Cricket coaching, fitness and tips - PitchVision Academy

Cricket Technique without Technique: How to Play the Drive

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 05:04:00 +0000

Forget getting told how to play a drive, here's how to learn it.

At PitchVision, we get asked all the time about batting technique. People like you, hungry for knowledge, search online for the perfect explanation of the perfect technique. You want to know how to do it so you can be consistent in our run scoring.

But are you?

I'm willing to bet you're not.

I know I wasn't when I played, despite hunting for detailed technical answers my whole career. I nicked off drives. I played perfect shots and missed the ball. I bet you have done too.

The evidence of your own experience suggests that getting a tip on the right footwork (or whatever) is not the way you develop your cricket.

And the research agrees.

What has been found - through both formal research and the experiences of high-performing coaches around the world - is this:

You learn how to play straight through trying to play straight

Seems obvious?

Think about why you are reading this article. You probably want advice or tips on how to play the drive. You want to know where the feet go, what the head does, how to swing the bat straight and avoid the mistakes of bad driving (even if you don't most readers will, trust me).

Knowing all this, and a hundred more points in the perfect shot won't make a jot of difference.

You have to do it.

And to do it, you need to set up some cones and try to hit the ball through them.

Let the drill be the coach

In coaching theory, this is called "constraints-based coaching". It's insanely effective in both the lab and the nets. Constraints are how Don Bradman taught himself to bat. And he was all right.

A constraint is just a way of working on a specific skill by adapting a game of cricket.

So for example, if you want to improve your drive technique, you can set up a game where your mate bowls to you while you try and hit the ball between two cones set up at mid on and mid off with a full swing of the bat.

Yeah. That's it.

Too simple surely?

Nope!

As you try, you learn what works and what doesn't work. You start to develop a way of driving.

There will be failure. That's OK.

There will be success.

And you have not had a technical tip the whole time. The drill has allowed you to coach yourself.

Video is a massive help with this, as you can see what you did afterwards, rather than trying to adjust your body during the session. Combining PitchVision line and length data is also a huge benefit as you can filter how you deal with different types of delivery.

What about correcting batting technical errors?

This idea breaks the old trick of "error identification and correction": Looking at the player, pointing out flaws compared to a perfect model and trying to stop these flaws with drills.

There is nothing wrong with a technical perfect model to work from. It's just that no one ever achieves perfection, so chasing perfect technique is the wrong place to start to develop. Instead, research has shown technical specifics is the last thing to work on. We develop much better by focusing on the outcome. In the case of playing a drive, this means hitting the ball straight more often than missing it! Again, Bradman never had his technique "corrected" and he scored a couple of runs.

During your exploration, you might try some of the things that you heard work, but there is not much that works for everybody all the time so you may well abandon the idea.

Experimentation is crucial. And you can't experiment if you are doing fixed drills to try and correct a flaw.

So forget technical flaws, forget repetitive drilling, forget relying on an expert coach to give you the answers and keep technical perfection out of your mind.

Instead, think about why you want to play the shot, set up a game to challenge you to learn how to do it consistently then work out the answer for yourself. After all, your coach can't play the shot for you and they can't help you if you need to adapt on the fly. It's all up to you.

Train that way too.

How the Golfers Review Process Helped a Shane Warne Prodigy to Success

Millfield — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 06:07:30 +0000

I have the pleasure of working with a talented leg-spinner every few months. He is a top little fella, only 10 years in age and growing at the same rate of knots as a sweet corn field in the middle of a perfect summer. He first tried leg spin at the age of seven on a cricketing holiday we run out in St Lucia and has persevered with the toughest skill in cricket ever since.

His progress has been really good although the boy seems to be the only person in the world who doesn’t see that.

When he receives praise he discounts it. When asked if he can recall his most memorable experience from the day, he will talk about being hit for 4 or a ball that was dragged down into a long hop. It’s been a shame to hear his view of his bowling as this must represent his experience. In contrast, my onlooker experience is one of joy and excitement every time I see him bowl.

