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Animated Fielding Drills Get Fit For Cricket


Hi,

The big announcement from us this week is our first ever live coaching event at the Oval in London. It combines traditional coaching with the latest technology from PitchVision.

And we are looking for people to come along to get coaching.

And if you can’t make it, don’t worry we are looking to put events on in your area.

Take a look at the article in the newsletter to find out more.

The rest of the newsletter is still packed with great stuff including the podcast about bats, an article about a bat maker who has been in the game 49 years and a controversial thought about the repetition of practice.

Have a great weekend,


David Hinchliffe



PitchVision Academy announces first ever live coaching event

Update: due to huge demand, registrations for PitchVision Academy Live! Are now closed.

How would you like to get coached by some of PitchVision Academy's Elite Coaches using the latest cricket technology at a top Test venue?

Now you can!

PitchVision Academy is proud to announce the very first "PitchVision Academy Live!" event at the world famous Brit Oval in London on the evening of August 27th.

And you can be one of the first to be at this interactive event.

The event features top quality coaching to help you become a better cricketer with both batting and bowling covered during your session. And, uniquely, you will get to find out how much the latest coaching technology can help your game by getting to use the PitchVision system integrated with traditional coaching methods.

For the first time you, as part of the PitchVision Academy UK community, will be able to receive coaching from the PVA Director of Coaching, David Hinchliffe and elite batting coach Gary Palmer who has the likes of Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Gloucestershire, Eastern Province Academy and Oxford University on his coaching CV.

Together the coaches will reveal the secrets of the ground-breaking coaching advice you have only been able to get online through PitchVision Academy in the past:

  • Simple drills to improve your bowling pace and accuracy instantly
  • The best way to use a bowling machine to improve your batting alignment and balance
  • How to find the perfect run up
  • The one simple change to your foot position that opens up the legs side to score runs safely and quickly.
  • Tactics for scoring runs and taking wickets
  • Mental training tips used by elite players to maintain concentration and avoid failure.
But it doesn't end there.
 
Compete and win prizes

After your coaching session you will trial your new found skills against other cricketers on PitchVision's revolutionary sensor system, allowing you to finally find out:

  • What line and length you bowl
  • How much bounce deviation and spin you achieve
  • Your own personal pitchmap of deliveries
  • How easily you find gaps with the bat
  • How many runs that cover drive in the nets would have got you
  • Much more...

The best bowler and batsmen on the day will win some very special prizes, and everyone will walk away with a personalised analysis report card generated by PitchVision.

So if you are serious about having fun and improving your cricket skills, this is an event that is impossible to miss.

Limited free places

Early registration is essential as places are limited with competition for places set to be very high.

The price of the event is £5 for 90 minutes of coaching and practice on PitchVision. The start time for the event is either 5:30pm or 7:30pm depending on which group you are selected for.

But, even better than that, because this is our first event we are offering the first 10 places on the event for free.

The free places are on a first come, first served basis.

All you need to do to lock down a free place is to click here and register your interest.

The first 10 to email will get the free places, any emails after the first 10 will be offered the £5 price to participate, paid via PayPal.

Remember, the event includes:
 
  • Coaching from 2 professional coaches (batting and bowling)
  • Guaranteed batting and bowling session on the new PitchVision system
  • A personal data printout of wagon wheels, pitchmaps and other statistics
  • Your chance to prove yourself as the best batsman and bowler on the day and win prizes
So what are you waiting for?

Update: due to huge demand, registrations for PitchVision Academy Live! Are now closed.



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3 Ways to improve without touching a bat or ball
 

If you want to do well, cricket requires a lot of practice. But not all practice needs a bat and a ball.

Because the biggest challenge of cricket over every other sport is the amount of mental toughness you need to do well.

You could be the world's best batsman, but if your concentration lapses or your confidence goes you won't be able to buy a run.

Lucky for world class players they have learned the best ways to keep mentally tough.

If you had 5 minutes to ask one of those players the 3 easiest ways to improve your mental game, here is what they would say:

1. Use past successes for future gain

Before he opened an innings, Geoff Boycott used to go into a mental cocoon in the dressing room.

He would rehearse his innings, thinking about the bounce of the wicket, the troublesome and easy bowlers and where runs will come seeing his innings unfold in his mind.

It's a common trick used by modern players too. If it worked for Boycs it has to work for you.

2. Save your concentration

Ask any good bowler or batsman and he or she will tell you that they save their concentration for when it matters: the delivery. The rest of the time they are doing anything but concentrating because nobody can stay focused for an entire innings.

Your brain would melt from your ear.

