Is he too young???

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Re: Is he too young???

Thanks guys for all your positive comments. He is enjoying his cricket and loves all aspects of the game including fielding???

There is no fear of me interfering with his action as I wouldn't know what to do lol.

With regards to his hand size - some of the balls we had were senior size balls so I have got a couple of junior ones in so this should help him grip the ball easier.

When I get a chance I will get some clips of him batting so that I can get some feedback on this:D
 
Re: Is he too young???

mas cambios;407741 said:
...and seeing as he is so young there is still plenty of time to work with him once he reaches 11/12/13 if there are things which do need putting right.
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The main thing to remember, as mas alludes to, is by the time this player reaches [possibly] the top end of this age group, his body will have changed... 6 dimensionally. Being primarily ectomorphic, it may not appear until he is 15. If he is left to develop naturally, he will be able to adjust through natural progression. If at this age he is struggling, then tweak. If he remains safe and successful, leave alone... many spinners are ruined by over engineering :(.

At the moment his action is safe and although it may not be too obvious, his muscles are firing well; learning to store potential energy. If you mess with him now, you will put him into a box that he will be unable to grow out of.

OK... one thing I would change... his practise sessions. This is going to be hard and will certainly keep Dad fit :D.

He needs to practise with a good batsman [not in the nets]. He needs to learn where his balls are going to be hit, and they will be hit... hard. He will need to put this into perspective and use it to his advantage. He needs to learn how to set his field as soon as possible.

Please do not allow your son to bowl with the adult balls. If he continues, you are setting him up for medial/lateral epichondilitis... end of career!
 
Re: Is he too young???

During this season I have lost some weight by bowling to him as he loves his batting. After club training if he feels he hasn't had a decent bat or bowl he will ask to stay behind and practice in the nets. If he fancies a bowl he will bowl at the other lads who want a bat.

At the moment a lot of the youngsters find it hard to hit the ball when it moves. Sometimes, he gets a lot of bounce (hit the abdomen/chest area a few times) possibly bowling a top spinner without realising it.

Liz, I have removed all the adult balls from his kit bag and replaced them with junior ones. He was a bit disappointed as his favourite ball is a very old battered one but is adult size. He loves this ball as it "turns a lot". ;)
 
Re: Is he too young???

luckydip;407795 said:
...He was a bit disappointed as his favourite ball is a very old battered one but is adult size. He loves this ball as it "turns a lot". ;)
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Oh dear! Heartbreaking :(. Put it on a stand, on a shelf, in his bedroom... everyone [thing] deserves a holiday. Tell him if he eats his greens, he will be bowling with it again soon :D.

luckydip;407795 said:
...At the moment a lot of the youngsters find it hard to hit the ball when it moves. Sometimes, he gets a lot of bounce (hit the abdomen/chest area a few times) possibly bowling a top spinner without realising it.
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Have a word with the U13s coach to see if he will let him bowl to his group... they could do with the experience too! Although I really do think it a bad idea to play with or do any other training with older age groups [primarily for safety reasons], he is more than ready to bowl to them. TBH, he will only progress if he can get players to hit his balls.

If the coach agrees, make sure he does not 'coach' him... just let him bowl.
 
Re: Is he too young???

First thought is that the bat is way too big. Can do quite a lot of harm - better to have a bat that is too small than too big.

Ideally a bat should come up to just below the hip or better still to the line of the pocket on a pair of properly fitting trousers.
 
Re: Is he too young???

mas cambios;407888 said:
First thought is that the bat is way too big. Can do quite a lot of harm - better to have a bat that is too small than too big.

Ideally a bat should come up to just below the hip or better still to the line of the pocket on a pair of properly fitting trousers.
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Its a size 1 and the coaches said it was the right size?:eek:
 
Re: Is he too young???

It just looks big to me - a rough guide here:

Code: 
Up to 4ft - size 0
4ft to 4ft 3in - size 1
4ft 3in to 4ft 6in - size 2
 
Re: Is he too young???

the bat does look giant! but then hes not much taller than the stumps lol. he looks like his bottom hand does way too much work relative to the top hand, and hes very wristy. but i am by no means a batting coach/expert. that could also be a side effect of a large bat that he struggles to wield with his weaker top hand?
 