The brutal game

Cricket is a brutal game, full of failure and often, we cricketers reflect this in the way we speak and the way we think and act. I recall the Somerset 1st XI using a match analysis system back in 2002. It was groundbreaking stuff in the English County game at the time with every ball being filmed, tagged and analysis which then created archives of data and film which we could use as a coaching and development tool.

In one early game, Somerset were bowled out for 310 in less than 3 sessions on a pitch that would keep the seam bowlers interested across all 4 days play. 310 ended up being the highest innings score of the game yet each dismissed batter only watched their last ball on the system; the ball which dismissed them.

I noted that each batsman replayed the same ball over and over again, compounding their suffering and mental turmoil. It was fascinating viewing. Subsequently, I drew up some guidelines to help us use the system more effectively as a group of batters.

To analyse our dismissal trends, yes, but to also create highlight reels for each player, to establish statistics for different bowler type, built a synopsis on how each player performed in their first 20 balls at the crease and identifying the ‘weak spots’ and ‘sweet spots’ when it came to length of delivery faced and scoring areas exploited.

This data, with careful feedback, started to take the players out of their last ball dwelling mode towards a more proactive & positive review process.

Golfing crossover time

I thought about that applying a similar approach with the Leg spinner but then listened to a conversation between two keen golfing friends.

Neither of them are world beaters and both play off a handicap of 16 but the way that they appraised their round (of 87 and 89 shots respectively) was in stark contrast to my young leg spinner and the Somerset batters at the turn of the millennium.

My two mates spoke only about their good shots, their longest drives, their occasional lovely chips and their three 10 foot+ putts. These words were influenced by their memories in their heads which reflected their experience on the course.

So I came up with the “amateur golfers review” concept for cricketers!

Review process

And then took the approach into a conversation with the young leggy in question. For context, he had just taken 2-14 in 3 overs at the end of a T20 game which had effectively bowled his team to an unlikely victory.

“How well did you bowl today under that immense pressure Buddy! Awesome!” I asked.

“But I got hit for two 4’s Garas” was his predictable response.

“Shane Warne has been hit for more 6’s in Test Match Cricket than any other bowler in history! He also got 708 Test Wickets among the way fella” was the start of my pitch with my new golfing review product.

I followed up by speaking about the different way that cricketers and amateur golfers review the game and retain motivation. It only takes one “sweet as a nut” ball off the face of a driver to inspire the golfer to come back out the next day and do it all over again.

I asked the leggy to go away for the evening and think about this golfing approach in relation to his bowling experience from the T20 game and see if he viewed his experience (a winning one!) any differently.

I didn’t work directly with the leggy in his next session but caught up with him for lunch a couple of hours later. I asked him how he bowled in the net session that morning. His response was music to my ears!

“I bowled really well today Garas. A few short balls but I had 3 clear wickets when the ball came off of my spinning finger perfectly”

Initially, this idea was geared around batting. My fellow coaches, Pete Crocombe (golf handicap of 3) and Johnny Griffiths (golf handicap of 6) believe that golf and golfers are more interlinked with the task of bowling and the mindset of bowlers.

In our discussion they protested that in golf, you always get another chance to hit a brilliant shot or putt, whereas in batting, this is not the case. As bowlers, we can be hit for 6 and then be a hero next ball when we take a wicket.

Both experienced golfers also recognised that you are being proactive as a golfer. You put (not putt) the ball into play just as you do as a bowler. No other person has ultimate control over what you do in both golfing and bowling examples whereas a bowler, fielder and umpire can significantly influence the ultimate outcome of your momentary experience when you are batting.

Sage points I sensed.

And this bowling bias approach bore out in the initial success of the “Golfers Review” process with the Shane Warne prodigy.

So would the golfers review work for a batter at all?

There is only one way to find out! Give it a go and let me know.

Not Getting Your Say in Your Cricket Team? Take a Tip from Pilots

David Hinchliffe — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 06:37:00 +0000

It’s frustrating to have your thoughts and ideas go unnoticed.

