Ask the coaches
Starting this week and every week I'm giving you the chance to access the PitchVision Academy coaches with your questions.
You can send your question to miCoach using the question form here. The best questions will be posted on the site and answered by one of our team of experts here on PitchVision miCoach.
This week we cover trigger movements, bowling fitness and what to do if you can't hit the ball out of the park.
"I've been hearing a lot about trigger movements and how they can help against fast bowlers but one thing i dont get is when exactly to use them. Do you use them while the bowler is running up or just as the ball is being released? I'm confused because you're always told to stay still before the ball is bowled. Can you help clear up this confusion? - Manish"
Whatever trigger a batter may have, their head is always still with eyes level at the point of delivery. The ball is hard enough to pick up when you are not moving so to have your eyes tracking side to side can't help!
The trigger move is used by some batsmen against faster bowlers (I'm talk super fast at club level here: 80mph plus which is rare) to 'unload'. That is to say get themselves light and on the balls of their feet. However, their heads are still at the point of delivery. Some use a deliberate trigger to stop a subconscious one like planting the front leg.
It's very personal and worth experimenting with to see how it feels, just remember to be still as the bowler bowls and you can't go far wrong.
"I was dumped from County level juniors last year, and replaced by a big lad who can't bowl or field but hits the ball miles.
I'm nearly 16 and only 5 feet tall, so I don't have the power to hit the ball out of the park. I could really do with some tips for impressive batting in shorter games, as I'm bored of going in at 3 and expected to bat through and score 20 not out in a Twenty20 game!" - Jack
It sounds like you have to have a growth spurt to sort out most of your problems. However until that happens, you your best tactic is to learn how to score runs without big hits.
The key to doing that is to learn how to work the ball into gaps and attack weak fielders. You don't need power to do that but it can give you almost a run a ball if you do it well. Here are some tips that could get loads of extra runs:
- Focus on trying to get quick singles. Back up when you are non striker and call well with yes, no and wait. Always look for weak fielders and push them for quick singles or extra runs in the deep.
- As early as possible in your innings identify gaps you can score runs in based on fielding position, fielder ability and bowler type.
- Take a different mental approach.
- Don't be afraid to use your feet to spin.
Most of all, practice these skill as much as possible. Always push your coach for practice games that teach good running between the wickets and if they are not keen get a load of mates down the park and make up a game with rules like no boundaries!
"I am a 16 year old wicketkeeper who plays first team cricket at club level. I have unfortunately hit a bad run of form this season. I haven't consciously changed anything about my technique and my fitness is good, but I still seem to be getting worse rather than better.
We don't have any team training sessions so I find it hard to practice, but this has never been a problem in the past. I am wondering if I have perhaps fallen into some bad habits when keeping without realising, and was hoping that you would be able to advise me on what may be wrong or what I can do." - Dale
To answer your question about technique I would need to see you keeping. If you want you can post a video up for me to take a look.
However, I don't think this is technical so much as mental. You are in a form slump and you don't know how to get out of it so have lost confidence in yourself. Take a look here for some tips
"After a shocking last season, I decided to be the fittest player on the field this year. At the moment in the off season, I've been doing a lot of strength and fitness work that goes a little bit like this:
- Monday: Cardio (Interval Sprints)
- Tuesday: Biceps followed by 1km jog
- Wednesday: Rest day
- Thursday: Squats
- Friday: Triceps followed by 1 km jog
To be the fit and powerful to succeed at cricket, do you think my routine is sufficient? If not, could you suggest alternatives?" - Kevin
You have the right basic principles in place: strength power and work capacity. It's hard for me to give specific advice without a proper analysis, however I can give you some general tips:
- Train movements rather than individual muscles. Look here and here for more information.
- Don't bother with the jogging, it's almost certainly a waste of your time. Try replacing it with some core training (not situps though).
- Finally, follow the strength training principles here when planning your workouts.
That's all the questions for this week. You can submit your own here.
If you do decide to send a question in, remember to put as much detail in as possible. This week I got a question that said:
"My son is going to play cricket and is preparing for team selection, please provide me tips. I would like to have some tips for good batting/bowling techniques."
I would love to help that person's son to improve, but the question is far to general and does not include any details.
So my request is; be as detailed as possible (videos also help, you can post them to youtube) and I will get back to you with answers either from myself for from the team of coaches I am in contact with.
