4 Batting Drills To Improve YOUR Game Against Pace & Spin | Learn How To Bat In Cricket From A Pro
Summary
TLDRCricket professional Hassan Azad demonstrates essential batting drills in this instructional video. He covers the top hand rule for controlling the bat's back face, emphasizes the importance of turning the whole body and shoulders to direct the ball, and highlights the often-neglected bottom hand drills. Azad also discusses balance, using quick throws to diagnose and improve stability, and introduces the sweep shot technique. He advises practicing from different stances to overcome the fear of getting hit and ensure effective play against spinners.
Takeaways
- 🏏 The 'Top Hand Rule' is crucial for controlling the back face of the bat with your top hand.
- 🎯 Practicing hitting specific areas, like the stumps or midwicket, helps in refining shot accuracy.
- 🧍♂️ The drill emphasizes the importance of turning your whole body and shoulders to direct the ball effectively.
- 🤚 Focusing on bottom hand drills is essential for players who are bottom hand dominant, improving overall control.
- 🎳 Using the 'bowling ball' analogy for bottom hand drills helps in extending through the ball with the bottom hand.
- 🔍 The script serves as a diagnostic tool to identify areas needing improvement in batting technique.
- 🧍♂️ Maintaining balance is key, and the 'tripod' position is a sign of poor balance after playing a shot.
- 🤸♂️ Quick throws are an effective drill to practice and check balance, ensuring stability in batting position.
- 🏓 The sweep shot is a valuable shot against spin, allowing the player to counter the best deliveries from spinners.
- 🙅♂️ Overcoming the fear of getting hit on the head is part of mastering the sweep shot, with drills involving tennis balls.
- 🏋️♂️ The importance of keeping the head in line with the ball and not dropping weight back when playing the sweep shot.
Q & A
What is the first batting drill discussed by Hassan Azad in the script?
-The first batting drill discussed is the 'top hand rule', which focuses on ensuring that the top hand is behind the bat to control the back face.
What is the purpose of the 'top hand rule' drill?
-The purpose of the 'top hand rule' drill is to help the batter control the direction of the ball by positioning the top hand correctly and aiming for a specific target.
How does the drill help in diagnosing issues with the batting technique?
-The drill helps in diagnosing issues by observing whether the ball goes in the intended direction or not, which can indicate problems with the batter's hand positioning or body rotation.
Why are bottom hand drills important according to the script?
-Bottom hand drills are important because they help players who are bottom hand dominant to improve their control over the bat, which is often neglected.
What analogy is used to explain the bottom hand drill?
-The analogy used to explain the bottom hand drill is that of bowling a 10-pin bowling ball, where the batter extends through the ball with the bottom hand.
What is the significance of balance in batting as discussed in the script?
-Balance is significant in batting because it allows the batter to maintain a stable position after playing a shot, which is crucial for consistent performance.
What is the 'tripod' position mentioned in the script, and why is it undesirable?
-The 'tripod' position refers to when the batter's head falls over, and the back foot comes around after playing a shot, creating an unstable stance. It is undesirable because it indicates a lack of balance.
How can quick throws help in practicing balance in batting?
-Quick throws help in practicing balance by requiring the batter to be in a stable position to连续 hit consecutive balls without having to reposition themselves.
What is the sweep shot, and why is it an important shot in cricket?
-The sweep shot is a cricket shot played to the best ball of the spinner, allowing the batter to hit it for runs or get off strike. It's important because it can make the spinner's life difficult by playing to their best delivery.
How can practicing with tennis balls help overcome the fear of getting hit while playing the sweep shot?
-Practicing with tennis balls can help overcome the fear of getting hit by encouraging the batter to get their head in line with the ball and not be afraid of contact, which is a common concern when playing the sweep shot.
What is the key mistake people make while playing the sweep shot, according to Hassan Azad?
-The key mistake people make while playing the sweep shot is getting the wrong side of the ball due to fear of getting hit, which leads to poor shot execution.
