Trigger movement while batting

[aamr85]

Hi everyone, please share your views whether you have some kind of trigger movement while batting before the bowl is bowled or you stay still at the crease and why is it important to have any kind of trigger movement?

 

[Slog]

People talk about Steve Smiths so called ugly stance but that has a lot to do with his trigger movement and that movement of ha disturbs the line of the bowler and almost ensures he will never get out to an Incoming delivery

 

[Syed1]

I'm bit of a traditionalist and believe if a batsman is moving around in his crease he is susceptible to losing track of where his off stump is.

 

[Mamoon]

I'm bit of a traditionalist and believe if a batsman is moving around in his crease he is susceptible to losing track of where his off stump is.

The main purpose of the back-and-across trigger movement is to cover the line of the off-stump.

 

[Mamoon]

Hi everyone, please share your views whether you have some kind of trigger movement while batting before the bowl is bowled or you stay still at the crease and why is it important to have any kind of trigger movement?

Standing still is an outdated practice now. Most of the modern batsmen have a trigger movement, but that wasn't the case before the 2000's. Trigger movement gets the blood flowing and helps them to be quick with their footwork. Standing still can result in static feet and sluggishness. If the overwhelming majority of the batsmen today are adopting it, then it is clearly beneficial.

 

[Zak_Fan]

I did have a trigger movement, and it probably helped me with a smoother front-foot or back-foot transition. It also helps get the feet moving, which to me was quite important.

 

[SunRay]

I love amla and ABD's trigger movement.

 

[Zak_Fan]

But I think for trigger movements to work, your body needs a sense of balance and agility. May not be a great idea if the batsman is built like Ashwin or Inzi.

 

[Big Mac]

Hi, this should probably be in the My Cricket section, but welcome to PP.

Personally, I think a trigger movement is not only pointless, but can even be counter productive. Unless you're facing bowlers who are bowling quicker than 85mph there is absolutely no need for a trigger movement.

Batting is a simple art and you should try to avoid needlessly complicating it. Find a comfortable guard/stance and ensure you are relaxed at the crease, and try to get your outside eye in line with off stump when the ball is released to make it easy to judge what balls are safe to leave. And umm...that's about it. No need for any back and across rubbish.

Watch great batsmen like Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Michael Clarke at their peak, no trigger movements, just batting at its purest form of "See ball -> hit ball" and they are facing bowlers quicker than any of us will ever have to deal with.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cU6tq_aWn1U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O2hqiVJglUs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZqKBevrRKCQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Think about it, even players with exaggerated trigger movements like Chanderpaul and Smith try to ensure that their head is in a good position and they're pretty still at the moment of release.

So why not cut out the trigger movement and head straight to that head still, good position? The problem with trigger movements adding an extra complication to your batting technique is what happens when you're out of form. If your movement becomes exaggerated over time, or the timing ends up out of sync, then the end result will be one of two things. You end up going too far across, resulting on LBW problems or you're on the move when the ball is released which makes it hard to judge your off stump and you end up chasing wide balls.

And don't believe anyone trying to say that you need to go back and across in the modern game.

Kane Williamson doesn't need it:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MItn59pcV38" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Joe Root's trigger is the tiniest little press forward of the front foot, no back and across in sight:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gkzl-k27Ly0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Big Mac]

I love amla and ABD's trigger movement.

Watch those two when they're batting well, they are through their trigger movements and are completely still when the bowler releases the ball. The end result is the same as if they had no trigger at all.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jjsWXX3arL0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Hawkeye]

People just don't know about the legend.

The trigger movement legend, Taufeeq Umar.

Try all you want to replicate that, but you can't reach that level.

 

[Mamoon]

Watch those two when they're batting well, they are through their trigger movements and are completely still when the bowler releases the ball. The end result is the same as if they had no trigger at all.

The OP doesn't need to know that you have to be completely still when the bowler releases the ball. That's a given, but if staying still prior to the trigger movement was the same as staying still after completing the movement, most of the top batsmen in the world today would be standing completely still like they used to in the past, but that is not the case, which means that coaches today encourage batsmen to adopt trigger movements.

Secondly, Root actually does go back but he doesn't go across. Watch him explain his trigger movement in this video, where he also explains why it is beneficial and why most of the modern day batsmen don't stay completely still:

[utube]BOZKnNB75_M[/utube]

Watch from 0:40 to 2:00

 

[Big Mac]

The OP doesn't need to know that you have to be completely still when the bowler releases the ball. That's a given, but if staying still prior to the trigger movement was the same as staying still after completing the movement, most of the top batsmen in the world today would be standing completely still like they used to in the past, but that is not the case, which means that coaches today encourage batsmen to adopt trigger movements.

