My Issues

[Bullet Drive]

Well firstly I am an all-rounder. I will firstly speak about my batting and then my bowling.

My batting, I bat in the middle order for my team however that is irrelevant. I can hit some massive sixes and I am particularly strong down the wicket past the bowler. In fact all my sixes against pace have gone straight down the ground. I am a great player of spin bowling and I usually like to attack them instead of getting singles. I am usually an aggressive batsmen however in the last year I changed that because I didn't want to give my wicket away and I wanted to change my style for the better.I now block the ball a lot and look to take singles however I am still losing my wicket. I have many weak areas in regards to my batting and I would really love to resolve them.

I don't mind batting slow and I actually love batting slow and milking singles etc but I am not very good at it at all. I in the last year have changed my batting to become more defensive and I have lost my wicket a lot more. This year I have been bowled in every dismissal of mine as opposed to last year where I was getting caught more often. I need to mix the aggression. I also sometimes end up playing a stupid rash shot for no reason at all. I don't mind batting for ages so I don't know why I do this. Maybe it's because I want to show all the shots I have however how do I sort this out?

The biggest weak spot is my leg side shots and I just can't seem to get them away. A massive error I do is playing across the line to a straight ball and I end up being bowled. I need to learn to play that ball straight however this is a mental thing right? Also a ball that players usually play down to fine-leg and get four, I can't play it that way for some reason. I always end up missing the easy ball which I could have got a four for. Also leg-stump half volleys are also something which I miss out a lot on. I need to learn to play these well. When playing a leg-side shot I usually and almost always fall over which means my balance is incorrect. Is this because I try to hit the ball to hard and how can I fix my balance? This is the same even for cover drives on the off-side. I play them real well however I usually lose my balance after playing them and I have to take 2 or 3 steps after playing the shot. Even with straight blocks and defence shots, I usually play the shot and then walk after it.

Now my bowling, my bowling is my strong suit and I am the opening bowler for my team. 4 years ago I used to like to bowl real fast and I was picking up wickets however I was spraying the ball around a bit and I was bowling way to many wides so I changed a just focused on line and length for the next 3 years. During this period my economy was real low however I needed and wanted wickets and those I never got as much. In this last year I decided I am going to bowl FAST again so I changed my action which was a front on action to a side on action and this year I have bowled superbly mashallah. I hardly have bowled any wides and I have been picking up wickets consistently. I usually bowl a bit to short however when I pitch the ball up I am getting wickets. The other thing is I now get outswing when I bowl with my side on action which is great for me. I have pace, accuracy and swing. I find that when I bowl with my side on action I am more accurate which is weird. This is the opposite to when I had a front on action. When I had a front on action I bowled in-swing only and no out swing so the problem for me is that I can only swing it one way with the actions so now I have decided to change my action to more of a front-on action and work on my out-swing which I think I can get. I have tried to get in-swing with a side on action however I can't for some reason. I can also bowl leg-spin and have an awesome googly however I am better as a pace bowler.

I want to ask how can I build my pace up. I want to reach 75-80mph and how can I do this. Do I have to go gym and if so what do I have to train. What diet should I follow? Should I stop fast food etc?

Thank you.

 

[Cover Drive]

I posted this in 'Batting Tips' thread regarding balance;

I had exact exact same problem as you bro, my balance was horrible too, still it is not perfect but it is much better than before.

So this is what I did ;

- When in stance my head was over front knee (like Sangakarra)
- When the ball is released I lean with head and front shoulder first once you lean with your head and front shoulder first naturally everything will follow your head. So when everything is following, the weight is now transferring on your front foot and you will be in much better balanced situation. [From BBC: The head should at least be level or ahead of the front knee, with the back foot raised up to the toes]

Hope it made sense.

Try this with shadow batting at your place and you will probably understand what I mean.

 

[Cover Drive]

I too have difficulties with Leg Shots/Leg Glance so here is what BBC tells us;

Leg Glance

Step One:

The front foot glance is more a deflection rather than a stroke because it relies on pace already on the ball.
The placement comes from a flick of the wrists at the moment of impact, so the bat face is angled rather than straight.

Make sure your head is over the ball, with your weight on your front foot.

This will keep the ball on the ground, rather than flying dangerously in the air.


Step Two:

Lean towards the line of the ball with head and front shoulder, placing the weight on the bent front leg.


Step Three:

Bring the bat through as straight a path as possible, turning the bat face slightly towards the leg side.
Make contact with the ball in front of the front pad.


Step Four:

Control the shot with the top hand, glancing the ball away.
The top hand will help keep the ball on the ground.