Outlines
🏏 Batting Drills with Cricketer Hassan Azad
In this segment, professional cricketer Hassan Azad demonstrates various batting drills. The first drill focuses on the 'top hand rule', ensuring the top hand is behind the bat for control. Azad emphasizes the importance of aiming for specific targets and using the whole body to turn and direct the ball. He also discusses the significance of bottom hand drills, using a bowling analogy to explain how to extend through the ball with the bottom hand. A diagnostic exercise is mentioned to identify balance issues, where the player should remain stable after playing a shot, avoiding the 'tripod' position. Lastly, a drill for balance involves catching quick throws, which helps in maintaining a good batting position.
🏓️ Mastering the Sweep Shot and Balance Drills
This part of the script delves into the sweep shot, a crucial technique for playing against spin bowlers. The drill starts with a basic stance, focusing on presenting the full face of the bat and using fast hands to hit the ball. The coach, Neil, demonstrates how to maintain balance by catching balls thrown in quick succession. If balance is off, it affects the ability to consistently hit the ball well. The segment also covers advanced stages of the sweep shot drill, starting from a wide base and dropping to one knee without pulling the head back, which is a common mistake. The key is to keep the head steady and eyes on the ball.
🤺 Overcoming Fear and Effective Sweep Shot Execution
The final paragraph discusses overcoming the fear of being hit while playing the sweep shot, a common concern due to the nature of the shot. A drill using tennis balls is suggested to help players get used to the feeling of the ball coming towards their head, encouraging them to position their head correctly and not be afraid of getting hit. The importance of risking getting hit on the head when playing the sweep shot is acknowledged, and the paragraph concludes with a motivational note that with good technique, the risk can be minimized.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Top Hand Rule
💡Balance
💡Bottom Hand Drills
💡Sweep Shot
💡Diagnosing Technique
💡Final Position
💡Tripod Position
💡Quick Throws
💡Extension
💡Fear of Being Hit
Highlights
Top hand rule for controlling the bat's back face
Ball placement for targeting specific areas on the field
Importance of turning the whole body and shoulders in batting
Bottom hand drills for wooden hand dominant players
Using a bowling ball analogy for bottom hand extension
Diagnosing batting issues through top and bottom hand drills
Maintaining balance with the 'tripod' position
Quick throws for practicing balance and stability
The sweep shot as a crucial technique against spinners
Practicing the sweep shot from a ready position
Importance of presenting the full face of the bat in the sweep shot
Progressing the sweep shot drill from a wide base
Keeping the head forward while dropping to knees in the sweep shot
Playing the sweep shot from a standing position
Overcoming the fear of being hit in the head during the sweep shot
Using tennis balls to practice head positioning in the sweep shot
Transcripts
coming up batting drills by professional
cricketer Hassan Azad let's go
[Music]
the first one is your top hand rule so
making sure that your
hand is
behind the bat and if you can zoom in
there you want your
you want to be able to control the back
face with your top hand
um nice and simple
uh have you
um ball out in front of you bad girl
behind
um and then you
pick out an area of where you want a
ball to go for now I'm going to say I'm
gonna try and hit the stumps
or Miron
if it goes slightly other way I'm not
too worried but say I'm trying to hit
the stumps and it goes to midwicket then
I know I'm in trouble
let's see how this goes I haven't done
these in a long time
trying to get a little bit tougher
trying to hit Extra cover
foreign
[Music]
the key thing with this drill as you
would have seen it makes you really turn
your whole body and turn your shoulders
so you know for example I want to hit
Extra cover I can't just do it from here
because
you know I can't really do that my hands
won't work that way my hands are strong
and I'll see after any whole body
and you end up pointing your shoulders
and your forearms in the direction that
you want your ball to go something that
sometimes gets neglected though are
bottom handles
and like we said before if you are
wooden hand dominant player uh you can
do all the top handles you like but when
you hold your bat if your bottom hand is
actually the one that's controlling it
then you you'll end up not really
improving very much so if you are a
watermelon player or anyone in general
bottom hand drills are really good
because they make you do the same thing
with your bottom hand
um so with these bottom hand drills we
use the analogy of a bowling ball so
imagine you're going 10 Pin bowling you
have your batter behind you and you want
to extend through the ball with your
bottom hand
like you would when you're bowling
so I'm going to try and hit me off again
this is a little harder with bottom hand
drills but let's see how this goes
if you
have been trying to hit me off
and the ball is going to move on and you
do your top hand rules and they're fine
you're having bully you wanted to and
