photo credit: Spoungeworthy

If you wanted to improve your catching I'm betting you would do some catching practice.

One thing you would not do is train each finger individually.

‘Finger training' is a bad idea because you are isolating individual components involved in catching without practicing the skill as a whole. You know already that your brain doesn't work like that: To develop any skill you need to practice that skill.

It's a principle that Vern Gambetta calls simply: Movements not Muscles.

When you are catching, playing a cover drive or bowling an off break you don't have to think about what muscles to move in what order. Over time your brain has grooved the movement pattern.

How can knowing this fact improve your game?

It means avoiding focussing on training around individual muscles. If you want to add strength, power, timing and efficiency, use exercises and drills that require your brain to reflect the real life movement demands of cricket.

Initially it means learning how to run, jump (and land), throw, catch and strike efficiently.

It also means practicing a lot of cricket and spending as much time grooving your specific techniques into your muscle memory.

If you want to be strong, fast, injury free and powerful it means getting in the gym and using exercises (with one and two limbs) that reflect the basic movements of the body:

• Squatting
• Lunging
• Deadlifting
• Pushing
• Pulling
• Hip extension

This is not only a good idea for your cricket. It saves time because you are working multiple muscles at the same time. You can read more here.

Do this and you are letting your body, the most incredible exercise machine on the planet, do it's job. Don't get in the way by focusing on individual fingers or muscles. Stick with movements and watch your game improve.