You have a brilliant tactic the captain won’t consider. You watch in disgust as the pitch preparations are poor while noone will listen to you solution. The coach forces you to train in ways that don’t work for you.

Whatever it is, you don’t know how to get out of the spiral of being ignored. It makes you feel angry and powerless.

If only these people listened!

You’re not alone.

In fact, it’s a problem faced in a world with a more deadly possible outcome: commercial airlines. If a plane crashes, people die. It’s vital that everyone in the cockpit has a say in preventing accidents, even when there is clearly one person (the pilot) in charge.

After one accident it was determined that the pilot was ignoring the advice of a co-pilot. The airlines worked out that there is a simple way of changing this. This is called PACE

Get heard with PACE

PACE is a way of gradually raising the level of feedback to a superior without causing issues. Here is the process:

Probe. Make your concerns know as a general observation. “Looks like the opening bowler has lost a bit of accuracy, what do you think captain?”
Alert. If probing is not getting the desired effect, step it up by outright suggesting something. You’re still being discreet and respectful at this point. “Do you think it would work if we lowered the blades on the mower to make the outfield grass shorter?”
Challenge. At this stage, you are going to get more direct. It’s time to stop suggesting and engage the issue directly. “You keep getting out LBW no matter how hard you work in nets. Do you object to a 4 angles net session to correct the issue?”
Emergency. In a plane, you would only go to this level if you feel life is in danger. That’s never going to be the case in cricket, but if you know for sure your solution will prevent a major failure in some way, take emergency steps and speak plainly about the solution. “If we keep trying to get this set bastman out he will win the game for them. Let’s focus on giving him a single and dismissing the weaker players at the other end.”

Does PACE work?

PACE works in planes and in medical settings like operations. There is no reason it can’t work for your cricket too.

But it’s not easy.

Plain speaking people have trouble with probing and alerting because they feel they should speak the truth immediately.

Diplomatic people feel they are challenging authority too much when using challenge and emergency.

However, trust the process and try each step in order. Even if it might feel uncomfortable at first. You’ll be suprised how often it can bring your point to the fore. Better a moment of discomfort than an obvious issue being ignored, right?

Do you speak up? How do you manage these difficult moments?

Here's a Simple Batting Tip to Unclutter Your Mind with Distributed Cognition

David Hinchliffe — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 07:20:00 +0000

Don't you hate it when you can't stop thinking about how you got out?

You sit on the side of the pitch filled with regret and frustration. Sometimes this feeling lasts for days. You kick yourself, you dwell on what you could have done differently. You consider if it's all really worth it.

When it's really bad, you carry all these thoughts into your next innings. Instead of just reacting to the ball you are double checking your technique and tactics and getting your mind in a whirl.

It's painful.

It clutters your mind.

It lowers your batting average.

But you care. You are a thinker about the game and you want to get better. It's only natural to consider what went wrong to stop it going wrong again. After all, anyone can make a mistake once; twice smacks of incompetence.

You can keep the good parts without going through night terrors and waking at 3am screaming about an inswinging yorker.

Experts call it "distributed cognition".

Round here we like to call it "writing stuff down"

Clear your mind: write it down

Your brain is a powerful tool. It's incredible at having ideas, joining things together and solving problems.

It's also terrible at storing these ideas.

When you are racing through possibilities about your batting, each new idea creates a stress on you. You can't remember the first idea after you have had a few. When you try to remember it, you forget the other ideas. No wonder your mind is a mess.

So, cut out the pain and write things down.

That way you no longer need to remember everything. It's on a handy piece of paper. As soon as the idea comes to mind, write it down somewhere. It doesn't matter how stupid the idea might be. Your only job is to capture it so you can review later.

Suddenly you find that you mentally unclench.

The brain is free from its stress and can relax when you are in the middle. "Don't worry" it tells you "we can think about this later, for now, let's just watch the ball shall we?"

The catch: Review often

There is a catch to this batting tip: You also need to review everything you write down.

This is a simple task, and is best done as soon as possible after your innings (including training). You grab up all your notes and go through each one to decide if it's worth exploring, then create an action to take if you want to try it.