I hope it helps

 

[Poison]

With regard to your balance issue on cover drives I think it's as simple as not bending your front knee enough. Make sure you get that stride out and bend the knee. I often end up on bended knee malik) after I've Saeed-Anwar'ed a ball to the cover boundary

I had the same problem with leg side balls (kept getting caught behind feathering it while trying to glance) so I decided to stop trying to just touch it and try and hit it hard ... seems to have worked.

With bowling, you don't need muscle, need to make sure your action/jump/follow through is good. Follow through is one of the major factors to generating pace imo.

 

[Cover Drive]

With regard to your balance issue on cover drives I think it's as simple as not bending your front knee enough. Make sure you get that stride out and bend the knee. I often end up on bended knee malik) after I've Saeed-Anwar'ed a ball to the cover boundary

I had the same problem with leg side balls (kept getting caught behind feathering it while trying to glance) so I decided to stop trying to just touch it and try and hit it hard ... seems to have worked.

With bowling, you don't need muscle, need to make sure your action/jump/follow through is good. Follow through is one of the major factors to generating pace imo.

I agree with front knee, once you bend your front knee you also need to transfer your weight to your front leg, keep in mind your back leg should never move, it should be straight.

I don't know what problem I have with back leg sometimes when I play some shots I will lift my backleg for no reason really.

I remember one guy at my local indoor nets once told me ''Never move your back leg, consider it is sin to move it''

I remember once in nets going hard at leg side shots and it worked for me too (obviously not perfect score but I did manage to hit couple compared to what I would hit before).

 

[PaPaPak]

I use to be rubbish on legside but now i have a different approach to playing on leg side

My stance :As righ hander my right foot (back foot) is in line with middle stump and left( front foot) in line with leg stump what it does it allows me to clear my leg to easily play on legside and that way there are less chnaces of me getting LBW by trying to play down the leg

 

[Bullet Drive]

Thanks so much for the tips

 

[Blazer]

You might have a closed stance where you have to play around your pads to legside which leads to falling over. If you keep a slightly opened stance and then lead with your head towards the ball, your hands naturally follow.

 

[shirazi_r]

Right off the bat, I can tell you're trying way too many things. You're over complicating everything.

Not everyone is born to be a nudger of the ball just as not everyone is going to be a big hitter. What you should be doing is looking to compliment your ability to hit the ball with being able to turn over the strike. This is a matter of judgement more than anything else, it's about understand which balls to leave, defend and go after. Obviously this doesn't happen overnight, it requires you to assess yourself in the nets and in matches and understand which deliveries you're able to hit to the fence and which you struggle with.

As for your balance, it appears as though you're moving across to the offside preemptively. Naturally this is going to make you a good candidate for LBW so try not to move across quite as much or alternatively, take guard a little further outside leg a la Amla or Katich.


As for your bowling, it seems again as though you're trying too many things. Keep it simple!

It's not going to be a single swinging delivery that's going to earn you wickets, it's your ability to bowl that same delivery consistently. It's obviously impossible for me to tell you which action suits you best as I've never seen you bowl, what I will however suggest is that you stick to one for an extended period of time as opposed to going back and forth despite the temptation to do so.

In regards to building up pace, it's not really about hitting the gym. Your ability to generate pace is much like that of sprinting. It all comes down to fast twitch muscles so while you're not likely to hit Shoaib Akhtar speeds soon, there are a ways make sure you're bowling as fast as is possible for you.

Understand that a run up is used to build momentum and in turn, energy for you to release when you go through the motion of bowling the ball. Try not to waste any of this energy by slowing down before you hit the crease or jumping excessively high in your delivery stride. Try keeping your front leg as straight as possible when it hits the popping crease (don't bend your left knee if you're a right arm bowler) and use your non bowling arm to pull you forward into your follow through.

For further reading on "How to bowl fast", check out Ian Pont's work as he's an expert on the subject.

Best of luck!

 

[Bullet Drive]

Right off the bat, I can tell you're trying way too many things. You're over complicating everything.

Not everyone is born to be a nudger of the ball just as not everyone is going to be a big hitter. What you should be doing is looking to compliment your ability to hit the ball with being able to turn over the strike. This is a matter of judgement more than anything else, it's about understand which balls to leave, defend and go after. Obviously this doesn't happen overnight, it requires you to assess yourself in the nets and in matches and understand which deliveries you're able to hit to the fence and which you struggle with.

As for your balance, it appears as though you're moving across to the offside preemptively. Naturally this is going to make you a good candidate for LBW so try not to move across quite as much or alternatively, take guard a little further outside leg a la Amla or Katich.


As for your bowling, it seems again as though you're trying too many things. Keep it simple!

