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Old May 22, 2005, 09:46 PM
Arnab Arnab is offline
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Join Date: June 20, 2002
Location: BanglaCricket.com
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Quote:
Secrets of Batting Champions
Greg Chappell

When watching international cricket it is easy to be mistaken into thinking that there is an unlimited number of initial movements that work because each player seems to have a unique method. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

I know that I tried a number of initial movements during my cricket career but the one with which I achieved the most success was a slight movement across the crease in which I shifted the weight onto the ball of the back foot to enable me to move forward easily. During the World Series Cricket revolution in the late 70’s the rise of the great West Indian fast bowling quartet provoked me into changing this movement.

Because I was not getting many balls pitched up I changed the method to putting the weight onto the ball of the front foot to allow me to get ready to play back. What followed was one of the leanest periods of my career. It was only when I reverted to my original method that I began to feel comfortable again and what followed was a very successful series against the West Indies in the Caribbean. I never considered changing my method again.

The thing that I noticed during my career was that most of the better-performed players had a similar initial movement pattern to mine. No one, including myself, could explain why this was so.

The batting stars of the modern era are no more able to explain why they do it either but they are all doing exactly the same thing as the champions of the past. It just looks different because of their physiological and psychological make-up. Brian Lara has an extravagant initial movement compared with Sachin Tendulkar while Virender Sehwag is different again, but they all finish up in a similar position at the moment when the bowler prepares to release the ball.

The reason that they do this is that they have found through years of experience that this active, but neutral, position allows for the widest range of responses to any type of delivery that comes their way. The movement is no different whether they are facing fast or slow bowlers but the timing of when they start the movement is.

Through the years of playing and, especially, during my coaching career I have heard a number of theories about what is the best method of preparation for a batsman. These have ranged from pre-cocked backlifts and so-called ‘ready’ positions that have a batsman planted on one foot or the other before the ball is bowled. None of the proponents could give me an explanation that made much sense to me. None of the methods appeared to give a very wide range of post-delivery options to the player.

A few years ago I was reintroduced to a former first-class cricketer, Ian Frazer. Ian had represented Victoria and subsequently had gone on to work and study in different fields including sports science. Ian was then coaching juniors and was as frustrated as I with some of the theories that were passing as fact in the cricket community. We decided to get together and do some research on the best players of the past and present.

When Ian and I sat down to watch the film of the best batsmen of the past 50 years, from Bradman to the current champions, Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Hayden and Gilchrist we saw a pattern begin to emerge. All but a few of them had exactly the same initial movement pattern. Sure, each had their own idiosyncratic way of doing it but the basic pattern was the same.

As the bowler loaded up into the delivery each of them levered the bat to a position parallel to the ground, toe pointing toward the slip cordon with the face of the bat slightly inclined to the off side with arms relaxed and slightly bent. At the same time they shifted their weight onto the ball of the back foot and inclined the body toward the bowler with the front foot hovering above the ground or lightly brushing the ground.

This was fascinating. Maybe we were onto something! What was it that caused all of these champion players to do the same thing? Then it occurred to us. They all must have had the same intention. If that was the case, then what was that intention? That too became obvious when we thought about it. They all intended to move toward the ball. How, you might ask, did we know that?

All movement patterns are organised by the unconscious brain. Once we intend to move in a certain direction, the brain automatically arranges the body so that the most efficient movements occur in an orderly, fluid fashion. If we change our mind about the direction in mid movement, the brain automatically makes the necessary adjustments. We do not have to think about each step in the chain.

The same process takes place when we are batting. Having an intention to move in one direction or the other is enough to trigger the brain to arrange the movements that are required to match the intention.

Try it for yourself. Stand with your weight evenly distributed on both feet with a magazine on the floor immediately to your left. Now move to step over the magazine to your left and observe what this intention triggers in the brain to allow this to happen. Now step back over the magazine to your right and observe once again.

What you should have noticed is that as you intended to move to the left the brain organised for a subtle shift of weight from the left foot onto the ball of the right foot with a slight bending of the right knee to allow you to push off to the left. The reverse will have happened as you went back to the starting position.

These same actions are taking place unconsciously all day long whether you are walking, gardening, stepping over puddles or playing sport. Your intention to move is enough to trigger the brain into action. You do not have to control each movement. In fact if you are thinking about each action you will actually interfere with the process.

So why do the best batters intend to move forward rather than prepare to play back? Wouldn’t it be just as efficient to prepare to play back as I tried against the West Indian fast bowlers? The answer is an emphatic no!

Why it works best to intend to play forward until you are forced back is because the first point of release from the bowler’s hand will be a full-pitched ball. If you prepare for the full ball you will still have time to adjust and push back if the ball stays in the hand longer and is short. In fact, the subconscious brain will begin to adjust before you are consciously aware that the ball will be short.

If you prepare for the short ball first you will not have enough time to adjust if the ball comes out of the hand early. In fact, you will most probably miss the ball coming out of the hand because the brain will be focussing on the expected later point of release.

This then is the ‘Secret of the batting Champions.

If, as coaches, we can encourage this mind set in our players this movement pattern will occur naturally. What a player thinks about will decide how efficient the movement patterns are, so the correct thought processes are critical to a player’s chance of success. This is why as coaches we cannot afford to cause our players to be focussed on their own movements. They must be focussed on the ball with a clear intention to play forward and let the brain do the rest.
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