Let me give you an example.

A young batsman is facing an accurate spinner in a one day match and unable to rotate the strike. After the game he realises that he could have swept more for easy runs, but at the time he felt he was not confident to play the shot.

He sits down after the match and looks at the note on his phone "sweep spinners!" it says. Underlined.

So, he notes down that at his next net session he is going to practice the run sweep and tuck to build up confidence.

This review is also a great time to come up with new ideas and decide to continue doing things that went well.

So after each innings, sit down and think about:

What did I do well that I can keep doing?
What did I do badly that I need to stop doing?
What can I work on in practice?
What crazy thing can I do that might just work?

Make sure you turn the "blue sky" thinking into solid actions for the next innings or practice.

How long to think for

How long should this whole capture and review process take?

A few moments to write down a thought to get it out of your head, then perhaps 10 minutes to review things and create some solid actions. Take longer if you need it. You probably won't.

How easy is that?

Let's face it, if you don't set time aside, you will be thinking all the time!

Instead, you feel free from the shackles, your mind is clear and you bat with a purpose that fits your batting style perfectly.

All because you brought a pen to your match.

Train Your Mind for Cricket with the 4C Method

David Hinchliffe — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 02:49:00 +0000

Most of us know what do do with a technical issue: Get in the nets and fix it. We also know that to get fit you train with cricket specific fitness work. But what if you want to improve the mental side of your game?

Don't worry, it's more simple than it seems and will result in dramatic improvements in your game, because - as you know - cricket is at least 80% mental.

The science of sport psychology has been working on this for decades, and have come up with a flexible, simple way to work on your mental game: The 4C Method.

How 4C makes you a cricketer

The eponymous letter are the 4 traits of mental strength:

Concentration
Confidence
Control
Commitment

Image for a moment that you had trained up all these elements to a peak. How good a cricketer would you be?

Even with glaring technical flaws (Graeme Smith), or a lack of fitness (Inzamam-ul-Haq) or a perceived limited talent (Paul Collingwood) you can still be an incredible player with a solid mental game.

While technique is vital to success, if you are not also training your 4C's you are leaving the opportunity to become a cricketer on the table.

So plan our mental training routine the same as you would plan your net sessions and gym work.

Then get to work.

Improve cricket concentration

Although cricket is a long game, it requires short bursts of concentration between large periods of no action. Distractions are plentiful and anything that takes you out of the moment is a potential failure as a batsman or bowler.

The first step to making an improvement is to recognise 2 things:

What situations are you most focused?
What situations are you most distracted?

This is highly personal. In my case I am rarely distracted while batting. I am encouraged by sledging and ignore any comments about my technique. However, I am least focused after I make a mistake while wicketkeeping. In other words, I am tough on myself.

I know this so I spend a lot of time working on self-talk that is about forgetting mistakes while keeping.

However, perhaps you find your mind drifting more randomly, or when you are tired. In which case you need to focus your work around triggers and improving your fitness (which has been proven to improve concentration levels).

Spend 20 minutes a day working on your own methods of handling distractions and you will get a concentration boost.

Plus, when you work on the other C's, you will see a crossover effect to concentration. Which brings me onto the next step...

Develop robust confidence in your game

As has been discussed before here, confidence is like a bank account. The more deposits you make the bigger your balance. In that way, it's far more simple than concentration. You just need to keep topping up your balance.

You do that with:

Regular deliberate practice
Using positive thinking to remember past success and imagine future success

A solid technique goes a long way to building confidence. If you know your action has all the indicators of speed, you know you are bowling as fast as you are able and you know you are going take more wickets.

But more than technique, you also need a database of experience. Some refer to this as the 10,000 hour rule.

If you have faced a lot of medium paced bowling in the middle overs of one day cricket you have more ability and confidence than against really fast bowlers opening the batting. So build up your experience in a wide variety of situations too, don't just hit lots of bowling machine balls in the nets to develop technical perfection.

You can combine this practical work with regular reflection: An often overlooked element of cricket performance.

