Newsletter | Cricket coaching, fitness and tips

Hi,

Today we unveil a new section of the site. For players in the Northern Hemisphere, you can check out the exciting new "Countdown to Summer" area for preseason training tips and discussion. Read more about it in the article below.

The fitter you are the better your cricket but Christmas can have you pile the pounds on. If you are in that boat we have a two part series to help you on your way to a svelte frame.

We also look at how to bring new players into an existing team. And, with ball tampering in the news we look at why you are not doing it yet.

Have a great weekend,

David Hinchliffe

The only "secret" of weight loss you will ever need

This is part one of a series on how to lose weight for cricket. To go to part 2 click here

Can losing fat, an industry worth billions, really be boiled down to one secret?

You might think not. Millions of people try and fail to shed the pounds using hundreds of different diets, pills and training plans. But every method still relies on one thing, and knowing what that is allows you to cut through all the options and get straight to the truth of weight loss.

The secret of weight loss (and why knowing it is only the beginning)

In study after study scientists have examined weight loss and found a remarkable thing. Despite the wide variety in size, shape and metabolism everybody is the same.

Like everyone else, your body needs energy to function. You need to breathe, you need your heart to beat and you need to be able to chase a cricket ball across the ground to stop it going for a boundary.

This energy is measured in calories and as you know, you get calories by eating and drinking. You burn calories by doing stuff.

The difference between calories in and out is called energy balance and that's the important part:

If you burn more calories than you consume you lose weight.

Every time. Without fail.

So it stands to reason that if you burn less caries than you consume you gain weight and if calories in and out are about the same then you stay where you are.

Or to look at it another way, it's like a scale:

In this picture the calories in and out are the same so the energy is balanced.

In this picture the extra training has lead to more calories out and so weight is lost.

So the key to weight loss is creating that imbalance in energy. You can do this by:

Eat less. If you eat less food you take in less calories and go into a deficit.
Exercise more. More exercise means more calories burned, again creating a deficit.

Either way, it's all about the calorie deficit.

So if it's so simple, why isn't everyone doing it?

It's all in the head

It can get difficult very quickly to create an imbalance. We don't live in a test tube in a laboratory and the psychology of losing weight is the hard part. It's hard to resist food when you are hungry and it's hard to motivate yourself to train.

The people who successful lose weight and keep it off have learned how to manage their mind as much as their diet and exercise.

In part two we will go through the ways you can do the same.

To go to part 2 click here

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Start your countdown to the cricket season in style

How you prepare before the season begins directly effects how you play during the season.

A perfect preseason will get you ready for action physically, mentally and technically.

That's why we have dedicated a brand new section of the site to helping you this preseason.

"Countdown to Summer" is the ultimate guide. You can find out exactly how to make the most of your preseason in the run up to the 2010 summer. On the pages you can:

Find local nets and coaching days in your area.
Learn how to improve your strength, speed, power and flexibility.
Develop new techniques and groove old ones to perfection.
Analyse your performance and technique with our first class coaches.
Set goals for both the preseason and the summer.
Get mentally tougher.
Maximise your training time at nets and practice.
Find a new club.
Chat on the forums.

Every topic you could ever think of regarding preseason training, practice and games (even the freezing cold April ones) is right here in one place.

Also, you can get free updates on our special exclusive preseason newsletter. The email will come to you once a week and is filled with exclusive articles and content not available anywhere else in the known universe.

The site is up and running here and people are already chipping in and sharing their experiences. Pop over and take a look.

New boy: How to welcome a new player to your team

Have you ever been promoted to a higher level team, walked in to the dressing room and felt like a stranger among friends?

Being the new kid on the block can intimidate players so much it prevents them from doing well. But a good coach and captain knows how to dodge this and help a new player feel welcome enough to relax.

The 'pub' method

For a lot of teams this could start and end in the club bar. Introduce the new player to the team, have a few drinks and by the big match everyone is the best of mates. It's unstructured, informal and lets our natural social urge take its course.

Except if you want to really get the most from a new player there is more you need to do.

The pub method is a good way to get to know a person in a bar, but this doesn't translate to what you need from them as part of a cricket team.

Anyway, what if you new man doesn't drink?

Even if the new player feels he is with pals when he walks out for his first game, he still may not be sure about his role in the side and until he (or she) does, he can't do his best.

The hand on the shoulder

To really get a head start, the new player needs to have a hand on the shoulder and an explanation of:

The personality of the team
His role in the side

Every good team nails these elements down whether they know it or not. Some do it informally and it grows over time, some set it down on paper. You can use either method.

For example, the personality or atmosphere of the team might be enshrined in a team 'manual', written by the players and given to new members as part of the ritual of acceptance (in a similar if less historically charged version of the baggy green and team victory song).

The manual is agreed by the whole team. It includes the team philosophy (playing for fun or performance), goals for the season, team traditions and plain old rules. It's best to avoid clichés about hitting the right areas and giving 110%: The more specific the better.

This has the extra benefit of crystallising a team's thoughts on what the personality is. To let it grow itself could (but not always) lead to the atmosphere going bad.

The second point, the new player's team role, also needs to be clear. There is a big difference, for example, between a bowler's whose job it is to hold up an end and one who has permission to give away more runs in the chase for wickets.

The quicker these things are made clear, the faster the player adapts to his new team. Leaving it to chance is the least effective method, so take some time to welcome a new player in cricketing terms as well as buying him a drink.

How do you welcome new players?

Want to be a better captain? Learn from the best with the interactive online course Cricket Captaincy by Mike Brearley.

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How to shrink your belly with the power of your mind

This is part two of a series on how to lose weight for cricket.

In part one of the series we found out weight loss was nothing but a simple bit of maths. Less in and more out equals weight loss.

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