you do your Broadband drills and you end
up hitting the balls from your drawing
and trying to hit me off then you know
that that's where the problem is uh so
it's kind of a nice little diagnostic
exercise
um so same as with the Top Hand rolls
you go around the clock I'd say
excavate
off
and you do the same through Miron
and we'll break it a little Top Hand
I'm gonna try and hit on
it on
so uh if if you're balanced
um when you've played your shot you
should be in a stable position uh
sometimes what happens is I think you
will recognize this um my coach used to
call it out every time I did it he used
to call it the tripod
so if you know balanced say your head is
falling over then you play your shot and
that back foot comes around so that
you've essentially got your butt your
foot and your other foot and that's
called the tripod and that's the
position that you really don't want to
get into
ideally when you've played your shot in
your final position you should be so
stable that if someone was to push you
you should be they shouldn't be able to
push you over so um
if I get Neil to give me a hand
um if save your balance
then you know
it should be in a good position whereas
if I'm here
to give me another push
that back foot comes around and that's
not really what you want to want to see
happen
a good drill to check for balance is
having some quick throws so this is
something that I like to do
um
uh before every every game so on game
days
um the first thing I start with is I get
someone to take a bunch of balls come
really close to me go from round record
but wider decrease
come really close and try and hit me on
the pad consecutively
so throwing balls in quick succession
and the idea is that if I'm not balanced
then I won't be able to I'll play the
first one okay and then after that you
get uh it gets more and more difficult
but if I'm balanced and I'm in a good
position then I can go one after the
other because I don't have to move
um so I'll get Neil to demonstrate
lovely
foreign
the first thing you would have noticed
as soon as my balance was off I had to
take a little step to rebalance and as
soon as I did that the next one that I
hit went off somewhere where I didn't
want it to go and I didn't find the
middle of the bat and then that throws
your whole whole thing off so that's a
good way to tell whether you're doing
the drill right or not when I was
balanced I was there and I was ready for
the next ball straight away
and that's a good way to sort of
not just check for balance but to
practice being balanced as well so the
sweep shot is a wonderful shot to have
in your Armory because it's the shorter
you play to the Spinners best ball it's
a short play to the one that's just
dragging you forward uh so landed the
spinner actually wants to ball so if you
can hit the Spinner's best ball for four
or use it to get off strike or whatever
you want to do it can make it spin his
life very difficult
the way to practice the super short from
the basics up is to uh it's a super
simple drill essentially you start in
your ready position
um
uh like we said before uh you want to be
in a position where
your front knee is able to go over your
foot
um
so that your foot doesn't actually get
in the way of your bat
and then you want to be able to get your
head nice and forward get some extension
but really it's about presenting the
full face of the bat and uh getting fast
hands through the ball
to be able to put bass on it
and that's really what it is
um so I'll get Neil to throw me some
balls it's going to be rapid fire
relatively slow but uh in quick
succession we're just going to try and
hit volume of balls
there you go that's why
so
once you've done that a few times and
you're comfortable that you're hitting
the ball where you want to
from down there you can take us take it
a step further
and uh
actually
start
from a wide base so
and then
you're dropping your knees
going down and then sucking at the ball
really important but when you drop your
knees
it doesn't take your head back with it
like this
you want to still be able to go add the
ball and go to where's the ball rather
than dropping your weight rather than
dropping your weight back
oh
foreign
and then finally
we can play it from standing so any
stance
God made the ball
key points with this one
I think what I've seen from
over there is playing and coaching it
the biggest mistake that people tend to
make is because they don't want to get
hit on the head
they get the wrong side of the ball
so if the wall is on this line they end
up trying to go that side of it and
trying to catch up
uh so one drill that I've used before
with the kids and under 15s is which I
think is really suitable and really
helpful for anyone
is to try and get over the fear of being
hit so you take a bunch of tennis balls
and really you put your butt aside you
put your hand on you try and hit the
ball with your head and actually
actually try and hit it and that gets
you really good at getting your head in
position and getting your head in line
and being not being afraid of getting
hit in the head ultimately sweep shot
we're playing The Sweep shot there's a
good chance you might get hit on the
head but that's the risk you're taking
uh and if you play it well then you
won't
[Music]
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