We are all told to play in the moment. That's vital and true. But when the moment is over we also benefit from spending time thinking about it. Psychologists call this imagery. It's really just positive thinking.

Spend time after matches thinking about what went well. Spend time before matches planning how it could go perfectly. When you spend time thinking about all the good things you are doing, you believe in yourself.

How much time you need to spend on this kind of reflection depends on how tough you are on yourself and how many negative thoughts you have about your game. Personally, a few years ago I needed to spend a lot of time on being positive about myself and for a few years would spend 20 minutes a day in personal reflection. Nowadays I can get the same benefits from 5 minutes before a match and 5 minutes after training.

Maintaining steely control on the field

"Control" is a relative term in cricket. The fast bowler opening the bowling should be fired up. The batter at the other end should be ice cool.

But although the ideal control level varies between players and personalities, there is still the opportunity to be too laid back, or too fired up. It's your job to work out where your best level of control lies, and then get there.

Recognising your stress levels is not always easy in the heat of battle. That's why you need regular practice that puts you under different pressures. You learn how you feel and react in those moments.

Once you know where you are you can learn to adjust your level of control:

Relaxation
Motivation

Most cricketers tend to become too fired-up and lose control. If that's you, you need to be able to relax and the link above gives you a method for controlling those moments where the red mist becomes unhelpful.

On the other hand, sometimes you need to be fired up as a team. Especially bowlers. That's when a bit of calculated "motivation" goes a long way.

Stick to your plan with commitment

Finally, the most important element of your mental game, we get to "commitment". It's so important because all the plans in the world are useless if you don't stick to them.

But sticking to a plan is hard. Life gets in the way. energy levels are different on a rainy Sunday afternoon while you are planning things in detail compared to a busy Wednesday evening when you have been working hard all day.

The secret of commitment varies between people as some are naturally better than others, but everyone can benefit from:

Realistic planning.
An established routine.

Planning and executing those plans is a skill that takes time to build. Many books in the management field have been written on it.

The very short summary is:

Start with where you want to end
Decide the next physical steps to get there. Ensure they are realistic and achievable actions.
Put them into a trusted system (a to do list, a calendar)
Do it!

I would strongly recommend the primer here, but also to pick up a copy of "Getting Things Done" by David Allen for a system that is frighteningly effective for planning and doing.

Get your system right and your commitment follows on naturally.

In fact, that also applies to your routine. While this is very personal and so there is no way I can give you all the variables about routines, I can tell you that successful cricketers all have routines that work for them.

John Hurley wrote a nice series of articles that go over how to assess and establish a routine that works for you. Here is part one.

For a system that incorporates all these 4C methods, get the online coaching course "How to Use Mental Training to Boost Your Game" on PitchVision Academy. The content, worksheets and information is available instantly online.

5 "Must Try" Hacks to Cricket Nets that are Proven to Grow Your Game

David Hinchliffe — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 05:24:00 +0000

All year, every year club, school and Academy players head to nets. As the aim is to improve, how can we make nets achieve that aim?

For the thinking cricketer, there is a list of things that make you say, "I must try that". Somehow you never get round to it and end up doing the same thing you always did.

That's fine if it works for you, but there is a famous saying; "do what you always do to get what you always got". So ask yourself; can you improve things?

If you can, should you try one or two from the list below this year?

What's the worst that can happen?

1. Plan ahead

What's your plan at practice?

Just by answering that question you will get more from your practice. It's all about focus. It's well proven that when you are focused on a specific aim, you are far more likely to succeed.

You wouldn't set off on a journey to somewhere new without a map or GPS. The same applies.

Don't rely on the coach to make a plan for you. They might, but it's not going to be as good as one you make yourself.

Don't think "I just want to hit balls" is a plan. It rarely is.

Think about what strength you can turn into a super strength, what weakness you can bring up to scratch or what new thing you can learn. Then go do it.

2. Warm up

Warming up is like flossing or eating vegetables: We know it's important yet not enough of us do it.

How many net sessions have you been to where there has been no warm up? Plenty I bet.