It's not going to be a single swinging delivery that's going to earn you wickets, it's your ability to bowl that same delivery consistently. It's obviously impossible for me to tell you which action suits you best as I've never seen you bowl, what I will however suggest is that you stick to one for an extended period of time as opposed to going back and forth despite the temptation to do so.

In regards to building up pace, it's not really about hitting the gym. Your ability to generate pace is much like that of sprinting. It all comes down to fast twitch muscles so while you're not likely to hit Shoaib Akhtar speeds soon, there are a ways make sure you're bowling as fast as is possible for you.

Understand that a run up is used to build momentum and in turn, energy for you to release when you go through the motion of bowling the ball. Try not to waste any of this energy by slowing down before you hit the crease or jumping excessively high in your delivery stride. Try keeping your front leg as straight as possible when it hits the popping crease (don't bend your left knee if you're a right arm bowler) and use your non bowling arm to pull you forward into your follow through.

For further reading on "How to bowl fast", check out Ian Pont's work as he's an expert on the subject.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the advice, some tips I will definitely use there.

Thanks.

 

[kamz]

leg glances, or flicking middle stump balls to sqquare leg, fine leg or midwicket as pointed out by many has to do alot with head and body balance. Best way i saw to overcome this was by Cover Drive and my fav player Yousuf bhai's practice technique.

In the nets get one person for throw downs with 6 different coloured balls (use taped balls) and everytime you play a shot you need to say out loud the colour of the ball you played. Ask the person who is throwing down to you to mix it up through colours once you start hitting and naming them correctly automatically your head and eye will be in line with the ball and the minimum time to say the colour of the ball is 2 seconds

Make sure the throw downs are quick and not flighted lol

worked for me immensely and worked Mohammed Yousuf as well

 

[Cover Drive]

Wow!

That sounds quite amazing and interesting actually. InshAllah I will try that too!

 

[Cover Drive]

Bullet Drive bro,

As I mentioned my balance used to be poor so today I was at nets and believe me now it has gotten a lot better than before. It is not perfect but 80% have been good, now I don't fall on off/leg side as you mentioned above.

Leg glance were working well too, all I did was get my head over the ball and it worked well for me.

What I need to work on is temperament I would say. As soon I go to bat I would start to drive and hit out whereas I should be defending in the beginning.

Waisay closely watching the ball right from bowlers hand is very vital indeed, helps a long way.

 

[KashifJ]

leg glances, or flicking middle stump balls to sqquare leg, fine leg or midwicket as pointed out by many has to do alot with head and body balance. Best way i saw to overcome this was by Cover Drive and my fav player Yousuf bhai's practice technique.

In the nets get one person for throw downs with 6 different coloured balls (use taped balls) and everytime you play a shot you need to say out loud the colour of the ball you played. Ask the person who is throwing down to you to mix it up through colours once you start hitting and naming them correctly automatically your head and eye will be in line with the ball and the minimum time to say the colour of the ball is 2 seconds

Make sure the throw downs are quick and not flighted lol

worked for me immensely and worked Mohammed Yousuf as well

That's an amazing exercise; will definitely try this ... many thanks for sharing the tip

Have you got any other great tips like this, would be great

Waisay closely watching the ball right from bowlers hand is very vital indeed, helps a long way.

Watch the ball like there is nothing else in the world apart from that ball

 

[Bullet Drive]

Thanks for the help guys, my balance has definitely improved however it still is not perfect. What do you guys think about trigger movements?

 

[kamz]

Bullet Drive bro,

As I mentioned my balance used to be poor so today I was at nets and believe me now it has gotten a lot better than before. It is not perfect but 80% have been good, now I don't fall on off/leg side as you mentioned above.

Leg glance were working well too, all I did was get my head over the ball and it worked well for me.

What I need to work on is temperament I would say. As soon I go to bat I would start to drive and hit out whereas I should be defending in the beginning.

Waisay closely watching the ball right from bowlers hand is very vital indeed, helps a long way.

and if you come in a situation where 8 runs an over required then?

Biggest advice from Inzy bhai, never ever go with a mindset that defend in the beginning, if the ball pitched in your area go for your shot. Ever seen half volleys to inzy, yousuf, younis, watson, afridi, ponting, saeed anwar, tendulkar defended? half volleys if its first ball or the last ball of the innings they punish it

Will give an example? if your fav shot is cover drive (judging by your username), if you are not even comfortable in driving to covers which would be your go to shot, then how are you suppose to score at the start of an innings or if you chasing and less balls left?

hun agar sehwag eh kaway ke nahi ji ustaadji mein tay thallay thallay game khaidni hai tay phir hogaya kam odha

what ever is natural to you stick to that bro

tip for you if want to increase your temperament?

