How To Play Powerful Drives On The Back Foot?
- Thread starter shahidpak
- Start date
micoach
Active Member
Back foot drives are an interesting one. They are much harder to hit for a boundary that the front foot because it's more difficult to go back then put your weight back into the ball. It's even harder on slow wickets with medium pacers.
The way I coach it to kids is to say that you are not trying to hit it for 4. You are trying to hit it between the off side fielders for one or two.
This allows the player to not worry about hitting it too hard any more and focus on timing. They are nicely surprised if it does then go for a boundary!
More on timing here: http://www.pitchvision.com/perfect-cricket-timing
The way I coach it to kids is to say that you are not trying to hit it for 4. You are trying to hit it between the off side fielders for one or two.
This allows the player to not worry about hitting it too hard any more and focus on timing. They are nicely surprised if it does then go for a boundary!
More on timing here: http://www.pitchvision.com/perfect-cricket-timing
loopylegspinner
Member
I would deem the back foot drive as one of my best shots. It is probably because I use the forward press, which gets my weight forward, so when I then come back, my weight is still forward, allowing me to get over the ball.
The forward press, however, doesn't work for everyone so if you don't use it, then just concentrate on still coming back but get over the ball and manoeuvre it into the gaps.
Two variations for when you are in and seeing the ball well are:
Open the face and let the ball glide down towards third man - once I'm in, I like to do this for all of the balls that I'm planning to play the back-foot defensive and you can usually get a single down there.
Another shot is to play more of a back foot slash - this gets you lots more power but is risky and I wouldn't play it if the opposition have any slips in place.
The forward press, however, doesn't work for everyone so if you don't use it, then just concentrate on still coming back but get over the ball and manoeuvre it into the gaps.
Two variations for when you are in and seeing the ball well are:
Open the face and let the ball glide down towards third man - once I'm in, I like to do this for all of the balls that I'm planning to play the back-foot defensive and you can usually get a single down there.
Another shot is to play more of a back foot slash - this gets you lots more power but is risky and I wouldn't play it if the opposition have any slips in place.
Back foot drives are lovely shots to play against medium pacers or spinners on a slow, low, even pitch, where a back of a length ball comes through at knee to thigh height. You can really put your weight through the ball and drive it anywhere between cover and midwicket along the ground with great power.
On fast, bouncy pitches, the back foot drive becomes a trickier shot to play as the back of a length ball starts to reach stomach height and it become hard to hit it straight along the ground. Here the correct technique is to open the face a little more and use the pace to play the ball squarer towards point.
On uneven or two-paced pitches, the back foot drive is probably one of the most dangerous shots to play because the ball only has to stick in the pitch a bit and you will punch an easy catch to an infielder. The number of batsmen I see get out like this...
On fast, bouncy pitches, the back foot drive becomes a trickier shot to play as the back of a length ball starts to reach stomach height and it become hard to hit it straight along the ground. Here the correct technique is to open the face a little more and use the pace to play the ball squarer towards point.
On uneven or two-paced pitches, the back foot drive is probably one of the most dangerous shots to play because the ball only has to stick in the pitch a bit and you will punch an easy catch to an infielder. The number of batsmen I see get out like this...