How many net sessions have you been to where the coach or captain has lead a warm up? The rest I'm sure.

In over 20 years of coaching and playing, I can think of exactly three players who warmed up without prompting. It just doesn't happen. It's is even still seen as a bit weird.

It isn't weird. Warming up - when done right - is proven beyond doubt to stave off injury and improve performance. If you are a fast bowler warming up is beyond essential, it makes you bowl faster. If you are a fielder warming up will get your throw quicker and more accurate. If you are a batsman warming up will help you hit the first half volley for four.

If your team doesn't have a warm up culture, or has one that doesn't work for you, then do your own.

Get there a bit earlier and do what you need to do before anyone else arrives. It shows deep commitment, it improves performance and helps you stay on the park.

3. Keep score

If we go to every practice with a plan, the next step is to measure how you are going. You do this by keeping score at practice.

The big benefit of measurement is you can see the big picture. We are terrible at remembering how we did, but recording how you did solves that issue, shows you areas to improve and builds confidence as you improve.

There are a million ways to keep score, with PitchVision a very simple way to track things as you go. Here are some of my favourites:

Bowling accuracy
Batting "net average"
Speed at running a three
Throwing accuracy
Catch percentage

There are plenty more.

You don't have to measure every little thing every time, but keeping a running score with testing is a powerful way to see how you are going and make adjustments if you need to.

5. Use video

Another underused part of practice is video. Yet again, we all think it's a good idea, but the practice is thin on the ground. I don't recall the last time I saw a player at nets actively ask to be filmed.

But don't we all have a camera in our pocket thanks to our smart phones these days?

Perhaps it's the stigma of asking your mate to film you. To that I say, get over it. The benefits far outweigh the shame. And anyway, if everyone does it, it's no longer embarrassing. So pair up with someone who films you and in return you film them. Use the PitchVision app on Android or iPhone and go for it.

The other option is to use PV/VIDEO. You can set up a couple of cameras in the net that attach to a laptop to record every ball automatically. Imagine being able to call up all the balls you bowled or faced instantly and filter them by type of ball. That's next level stuff accessible to any club or school. It goes into any net like this:

My challenge to you is to try these things over the next few net sessions and find out what sticks. Nets are much better when you are that little bit more mindful. Find out for yourself.

Bowl Faster: Brace the Front Leg

David Hinchliffe — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:30:00 +0000

One of the most common pieces of advice from top bowling coaches is to learn to "brace the front leg". But that's a technical term, and it's not obvious to everyone what it means, or how to do it. So, here are more details about how and why you brace the front leg to bowl fast.

Why brace the front leg?

Two words: Pole vault.

A pole vaulter generates enough power and energy to get over a bar five or six metres in the air. Much higher than a high jumper. The difference is the pole, which is used to brace against the ground after a run up, put energy through the pole and lever the athlete high in the air.

You don't have a pole and you don't need to be flipped, but you do have a leg and you need to get energy into a ball. The straighter you leg, the longer your lever and the more power into the ball. So, by keeping your front leg straight when it lands, you are creating energy. It looks a bit like this:

Why a braced front leg is an advantage

The idea is becoming more popular in coaching - thanks in no small part to Ian Pont - but it's still not standard practice. That means many players learn how to bowl without ever being told to brace the front leg for improved pace with no loss of accuracy.

In fact, there are even professional bowlers who don't brace the front leg. Even very quick bowlers, who often use other methods such as upper body power to bowl fast.

However, chances are you will bowl faster whatever you method if you brace. This is a huge advantage for you can get an extra yard of pace if you can learn the skill well. You may or may not become a 150kph bowler just by bracing, but you will certainly get quicker and you won't lose accuracy. This is true, even if you have an established action with a bent front knee.

How to brace the front leg when bowling

The first step is to check if you knee bends when your front foot lands. If it does, you need to do some work. So, get yourself on video from the side and see for yourself.

If you do need to brace, this skill is difficult to learn. It's especially tough if your action is well set. It feels "wrong" when you try it. It may even feel like you are going to damage your knee by locking it. This feeling won't last long if you persevere. Don't let it put you off.

