User talk:Amwelladmin

Cricket

Episode 1: Batting Get into the habit of setting yourself up for each ball. Think of it like a pre-flight routine in the cockpit -it also helps knuckle down and get focused on the ball and blot out distractions. The sports psychologists call this "self talk" - a little motto you say to yourself.

For now it is stance-balance-anchor.

Stance (guard- I would say back toe on middle or middle and leg - no further; and openness - front toe on leg stump - so you're not too closed off to shots on the on side.

Balance: with your bat up, have a stable base. Head level, over your hands. Flex your knees a bit. You should be able to resist falling over if someone gently barges you. The key is to retain this balance at all times through whatever shot you play. For front foot shots you do that by keeping your head over the hands, hands over the ball, and foot to the ball.

We'll work on back foot shots later: on local wickets the main problem you'll have is with a low ball and a lack of bounce. So front foot has got to be solid.

Problem with the nets is that they bounce a lot so there's a great temptation to stand back. London grass wickets don't play like that!

Anchor: If you're on the front foot, your back foot is your rock. It has to stay put. This does a couple of things: -If the ball is going down leg, let it go there: it's no danger to you, and offers (almost) risk free runs: if you miss it, a wide or byes (the keeper is unsighted - you are in the way!); If you get anything on it at least one run; if fine leg isn't paying attention, four. -if the ball's outside off, it's your platform. A lot of your power comes from driving your legs off that base.

So: remember the "landmine". Your back foot is on the trigger. Step off and it goes off.

If you step away down leg you convert that risk-free legside ball into a risky one it's hard to score from, and you expose all three stumps to a ball that's on target, and you're off balance, "hanging out the washing" just to get anything on the bat at all.

These are the core things to work on for now. If you get this "grooved in" so you do it without thinking about it, you're well on the way.

You can do some of this stuff in your living room. Lunge forward, pivoting of your back foot, to leg, straight, and to off, and hold the pose at the end of each lunge - if you're balanced you will have no trouble doing that.

Next time we'll look at getting your head and that front foot coming out to the line of the ball - then we can look at your bat swing and grip, but first thing is to get the base sorted out.

Amwelladmin (talk) 03:12, 6 February 2017 (CST)