So next time the coach or captain shouts at you to concentrate, try focusing your concentration in short bursts and relaxing the rest of the time.

3. Build confidence with goal setting

Everyone knows how important it is to set goals. If you are regularly achieving your goals, your confidence is sky high.

And we all know how importance confidence is to cricket.

But goal setting is a little trickier than just hoping for 100 wickets this season. Goals can de-motivate as well. So make sure when you set your goals they are something that is in your control and realistic.

Want to find out more?

It's easy to learn how to do all these things to world class levels.

Just get the course How to Use Mental Training to Boost Your Game on PitchVision Academy. It gives you proven step-by-step ways to do all three improvements.

Click here to get instant access and start improving your cricket in time for the next match.

 

 


What can be learned about batting from a bat maker with 50 years experience?
 
What do you think of when you think of a Batmaker?

It’s one of those jobs that seem to come from a bygone age. Like Candlestick Maker.  Surely all bats are made by a machine in one big factory in Pakistan these days?

Not true.

The bat making art is alive and well in England and is producing handmade willow for cricketers.

John is one such Batmaker.

I found him plying his trade in what can only be described as a shed at the back of the UK base of Gray-Nicolls in a tiny East Sussex town called Robertsbridge.

 With birds chirping in the hedgerows outside, he was surrounded by sawdust, willow, vices and partly made bats. In that shed it could have been any year between 1950 and 2010. The only giveaway was that at some point between now and then the radio had been upgraded to a DAB.

Bats have been made here since 1876. John started bat making in 1961 and despite being such a newcomer has become such a master of his art that his job is now to produce bats for Gray-Nicolls star names. And with players like Strauss, Cook, Rampraskash and Key on the books, he has a busy time.

It’s certainly not an easy job.

I bet the last bat you bought didn’t get quite so much personal attention as John gives the stars.

When he hears a player is coming to get some bats he gets to work making up 12 bats. That takes about a day’s work. He used to be able to produce around 100 a day but the modern trend for thick edges and a big ‘bow’ in the blade (the curve you see along the face of modern bats) means it takes longer to press the wood and he has slowed down.

The players will come in and try the bats out, picking the 4 they like best before John finishes the job.

Some players will be happy with what he has done while others are very picky, coming back 2 or 3 times to ask for an ounce or even a half ounce to be shaved off to get that perfect balance.

John doesn’t mind, it’s their livelihood after all. It has to be right.

Bat buying advice

As we chatted I got the impression that he had seen it all.

So what advice did he have about buying a bat for players without a professional contract and a choice of bats from his hand?

“It’s all about how it feels”. He revealed. “Pick the bat up in the shop and if you get the chance try it in the nets. The balance has to feel right in your hands and everyone is different so there is no way to know unless you pick it up.”

And what does he think about modern bat changes like thicker edges, smaller blades and big bows?

“It’s all fashion. It comes and goes. We were doing something similar to the Mongoose bat years ago called the Volcano.”

His advice was to ignore most of it. Pick the best grade willow you can afford then pick the bat up.

You will know if it feels right.

 The rest is up to your ability no matter how good the bat is.

Nearly 50 years of experience went into that advice, so I’m going to believe it.

If you would like more information about Gray-Nicolls bats and equipment visit their website.



Discuss this article with other subscribers
 


Cricket Show 91: Cricket bats with Gray-Nicolls
 

Global bat-maker Gray-Nicolls invited PitchVision Academy down to the UK bat factory in East Sussex this week. The show comes direct from the factory with the sound of bats being hand made in the background.

Us cricketers love our bats, they are very personal to us, and there is a lot that goes into choosing and looking after the sacred willow.

So in this interview I grill Ian about how to buy, knock in and look after your blade.


Read More...
 
Is cricket practice about repetition?
 

This is a guest post by Laurie Ward

Cricket is a simple game complicated by a myriad of variables: physical, technical, emotional, tactical and natural.

Every ball, wicket, match, day, situation, opposition, conditions and personal experience can vary tremendously.

So how can we prepare for something that can be so unpredictable?

Famously, Sir Don Bradman practiced for hours hitting a golf ball with a stump against an uneven wall to develop his incredible hand-eye co-ordination.


Read More...
 

About PitchVision Academy
 

Welcome to this week's guide to playing and coaching better cricket.

I'm David Hinchliffe and I'm Director of the PitchVision Academy team. With this newsletter you are benefitting directly from over 25 Academy coaches. Our skills include international runs and wickets, first-class coaching, cutting-edge research and real-life playing experience.

 
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Issue: 111
Date: 2010-08-13