You can be the best cricketer in the world but it makes no difference if you are injured and off the park.

More and more of life becoming dedicated to sitting down: working at a desk, driving, watch TV or spending time on the computer. As we use our bodies less they become slow and inflexible. Our postures change and we are more likely to get hurt.

Plus, we have less and less time to dedicate to cricket with increasing demands.

 Despite the fact we instinctively know the answer is to become more active, we don't know where to start to make it happen, or how to do it in a limited time.

You could join a gym and rely on the poorly trained fitness advisor to give you a program based on outdated ideas and general 'fat loss and tone up' principles given to housewives. But that's not very helpful to cricketers.

You could get advice from the bodybuilder who is only interested in looking as bulky as possible with his shirt off. But even if you had his dedication to the body beautiful, would you want to be so hefty?

You could train at home with push ups and sit ups. But how do you know it's making any difference?

The truth is you just want to stay fit and strong so you can score runs and take wickets.

Fit cricketers are better cricketers. Imagine having the stamina and strength to bowl that extra over at the end of the day when one wicket is required for victory. Think how important it is to make that quick single because you have the speed.

It's been shown that if you are fit you have better reactions and concentration too. So just think what effect your new abilities will have on your cricket skills. What player wouldn't like extra reserves?

That fitness edge can get you over the line in more tight games, which means you win more, which gets you noticed.

And that's why you need to know the right way to get fit for cricket.

So who better to ask than a man who does it for a living with a full professional side?

Rob Ahmun has trained many cricketers and he knows how to keep them injury free, even when they are in the middle of a season with little time for dedicated fitness work.

He has put his knowledge on an interactive online coaching course on PitchVision Academy so you too can benefit from knowing how to train, when to train and what to train to become a fitter player.

There is no other content as detailed and specific to cricket as this course which includes:

• Personalised training plans based around age, experience and time available.
• The most effective methods used with professional players at Glamorgan CCC.
• Understanding the critical but overlooked link between fitness and skill.
• Work out if a training plan given to you is going to make you a better player.
• Plans to boost your strength, power, endurance, speed and mobility.
• How to change your training to keep it working all year round.

All you need to do to get instant access to this online material is to enrol on the course. You get lifetime access, including free updates.

Click here to buy Strength and Conditioning for Cricket at all Levels.

Sometimes you just have to practice alone.

There is no one around to train with but you are eager improve your skills. A bowler can go to a net with a box of balls and practice hitting a target. Batsmen are not as lucky because they need someone or something to feed a ball.

At least not according to PitchVision Academy coach Dr Ganesh Dutt Chugh. He has been researching the effects of solo training on the concentration skills of cricketers. His findings have shown that you can make a significant difference.

It’s a story that most players have known instinctively for years. The tale of Don Bradman hitting a golf ball with a stump is almost as famous as the batting genius himself.

Dr. Ganesh looked to formalise and test this process to see if it could be replicated in less talented cricketers than the Don.

This was done by testing 30 player’s dynamic concentration (the ability to focus attention on a moving target). Then the players went through a 3 week program of tapping a ball on a bat for 20 minutes a day. The players were retested at the end of the study.

Improved dynamic concentration

The test results showed that after 3 week the players had improved their concentration scores by a significant margin. Bradman’s method (slightly adapted) had been put into the lab and come out with a positive result.

• Week one: the ball was tapped anywhere on the bat for 10 minutes, twice a day.
• Week two: The target area was made smaller, focusing on the middle only.
• Week three: That target area was reduced to the sweet spot on the bat only.

Of course, when you bat there is more to it than just being able to focus on the ball. You need to be able to judge the line and length, get in position early, and play the shot with good timing and technique all under the pressure of a match situation.

So the question is, can doing a simple drill that improves dynamic concentration generally be transferred to the more complex world of batting?

That is something that the scope of the study didn’t examine and needs further research.

But one thing we can know for sure now is that your concentration improves when you practice tapping a ball on a bat alone.

Reference: Dutt Chugh, G. “Tapping the ball on bat, an effective mean for developing concentration in cricket – A field study” (unpublished)