Secondly, Root actually does go back but he doesn't go across. Watch him explain his trigger movement in this video, where he also explains why it is beneficial and why most of the modern day batsmen don't stay completely still:

[utube]BOZKnNB75_M[/utube]

Watch from 0:40 to 2:00

I said he has a trigger movement, just that it is a tiny one. Watch the difference between the trigger movement he explains to Simon Hughes in your video and then watch how he actually bats when he's in the middle of a test match.

Secondly, like I said, he is facing bowling of 90 mph. None of us will face anything even close to that pace so we should all, as club cricketers, ditch our trigger movements because they do more harm than good.

Finally, as someone who has coached a couple of sports (although not cricket), let me assure you that most coaches are idiots and just because they preach something doesn't mean that it's the right way to do things. You can go to five different coaches for help and receive five different, contradictory bits of advice.

 

[Mamoon]

I said he has a trigger movement, just that it is a tiny one. Watch the difference between the trigger movement he explains to Simon Hughes in your video and then watch how he actually bats when he's in the middle of a test match.

Secondly, like I said, he is facing bowling of 90 mph. None of us will face anything even close to that pace so we should all, as club cricketers, ditch our trigger movements because they do more harm than good.

Finally, as someone who has coached a couple of sports (although not cricket), let me assure you that most coaches are idiots and just because they preach something doesn't mean that it's the right way to do things. You can go to five different coaches for help and receive five different, contradictory bits of advice.

The bit about the coaches are true. The more coaches, the greater confusion because they can barely agree on anything. However, there appears to be a consensus on trigger movements. Modern day batsman in almost all countries have some form of a trigger movement these days, very rarely will you see a batsman standing still which was the norm historically.

As far as Root is concerned, yes he doesn't go back in the video you posted, but you can check the highlights of many of his other innings where he does go back before the little hovered forward press. It is possible that against 90 mph+ pace, he doesn't feel the need to go back. However, other batsmen like Amla and de Villiers do go back and across against serious pace.

Kallis used to do the same. Another example is Ian Bell, a bit of a mental midget but a technically brilliant player. I don't think that any budding batsman should be discouraged from using it, ultimately it is down to how comfortable he/she feels at an individual level. The important thing is that it should feel natural and not forced.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

For me, and this is coming entirely from my personal experiences while batting, my trigger movements would totally depend on the type of bowling I am facing and what are the conditions / surfaces I am batting on. I understand this kind of a statement is extremely generic and doesn't cover much insight on what exactly I mean so let me break it down for the OP:

Overseas

Normally I play club cricket either in the Far East (during season) or during my holidays when I am visiting my family in Pakistan. During an ongoing season especially in Singapore / Malaysia we get cloud cover and overcast conditions almost every day so whether you're facing a 30 over old ball or a brand new red cherry the BALL WILL SWING and since most of the wickets are matting and carpeted artificially (something that we see during the Hong Kong Super Sixes games) the ball grips as well which conveniently leads to the following problem:

Problem 1) If the bowler DOES know how to swing the cricket ball, the movement will be almost 4-6 inches laterally which means that the concept of 'playing through the line' goes out of the window.

Problem 2) The matting / artificial surface makes it such that if the ball hits the seam it will grip and deviate almost at a square angle. This problem concatenated with problem 1 can lead to a ball out swinging 4 inches from the off stump, hitting the the seam while pitching and then deviating back towards the MIDDLE STUMP !!!

Problem 3) If the bowler has pace - You're screwed big time....

When I am facing this type of a scenario I go back to follow text book techniques and aim to channel my inner Boycott

A) I focus on playing as late as possible (less trigger movement) - let the ball complete it's movements and wait until the last moment to make sure you connect to where exactly the ball is rather than trying to feel the ball forcefully.

B) Keep you head as still as possible (Again minimum to non existent trigger movement). You would be extremely surprised what head movement does to the rest of body and premature head movement could indirectly force your body to move in an unnatural way making it extremely hard for the batsman to control and time his shots.

C) Play under your eyes - Can't stress this enough !! Never and I mean, especially when the ball is whizzing and moving like crazy, play with flashy hands. Keep your eyes on the ball AT ALL TIMES. This type of practice will ensure that your left front leg or if you're a left handed batsmen then your right leg, moves on it's own and according to the length at which a particular ball is delivered.

D) Learn to Leave the Ball + use a light grip and a lot of forehand when playing strokes.

