Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

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Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

Coaching and handbooks specifically for the women's game

... as recommended by England's coach Peter Moores, who has coached plenty of women's cricket, including Sussex seniors. He believes, for example, that female batsmen usually play squarer than the men because there's less power, and that female players - many of whom come from hockey - should use more bottom hand in their shots. Manuals and practices could be tailored for their game.
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The above quote came from an article on Cricinfo on how to further promote the womens game.

It struck as being odd that I've never come across this thinking before and was wondering what others think about it? Is there a difference between the way women and men play the game and if there is should we be looking at adapting coaching techniques?
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

Women are not as strong as men but the techniques are the same. You don't need to be super strong to score runs.

I would like to know what Peter Moores actually said there, I can't see the logic in his comments as presented there.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

A very interesting article. I totally agree with it in essentials but not sure about some of the ideas to move forward.

It has been a very, very long time since I played at County level but, unfortunately, not a lot has changed. Although I still coach in a skirt; old habits!

Women and girls should not be coached the same way as the guys, not just because of 'less physical strength' which, I agree with David, is immaterial but because we are built differently, not just physiologically but also psychologically and mentally ;)

It does frustrate me when I see most girls' potential being suppressed by the 'style' of coaching which generally accentuates their weaknesses and totally ignores their strengths.

The sooner we stop trying to force these round pegs in to square holes the better.

PS We do not play squarer because of less power... I would have thought the reason obvious; the Amazons had the right idea but that is one step I would not be prepared to take for my sport :laugh:
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

Harrowdrive said:
Women are not as strong as men but the techniques are the same. You don't need to be super strong to score runs.

I would like to know what Peter Moores actually said there, I can't see the logic in his comments as presented there.
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I've been trying to find more on it but at the moment only have that snippet.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

One question -do the women use different size cricket balls to the blokes? I mean kids use the little ones so do women use those or full size ones?

Also, Liz you said you used to play at county level? What was that like and did you ever meet Coral Handley?
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

As the Combined Services and Army Ladies Senior Coach, I feel it only fitting I reply to this one.

The reason for playing sqaure of the wicket is more to do with the pace of delivery, it helps that most women cricketers are hockey or tennis players and therefore have strong bottom hands. Whilst coaching ladies, I find them more attentive and willing to learn against the mens squad. But, there is no way I coach them differently.

As for strength, the majority of the Ladies I coach are stronger and bigger than many men I have coached, but size and strength aren't everything and we should know this. It's technique and timing, Jayasuria can clear the ropes as easily as Pietersen, so with women work on technique and repition drills to get body and mind working together, so they can fulfill their potential.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

leggeb4 said:
As the Combined Services and Army Ladies Senior Coach, I feel it only fitting I reply to this one.

The reason for playing sqaure of the wicket is more to do with the pace of delivery, it helps that most women cricketers are hockey or tennis players and therefore have strong bottom hands. Whilst coaching ladies, I find them more attentive and willing to learn against the mens squad. But, there is no way I coach them differently.
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When you say pace of the delivery, do you mean that they play squarer because it's slower or that they find it too quick?
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

I have to tell you that I have not played competitive cricket since 1978 :eek:

OK, let's just forget I said that... very quickly ;)

When I played, girls were not 'coached' at all. In fact, unless your school included cricket in its curriculum [and this was usually only the private schools] children were not 'coached' until they were old enough to play for their local club at senior level. Even then, more often than not, you were not 'coached' but taught the fundamentals by your older, more experienced team mates. You were left to develop your own technique through experiment.

These days, girls are coached along with the boys at most clubs... if they take girls at all. This is fine and if coached well, they are able to compete with equality until they reach a certain age, when they begin to develop differently. The boys continue to progress in relation to their age, fitness and training but the girls' progress tends to slow down. However, those who do not develop in the traditional way; have narrow hips, bust etc still do very well. The others struggle with their differing centre of gravity and greater Q angle. They are not taught how they can use these and other physiological differences to their advantage, and they can.

Have you ever wondered why girls cannot run?

Actually, they can and very well, its just that they are expected to run like boys, which is extremely clumsy for them.

Coaching women as men is not a problem if all women are coached the same way; then you are playing with a level playing field. However, some countries have spent a lot of time and money on research recently and the women are starting to be given a different experience. They are being taught how to use their differences to maximise their potential rather than just do the best they can with what they are given. This, of course, is fuelled by the prospect of big money as womens cricket is getting ready to explode in a big way... worth watching this space!


