As you know by now, nets are one area where you can improve how you train. How do you do it?

Over the years here at PitchVision, we have shown you a dozen things you can do to spice up nets. It all starts with a bit of focus. Ask yourself, or your team,

What is the focus of this net?

Just hitting balls is not a focus. It's also tough to make any technical changes when bowlers are bowling. So, for most people there are three reasons to pad up and walk in:

1. Improve your cricket specific fitness: speed and endurance while batting.
2. Improve you concentration and skill under pressure.
3. Hone your game plan in different situations.

Let's look at each one:

Nets for fitness

Batting while pushing yourself physically is powerful. Not only are you better to ply long innings and run harder, you are also finding out what goes wrong when you are tired. We do let errors slip in the more fatigue we feel, so understanding and trying to eliminate these is part of these nets.

Here are four ideas:

1. Isolated running. A pair of batsmen alternate between hitting balls in the nets and running sprints in kit.
2. Results based running (same link above). Batsmen bat in pairs and run based on the outcome of the shot.
3. BATEX. Batter runs as a special app calls them.
4. Wilson/Thompson 40 Run Consequence Net. Batsmen in pairs run 40 runs in 15 minutes (and runs are timed).

Nets for mental toughness

If you understand how to manage pressure and stay focused on your goal, you will be a fantastic batsman. Most nets simply focus on the mechanics of hitting balls with no consequences or pressure. So here are four ways to add pressure to nets:

1. 10 point net. Batsmen are out when they run out of points. Gain points for good skills, lose points for errors.
2. 2 Point net. Survive sets of 10 balls by losing and gaining points.
3. Unfair Net. When you're out, you're out!
4. Intention 12. A way to make "last 6" more about good contacts than slogging.

Nets for game plans and tactics

With a great big net in the way, understanding where you hit the ball is tough (although also convenient). There are some ways to develop and hone your game plans though, you just need a couple of tweaks to the default format.

1. Batting average net. The batter judges runs based on how well the ball is struck and can lose wickets. This creates a net average.
2. Target net. Lay cones to show where the gaps are and try to hit them.
3. One crazy thing. Experiment with different tactics to see what works and what fails. Stick with it the whole net.
4. PGS zoning. Try to hit the ball into a pre-defined area. great for improving adaptability in limited over batting.

And that's your 12.

One word of warning: consistency is key. Trying things once will not help you in the long run, but repeating these nets over the course of a year will help you make huge strides forward in the areas you want to improve.

Let us know how you get on!