Re: Taking catches
Drills involving tennis balls are aimed at teaching players 'soft hands' - to catch a tennis ball that has been hit hard at you, you need to 'give' with it, or it's likely to pop right out.
That said, I don't think that practicing high catches with a tennis ball would be entirely beneficial. Like I said in an earlier post, the key to high catching is learning how to get into, and subsequently maintain, a good catching position where your eyes are behind the line of the ball. Catching tennis balls will teach you how to 'give' with the ball, but will not teach you how to get into a good position for catching a cricket ball - the two balls just behave far too differently in the air.
So: Catching tennis balls (or indoor cricket balls) = Great for close catching, and training soft hands
Cricket Balls = Necessary for High Catches.
I'm sure a couple of people may disagree with me though!
unccricket;26882 said:
Drills involving tennis balls are aimed at teaching players 'soft hands' - to catch a tennis ball that has been hit hard at you, you need to 'give' with it, or it's likely to pop right out.
That said, I don't think that practicing high catches with a tennis ball would be entirely beneficial. Like I said in an earlier post, the key to high catching is learning how to get into, and subsequently maintain, a good catching position where your eyes are behind the line of the ball. Catching tennis balls will teach you how to 'give' with the ball, but will not teach you how to get into a good position for catching a cricket ball - the two balls just behave far too differently in the air.
So: Catching tennis balls (or indoor cricket balls) = Great for close catching, and training soft hands
Cricket Balls = Necessary for High Catches.
I'm sure a couple of people may disagree with me though!