When I played, we played with the same balls as the guys but I believe they play with the smaller balls now.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

Liz is very correct, women play differently, I hope I didn't confuse anyone, when I said I caoch them the same as men. What I mean is, each individual is coached in regard to their ability and potential. Otherwise, we would have 11 cricketers doing exactly the same on every park in the world.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

It is hard to generalise... it all depends on how much testosterone is pumping around their bodies [O loveaduck... can't you just hear the cat making it's appearance amongst the pigeons?]

You know how guys approach the game (!) girls tend to play more for the team. They are competitive but tend to be more so with themselves. Of course, they want to win, but they want to do their best and tend to pray less that the opponent does badly and more that they do well!!

Girls are generally much more strategic than guys, they are more alert and more aware of the game situation rather than their own performance. They tend to think ahead and because they can multitask [sorry, had to get that in ;) ] they can keep their eye on every component of the game; this includes concentration and keeping an eye on the captain whilst fielding, allowing her to subtly rearrange the team without alerting the batsman.

Because they think one step ahead, they know where they need to be to stop runs rather than plug gaps that have already gushed runs.

Girls tend to listen more and are more open to imagery, self hypnosis etc so tend to use these tools more than guys. They have no worries about looking 'silly' with their preparation so will happily include a proper warm up [psychological as well as physiological].

However, I think this leads to a less explosive and unpredictable game!

Of course, some guys play like this too and it is no coincidence that they are referred to as 'being in touch with their feminine side' ;)

And, of course, some girls approach and attack the game like Attila the Hun :laugh:
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

Thanks for that Liz, an interesting insight.

One thing though, I would guess that women tend to play the game differently due to their lack of power (pace when bowling, strength in shot etc) - does this have an effect on how they approach the game mentally?
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

In general, I don't think so, but this may change if mixed matches become the norm. However, this will probably be the result of psychological issues not physiological ones.

As Pat says, women playing at a high level can be just as strong as their male counterparts and the trick is technique and timing.

Women do not play differently, as such, and can do everything their male counterparts can do, they just do it differently.

It is a little confusing and going back to Pat's point, he is right, you should not 'coach' girls differently; they must be taught the game, the shots [how and which], styles of bowling, fielding etc and this can be the same as with the guys. However, coaches must accommodate their physical differences and not expect the girls to do some of these things the same way as guys, even though they can do it just as well as the guys.

For instance, we like to encourage the guys to get their navel over the ball to dominate the shot; this is not appropriate for a well built girl [the ball becomes invisible ;) ]. The problem is, a coach does not know how a ten year old girl is going to develop so, how should you coach this? Do you ignore this issue, shrug your shoulders and accept this as somebody else's problem as you will not be coaching her when she is 14/16? Girls taught to play like boys hit a 'mental' brick wall when they grow and suddenly cannot do something they have always been able to do well. Quite often, they do not understand why and the coaches wash their hands of them [quite often, the coach does no understand why] so... the girls give up! More often than not, the differences are much more subtle, like the differing centre of gravity and wider Q angle as mentioned before.

Its a difficult subject and I know your interest was primarily from a mental aspect but by not accommodating the physiological differences a coach can cause so many psychological issues by suppressing potential.

I think Pat and I will have to devise a course for coaches wishing to coach girls - or perhaps work together on a book... 'How To Coach Girls the Simply Cricket Way' :laugh:
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

Thanks for the great reply again Liz, it's a topic which interests me but one which rarely gets discussed.

The points about centre of gravity and the Q angle are well made and it certainly gives an idea of what the subtle differences are and how best to work with them.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

I think the book idea would be great. Even better would be to get the England Ladies job. I will post fixtures for the womens matches I'm coaching in and anyone local is welcome to come along and take a look and have a chat. Generally, they are in Aldershot or Portsmouth, so local ladies are welcome.
 
Re: Tailoring coaching for Womens Cricket

leggeb4 said:
I will post fixtures for the womens matches I'm coaching in and anyone local is welcome to come along and take a look and have a chat. Generally, they are in Aldershot or Portsmouth, so local ladies are welcome.
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Pat - if you could post them up then that would be great!
 
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