Re: Is he too young???

Jim2109;407892 said:
the bat does look giant! but then hes not much taller than the stumps lol. he looks like his bottom hand does way too much work relative to the top hand, and hes very wristy. but i am by no means a batting coach/expert. that could also be a side effect of a large bat that he struggles to wield with his weaker top hand?
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The reason he looks like that is because his hands are too far apart. He has his bottom hand right on the splice and the top hand at the very top of the handle. It's a common problem in junior players.

The hands need to be closer together, this will allow greater range of movement and help to stop the slightly awkward looking shots.
 
Re: Is he too young???

luckydip;407889 said:
Its a size 1 and the coaches said it was the right size?:eek:
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If he's under 4'3" then a size 1 is the right one for him - they don't go any smaller! The most important thing to remember as he grows up is that until adulthood the size of bat is much more important that the quality, as if a bat is too big and heavy it will hurt his strokeplay and discourage him - he'll think his batting's no good when it's the bat that's preventing him from playing properly. It's always a good idea to buy the best quality of bat you can afford, but buying two or three expensive bats over a period of time in the expectation that he will grow into them is a false economy. Much better to budget for more bats of a lower quality so that he always has the right bat for his stature.
 
Re: Is he too young???

I think you may guess that at 7, I am not a fan of wooden bats. I appreciate that kwik cricket bats are not 'sexy' and an able player may feel they are a bit 'babyish', but they do serve a purpose.

I see a lot of talent in this video, especially when your son remembers he is playing cricket and not baseball :D. He has some good technique but, to be honest with you, this is inhibited by the bat; he is compensating in so many different ways which is really bad for him.

I would take him back to basics... and I mean basics. His stance is compromised by the size and weight of the bat. His knees need to be softer and he needs to hinge more at the hips to balance. At the same time, he needs to take his shoulders away from his ears... I cannot begin to list all the physical problems this posture leads to... he needs to push his shoulder blades down into his back pockets and he needs to use a 'cricket' grip.

Unfortunately, if he did this, the bat would hit the ground as he played it through... so yes, I think the bat is too big... sorry :(.

However, this is good... the problem is the bat, not your son's technique :D. Again, great potential!
 
Re: Is he too young???

luckydip;407906 said:
Thanks for the tips. Looks like we need to get a size 0 bat :D
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Options are getting a kwik cricket style bat or having a wooden one cut down.
As Liz says, your boy has a lot of ability but at the moment his size hamper him a little as most kit is made for slightly bigger children.

From the video I've seen he already has a sound grasp of the basics, such as having to move his feet and hitting the ball to either the off or leg side. Most kids at his age plant their feet and swing to leg, so he is already ahead many.
 
Re: Is he too young???

One way I've heard that you can ascertain whether the bat is too big or not is that you should be able to fit it snug under your crutch - is this true or have I picked that notion up on some dodgy website or something?
 
Re: Is he too young???

Depends which bit of of the bat you're talking about - getting the top of the handle under there could be a tad painful!
 
Re: Is he too young???

:D.

That may work for some but if you think about it, it assumes we are all built with the same proportions i.e. ratio of length of legs/body/arms. I can assure you, we are not. Some have longer legs in relation to back... some have really long backs but short legs... the same with arms.
 
Re: Is he too young???

Yeah, OK the bats a tad too big and that will make his hands not work quite right. His grip will be better and more natural with a smaller size.

But despite that he shows a lot of talent, and would be on course for under/10's development squad then youth district rep teams in Under 11's in 4 years time if he was in our junior comp. If he and his dad wanted he could play a year or two above his age as well. Probably Under 9/10,s modified hardball or Under 10's 30 over hardball.

Someone like Kevin Peiterson could learn something from this little nipper. If the ball pitches outside off stump it is always the best option to place your shots on that side of the wicket.
 
Re: Is he too young???

Yeah good point - but I'd imagine instead of being on here or youtube or better still in the nets learning to play proper off-side shots he's probably on twitter talking about X - factor or some other crap!
 
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