Net practice pitch

get 3 to 4 different colour chalks or tapes, make square boxes on different areas of the pitch (size 3 ft by 3 ft) on good length, full pitch and short pitch areas on off stump (corridor of uncertainty)

5 bowlers, ask them to bowl if they are good enough or use someone to throwdown. Rules are if ball expected to land on a certain box that you consider yourself that should be left you leave, if lands on box 2 you drive cover, if land on box 3 you drive at point. If land on 4 you dab it to third man

after done for 2 to 3 days, make it more interesting, reverse the roles for the boxes. So for instance where box 2 you were driving to cover, now angle your wrists and drive it to point. box 3 where you were driving at point you drive it to cover and etc etc for the rest of boxes.

This way you will learn how to leave the ball and even practice that the same ball which can be driven to covers for four can also be dabbed to third man or angled to point for singles (temperament)

 

[kamz]

That's an amazing exercise; will definitely try this ... many thanks for sharing the tip

Have you got any other great tips like this, would be great

more than happy to share tips but on what aspect you looking for ?

very famous tip which i dont see any of the younger generations do it anymore and every international pakistani batsmen of my generation i have met recommends it

Drill a hole into the ball, pass a rope through it just like a needle. Tie the rope onto your ceiling, hanging it down all the way till where you stand with your bat and the ball ends right near the middle of the bat.

start hitting the ball as if you are trying to hit straight drives. What you will notice is that as soon as you hit the ball will go away, but when it swings back towards you, there will be a loop in the string and the ball will drop rather than swining back in a pendulum fashion.

the day when you play a drive and there are no loops when the ball swings with the string, that means you have perfectly middled it, perfectly timed and perfectly hit in the right direction.

ball will swing exactly as if its a pendulum, thats the key

and the other key is abba di maar ke ghar wich azaab paaya hoya way tu tay tere gaind ballay nay

 

[Cover Drive]

and if you come in a situation where 8 runs an over required then?

Biggest advice from Inzy bhai, never ever go with a mindset that defend in the beginning, if the ball pitched in your area go for your shot. Ever seen half volleys to inzy, yousuf, younis, watson, afridi, ponting, saeed anwar, tendulkar defended? half volleys if its first ball or the last ball of the innings they punish it

Will give an example? if your fav shot is cover drive (judging by your username), if you are not even comfortable in driving to covers which would be your go to shot, then how are you suppose to score at the start of an innings or if you chasing and less balls left?

hun agar sehwag eh kaway ke nahi ji ustaadji mein tay thallay thallay game khaidni hai tay phir hogaya kam odha

what ever is natural to you stick to that bro

tip for you if want to increase your temperament?

Net practice pitch

get 3 to 4 different colour chalks or tapes, make square boxes on different areas of the pitch (size 3 ft by 3 ft) on good length, full pitch and short pitch areas on off stump (corridor of uncertainty)

5 bowlers, ask them to bowl if they are good enough or use someone to throwdown. Rules are if ball expected to land on a certain box that you consider yourself that should be left you leave, if lands on box 2 you drive cover, if land on box 3 you drive at point. If land on 4 you dab it to third man

after done for 2 to 3 days, make it more interesting, reverse the roles for the boxes. So for instance where box 2 you were driving to cover, now angle your wrists and drive it to point. box 3 where you were driving at point you drive it to cover and etc etc for the rest of boxes.

This way you will learn how to leave the ball and even practice that the same ball which can be driven to covers for four can also be dabbed to third man or angled to point for singles (temperament)

Top post and I fully agree with you bhai lekin yaar I was talking about indoor nets

Haha veeray galla tay bilkul sahi kittiyanay

JazaakAllah Khair for the tips bro will consider that.

 

[Cover Drive]

more than happy to share tips but on what aspect you looking for ?

very famous tip which i dont see any of the younger generations do it anymore and every international pakistani batsmen of my generation i have met recommends it

Drill a hole into the ball, pass a rope through it just like a needle. Tie the rope onto your ceiling, hanging it down all the way till where you stand with your bat and the ball ends right near the middle of the bat.

start hitting the ball as if you are trying to hit straight drives. What you will notice is that as soon as you hit the ball will go away, but when it swings back towards you, there will be a loop in the string and the ball will drop rather than swining back in a pendulum fashion.

the day when you play a drive and there are no loops when the ball swings with the string, that means you have perfectly middled it, perfectly timed and perfectly hit in the right direction.

ball will swing exactly as if its a pendulum, thats the key

and the other key is abba di maar ke ghar wich azaab paaya hoya way tu tay tere gaind ballay nay

Hahaha LOL - Beeba aadmi haiga

That is top advice too, this is very good! I know this improves your timing by miles, I have seen people doing it and that improves your timing.

I would say bouncing ball on your bat for ten minutes everyday will also improve your hand eye coordination and timing.