Naturally and instinctively if you're a batsmen, sighting the ball is very important as once you brain makes an approximation on where the ball will land; based on the visual i.e. your front leg will automatically move accordingly. That is also the reason why in international cricket they say never loose sight of the ball during batting as the connection and timing of a shot is highly dependent on this. In short you can say that if you're playing in conditions as mentioned above, the trigger movement should be at a minimum.

Pakistan (Sub Continent)

Now the other scenario is when playing on dry surfaces i.e in Pakistan or the subcontinent. These surfaces pose a different type of challenge for the batsmen as opposed to playing in conditions where conventional swing and seam are dominant. Personally, I feel that playing in the subcontinent is much more harder than playing in places where there is bounce and conventional swing i.e. because you can lineup conventional swing and bounce once you get hang of the conditions.

On pitches in Pakistan there is a dual challenge going on and the best time to actually score some quick runs are with the newish ball. Generally speaking, there is minimal swing and seam during the long summer season and pitches offer true bounce and carry. This further can imply that playing through the line will yield you a much better output than playing late or with a soft grip using forehand.

Vs Spin

1) Two Trigger movements - The first is the subconscious movement that every subcontinent batsmen will do, it's basically a very small step that we take (trust me I don't even realize I am taking this small step myself) which is how we line up a bowler's length. The next movement is either Forward or Backward based on the initial trigger (or weight transfer if you wanna call it that) and you play your shot accordingly.

2) Soft Hands + Heavy Bat - Subcontinent conditions demand that you use a heavy bat with dual grips but you need to remember to hold them softly with flexible writs, as close to the shoulder as possible. This way when you are advancing down the track to a spinner you wouldn't loose timing or your power to clear the ropes.

3) Never use a long handle vs Spin - Bound to fail

4) Keep low + Long Stretches !! You need to be able to smell the leather when you're striking it; makes it easy to sweep or playing through the V and especially the cover region.

Vs Pace

As previously mentioned playing the new cherry in Sub con is easier however, there is one element most batsmen don't necessarily face during club cricket is the potent use of reverse swing during the game. If the fielding team is intelligent and know how to use the art, it will start reversing after 20-25 overs and this is where your game as a batsmen is tested the most.

Playing reverse swing is one of the most difficult things to overcome in batting, there are a few problems when facing reverse swing :

Problem 1) The ball swings very very late which means that naturally your response time is delayed to a certain extent plus since it starts swinging halfway down the pitch you can't line it up unlike conventional swing.

Problem 2) Reverse Swing happens consistently and the bowler has control over the movement. Unlike conventional swing, reverse swing is something that will yield an output 9 times out of the 10 deliveries bowled to a batsman. This means the BOWLER CAN LINE UP A BATSMAN very easily.

Problem 3) It comes a yard quicker than conventional fast bowling; and because bowlers know how the ball will behave they really let it fly when bowling with an old ball.

Problem 4) It's an attacking option so everything will be targeting the stumps, pads and the body.

These are the load of problems when someone is facing reverse swing from a genuine quick, but you can necessarily devise a solution to counter this:

(i) Take Small literally baby Steps / Movements - Playing reverse swing is all about adjustment and because it is swinging very late you as a batsman shouldn't commit too early into a short neither too late. So the best way I personally think is to take small minuscule steps that leave you time and space for adjustment at the last second after the ball has swing it's course.

(ii) Locate the shine - A critical component while batting against reverse swing. Since we know that when it's reversing it will do so consistently and very late, we can make these variables into certain constants and focus on locating the shine from the hand of the bowler. During club games bowlers just start to find their feet at the art of using reverse swing so 90% of the time no one really cares about hiding the ball - This is always my leeway as locating the shine will mean I can predict where the ball will move.

(iii) keep your front foot ready - To get the best out of reverse swing a bowler well and fully knows they need to pitch it right up at pace. This kind of a mindset actually can be a scoring opportunity for the batsman as you need to....you know...score runs as well !! If you spot the shine and it's in your arc - GIVE IT THE FULL GOT DAMN MONTY !!


/Guide

 

[volcyz]

Trigger movement ensures that your feet is already moving and helps tremendously vs pace.

Against spin they do not need to do that.

Club level cricketers seldom do it as they are not facing the usual very quick bowlers as the international players are.

Depending on club level, even 120kph is very quick for most.

 

[Bilal7]

As long as you are still when the ball is bowled, what you do before that doesn't make too much of a difference, unless the bowler is inexperienced and thus, will be prone to getting confused by it.

It's more for the batsmen themselves, more than anything else. Just a little routine to get them switched on and focused on the next delivery. Some bowlers have this too, where they do a little skip like Junaid or turn around at exactly the same spot like Morkel.

