Strides and movement

[Ripping-LegBreak]

Strides and movement

Hi, I'm pretty short in height and i have problem with really full balls, ie. yorker length, general full balls, fulltosses, i always miss them i make an attempt to get my front foot out but i just miss it, if it's on the stumps i get bowled, so i can only defend. This problem only happens when i try to drive. I can play shots of the back foot ok and shots off a good length but full length is just so hard for me to play for some reason apart from defence. So any tips?

Another question is what is the best technique to make a movement towards the ball.

1 Batlift comes up before ball is delivered so shoulder is straight down the wicket, then when ball is delivered adjusting the shoulder line towards the line of the ball with the bat in a static position, followed by the foot following the shoulder, with the bat coming down after the foot is firmly on the ground. So bat comes after the foot.

Or.

2. Making a batlift and movement into one moment, Ie. When ball is delivered then starting the batlift with the bat picked up which makes the shoulder inline with the line of the ball, rather than technique number one where i shoulder goes back straight and adjusting late, but in this technique i pick the bat up as the ball is coming towards me. And bat and foot coming down at the same time.

So wat technique is better, I tried both techniques but i don't know which one is better.

 

[micoach]

Re: Strides and movement

The trick to getting forward is to lead with your head rather than your shoulder. The shoulder and feet will naturally follow to stop you falling over.

Your shoulder position will very much depend on the line of the ball. The more off side the line the more closed your shoulders, the more leg side the more open. A straight ball will be played sideways on.

This adjustment is made with the bat at the top of your backlift as soon as you pick up the line of the ball (the earlier you can get your body in position the better you can time the ball).

That said, I am not suggesting you stand with the bat raised baseball style as the bowler runs in. You can do if you feel comfortable but you can just as easily lift the bat at the point of delivery ready for it to come down in time with the arrival of the ball.

What that means is your front heel should be down and your head/shoulder in the correct position as early as humanly possible. Look at this side view of a straight drive:

You can see that although the ball has not arrived in shot in the 2nd picture, the front foot is firmly set in position and the downswing of the bat is almost halfway completed. The impact with the ball is then made just in front of the pad with the batter's weight forward:

So option 1 is the best in terms of foot position, but remember to lead with the head rather than the shoulder.

 

[Ripping-LegBreak]

Re: Strides and movement

Thanks for the advice, I was reading a handbook of cricket and the guy who wrote it said "The best advice i can give to a batsmen is to lead with the shoulder." I borrowed this book from the library, Could it be it's outofdate in terms of modern cricket. It was written in the 1990's.

 

[micoach]

Re: Strides and movement

Well, it's not totally wrong to say that.

It's better advice than leading with your front foot. However I find that leading with the shoulder makes players think they should dip it towards the ball early and they can get closed off.

A much easier thing to think about is your head. It's so heavy that moving it towards the ball makes your body (including your shoulder) follow it automatically. Plus you can keep your shoulders and hips in a more open position if the ball is there to hit through the on side.

Look at this on drive:

See how open the hips and shoulder are to play the shot? You would struggle to get there if you lead with your shoulder as it would tend to point too off side. So you would be cutting off almost every leg side shot.