Take some time to try bracing your front leg (also called the front foot block) from standing still. You don't even need to bowl a ball. Get a feel for that braced leg in a still position first. It takes more time for some than others but everyone gets it. Then you can try walking it through slowly and building it up to a jog then full speed. You can see the full drill progression here.

For some, this will come easily and you will see an uptick in speed. For others it takes more time but with effort you can get there and add speed whatever your starting point.

Why You're Getting Out LBW

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 09 Apr 2018 05:17:00 +0000

LBW always seems a bit unfair. You are sure it was sliding down the leg side, but when you look up the umpire's finger is slowly raising.

Your team mates console you by telling you it was a shocker and you can't get the umpires these days. Deep in your heart you wonder why it keeps happening to you more than anyone else. You know its not likely that a whole series of umpires have bad eyesight or are looking to get off the pitch early because it's getting late.

Maybe it's you.

Maybe you are the classic "big candidate". (As my team calls the players who look like they are going to get out LBW.)

Yeah, so why am I getting out LBW?

First, we need to establish if there is a problem at all.

If you have got out three times in a row to LBW then the red warning light is flashing, but we are not at full troubleshooting mode yet. It may be no fault of your own. You might get a bad decision, followed by a brilliant fast inswinging yorker and then a lazy shot: Three different reasons and only one in your control.

So, let's make sure there is a pattern first.

Ask yourself: Are you getting out in the same way repeatedly? For example, early on when the ball is swinging but the pace is gentle are you still getting trapped? That's a trend that needs further examination.

I'm sure it's more than bad luck, what's happening?

The first thing I look for in the LBW candidate is "falling over".

What does that mean?

Simply, you are strong on the off side, especially on the cover drive, so you always have half an eye on playing that shot. It's sensible, it's a strong area.

However, if you misjudge the ball and it's not a wide half volley you are in a bad position:

Your front foot is pointing to extra cover.
Your backlift goes behind your body (you can sometimes even see this in the stance).
Your head is leaning to the off side, sending your weight, and feet, towards extra cover.

One or more of these leads to you stepping in front of your stumps - sometimes called "planting" - and having to move your bat around your front leg. When you are too slow, the ball hits you dead in front.

The bottom line is that your balance is wrong.

OK. How do I get my balance right again?

Don't panic.

Some people can get away with balance that is a little off. Graeme Smith scored buckets of runs and always looked like he was about to be out LBW, even on two hundred!

However, assuming you are not doing as well as Smith, you can do a simple drill to correct your balance.

Face left arm bowling (for a right handed bat).

Open your stance a little to make sure both eyes are looking at the bowler then get on with it. You'll adapt as time goes on as you will be forced to play straighter and not through the covers.

There are a few ways you can do this:

Bowling machine set up for left arm bowling, ball swinging in.
Right arm around bowling, throwdowns or sidearm.
Left arm over bowling, throwdowns or sidearm.

This drill will allow you to work out your way of playing and adjust because it exaggerates your flaw so much you have to change to survive.

Give it a go over a few sessions and watch the difference it makes.

Become a Talented Cricketer with Three Step Resilience

David Hinchliffe — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 04:01:00 +0000

You don’t get to be a talented cricketer unless you have resilience.

The ability to power through bad times, drops in form and unfair treatment is a trait of almost every top class player. You can recreate it too, if you follow this simple process.

This is a proven method used in CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) to help people become more resilient against issues like depression, addictions and anxiety. It’s very effective in this world, and so also works on less severe elements of life, like mental strength in cricket.

It’s also so simple, you would be foolish to not give it a go for a few weeks. I know you will see an improvement in your mental toughness as a result.

Here is what you do.

After a net session, practice or game, ask yourself these questions:

What happened? (Just the facts)
What did you think and feel about it? (Emotions and reactions)
What action can you take in future? (Planning)

You can write this down, or simply think it through in a quiet, reflective moment.