Personally, I don't have one. I'm an instinctive player whether bowling or batting.

 

[Rayyman]

Was batting today and adopted a forward and back trigger. Started outside crease and went back in while bowler was about to deliver. Worked well because they didn't get me out in 40+ minutes.

Don't think I've seen any player with a forward and back trigger though.

 

[aamr85]

for the last few net sessions ,I adopted trigger movement by moving my back leg a little and moving my front leg forward before the bowler release the ball, What I realized was, it was easier for me to play the shot

Before when I used to be static at the crease, I felt like sometimes I was lazy to come in the line of the ball and my feet used to get stuck in the crease

For me, the trigger movement definately works

 

[dildildalwalla]

I guess trigger movements depend on the individual. A lot of batsmen have them these days although the greats can deviate between using trigger movements and not using them. I've seen times when Amla, AB, KP and a few others have all utilised triggers and at other times, maybe when the ball isnt doing much and/or the pitch is flat, they have just stood still and struck the ball.

I personally utilise trigger movements and have done so since I was like 18 or 19. It helps me to set up shots on the off side if need be while playing a stray deliver down leg.

 

[Suleiman]

Hi, this should probably be in the My Cricket section, but welcome to PP.

Personally, I think a trigger movement is not only pointless, but can even be counter productive. Unless you're facing bowlers who are bowling quicker than 85mph there is absolutely no need for a trigger movement.

Batting is a simple art and you should try to avoid needlessly complicating it. Find a comfortable guard/stance and ensure you are relaxed at the crease, and try to get your outside eye in line with off stump when the ball is released to make it easy to judge what balls are safe to leave. And umm...that's about it. No need for any back and across rubbish.

Watch great batsmen like Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Michael Clarke at their peak, no trigger movements, just batting at its purest form of "See ball -> hit ball" and they are facing bowlers quicker than any of us will ever have to deal with.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cU6tq_aWn1U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O2hqiVJglUs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZqKBevrRKCQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Think about it, even players with exaggerated trigger movements like Chanderpaul and Smith try to ensure that their head is in a good position and they're pretty still at the moment of release.

So why not cut out the trigger movement and head straight to that head still, good position? The problem with trigger movements adding an extra complication to your batting technique is what happens when you're out of form. If your movement becomes exaggerated over time, or the timing ends up out of sync, then the end result will be one of two things. You end up going too far across, resulting on LBW problems or you're on the move when the ball is released which makes it hard to judge your off stump and you end up chasing wide balls.

And don't believe anyone trying to say that you need to go back and across in the modern game.

Kane Williamson doesn't need it:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MItn59pcV38" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Joe Root's trigger is the tiniest little press forward of the front foot, no back and across in sight:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gkzl-k27Ly0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Agree for the most part. Coaches back in Pakistan enforce it just for the sake of it, but having interacted and seen coaches from UK have learned it is completely up to the player if they want to incorporate it, it's down to preference.

Choosing to stay still or having a trigger movement both have their ups and downs and are both completely viable.

I choose to stay still as I find it helps me concentrate on picking the length of the ball much easier, and I don't think I need a trigger to help facilitate foot work.

Maybe it's because I started cricket from a later age so I couldn't get around to having force in a trigger movement as it would leave me in 2 minds esp if playing on the front foot, so I chose to forego it. But yeah if you start really young like say ages 6-8 then it would be a good time to make it a habit.

It's not something you can just pick-up and roll with. It would take hours upon hours of practice if you've already gone a few years without it, you'd need to make it a habit, that you can do it without consciously think about it, and I think that is hard to get used to after a certain age as there are a lot of moving parts.

What if you shuffle too far across? What if your head is not level anymore after the movement?

I think if you are in a professional set-up and are very very young then it can help. But if you're already about 16+ and bat with a stationary stance then don't change it, it's not worth it, especially if you don't have access to a proper coach because then it's really not worth it.

 

[Big Mac]

It's not something you can just pick-up and roll with. It would take hours upon hours of practice if you've already gone a few years without it, you'd need to make it a habit, that you can do it without consciously think about it, and I think that is hard to get used to after a certain age as there are a lot of moving parts.

What if you shuffle too far across? What if your head is not level anymore after the movement?

I think if you are in a professional set-up and are very very young then it can help. But if you're already about 16+ and bat with a stationary stance then don't change it, it's not worth it, especially if you don't have access to a proper coach because then it's really not worth it.

Yeah, although I don't think it's just an age thing. For me, it's more that the simpler the technique, the less there is that can go wrong with it and the easier it becomes to identify the problem when you're out of form.