatting and deadlifting movements give you abs like iron anyway?

The fact is that lower back injuries in cricket happen because the spine is moving too much. The fast bowler with a mixed action has a lot of rotation at the spine and over time this leads to pain and stress fractures.

Why then, would you train the core to flex, extend and rotate even more?

Wouldn't it make more sense to go the other way and learn to do it less?

For me there are three ways that broadly link back to the three movements you are trying to prevent.

And to make sure your core is stopping you getting injured you need to be doing some variation of all three:

If you have ever tried to pick a heavy box off the floor you know that you have to brace your stomach muscles. If you didn't your spine would rip itself right out of your back. Uncomfortable at the very least.

This is the anti-core version of doing crunches. Instead of flexing your spine you are preventing it flexing (and it's why those power lifters are so strong in the abs).

So, get in the gym and start working on those big anti-flexion movements.

Squat and deadlift. It's not as meat headed as you think (click here to find out why).

Also, to train the anti-extension part of the core, you can add standing overhead pressing. May as well while you are in the gym, right?

Chucking a big ball against a wall or the floor is just plain good fun. It gets all that aggression out.

And it also trains your core to resist extension (overhead throwing) and rotation (side throwing). They key points to remember are:

• Use a ball of suitable weight. 1-2kg for overhead and 2-4kg for side throws is plenty.
• Do 3 sets of 10 reps and progress by throwing the ball harder, not adding reps (this is not cardio work).
• Throw and catch the ball. Use a 'bouncy' med ball rather than the old fashioned sand filled ones and catch the ball off the wall or floor between reps.

Finally, you can fill in the gaps of anti-core training with a few exercises some might consider 'basic' but really do a smashing job.

Press ups and their variations don't just train the chest, when done right they force your core to stabilise your body (like a plank with benefits).

The pallof press is just awesome. Need I say more?

And finally, if you have access to a cable machine, chop and lift movements are always parts of any decent cricketers warm up before strength training.

But that doesn't give you a free pass if you want to prevent injury.