Either way you will come out with a way of breaking down your thoughts and coming up with a plan for next time. This makes things considered and rational rather than emotionally driven and negative.

Breaking down your thoughts from your actions works. This is because it helps you identify the facts of the matter (question 1), pull out the thoughts you had about it (question 2), reflect on whether those reactions were hurtful or helpful, then plan your next move (question 3).

The idea is, over time, you begin to spot the way you react to things.

This allows you to plan for your reaction and turn it from something that hurts your game into something that helps your game.

And that is resilience!

The classic example of this in nets is the batsman who gets out a couple of times, gives up and starts slogging.

After the net the coach comes up and asks what happens. They describe the facts of the matter (question 1) before going on to explain they felt frustrated so decided to take it out on the ball, perhaps even rationalising the move by saying it was death batting.

The coach then asks what future action they can take to meet their goals. The player comes up with several practical ways of keeping focused, even after getting out. Perhaps they work on playing the balls that got them in trouble to reduce the chance of it happening. Perhaps they work on recognising their frustration and putting them aside to stay focused on their goal in the net.

It’s this simple process that works for any skill in batting, bowling and fielding. It works post-practice and post-game. It allows you to focus on the things you want to improve in future.

It’s an opportunity to learn and improve your talent.

All for five minutes reflection! Not bad eh?

Can You Break the Shackles of Your Limited Cricket Talents?

David Hinchliffe — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 06:18:00 +0000

Does natural talent define your playing format?

Ed Smith argues that it does. In this article he say ODI batting is harder because it requires more natural talent. Test skills can be learned, ODI skills need something that can't be taught and a touch of genius.

"it is far harder to make yourself a top-flight batsman in ODIs. This is especially true at the top of the order, where most matches are won and lost... the ability consistently to hit a new white ball bowled at 90mph over the ropes? I wouldn't recommend that anyone attempt to base a career around that skill set unless he had first won the genetic lottery for natural talent."

It is true that not everyone can do such an awesome feat. What bothers me is the last 5 words.

What goes into talent? You might say technique, amount of practice, type of practice, confidence, grit, conditions and opposition bowling skill.

Some are in you control, others are not.

I would also argue that upbringing is crucial. How much money you have, the culture in which you grow up, the coaches you have (and the value they place on different formats), and the determination of your parents to help with you passion; even when your passion wanes in face of failure.

All these things are not "natural" but all plug into that final number we call the batting average.

Really, it's hard to define where natural talent ends and hard work begins. How much of batting skill is pure born hand to eye magic that requires zero practice or experience? When you think about how hard players have to work to make it to professional level - and how much expertise they have to pick up along the way - let alone International level, you realise that there is much less nature than you instinctively imagine.

In my mind, if there are natural differences between players - and I think there are - these differences stem from a combination of many physical and psychological traits. These traits go far beyond imagining Dhoni just picked up a bat one day and started hitting bowlers everywhere.

Perhaps natural ability is hand to eye coordination so good you can blast the first ball of a match for six. Perhaps it's a way of quickly acquiring these types of skills. Perhaps it's your determination to keep at a practice until you master your game. Perhaps it's sheer 10,000 hours style volume of playing. Perhaps it's all those things. The point is, even if it is all those elements and more, the final batting average still has further influences.

There is no doubt that the limited over format requires different skills to Tests, but are they harder? Are they reserved only for the genius? Hard hitting looks more impressive and seems more difficult for mere mortals to achieve, so we put it down to ODI batsman simply being more talented.

A brilliant ODI innings is so breathtaking we forget that a brilliant Test innings requires just as much talent, they are just different talents that appear easier to obtain. You might see Joss Buttler hit a length ball for six and gasp "I could never do that". Then you might watch Jonathan Trott painfully accrue a hundred in Australia and think "Sure, that was good, but I can see myself doing that. He basically just left the ball and waited for bad ones on his pads". These things may be true, but is the latter skill really any easier? Does the former really require more natural skill?

I would argue not.

Your road is only ever partially defined by your nature. You can do a huge amount with the right work. That should be empowering to you.