Your Cricket Lost Technique...

[Trini Boi]

Hey guys.
I'm 15 years old, playing u15 cricket in a league in Canada. This is my third year playing hardball cricket for the Mississauga Ramblers Cricket Club, and I've seem to have hit a problem with my batting.

I've been using a Grey-Nicolls Viper that my parents got from Trinidad for me. My whole time as a batsman [which is a very light bat.] It split in two about 2 months ago. A week later I bought a fairly light bat, but nothing compared to the lightness of my previous Viper.
I went to the nets the next day [don't worry, it was already pre-knocked in with a facing] and had a knock. For some reason, I was batting completely differently.
My whole technique had changed. I went from an elbow-high batsman to a bottom-handed flop. For every single shot I played, my bottom hand completely took over the shot, especially my drives. Almost every straight-drive I played hit the toe because my bottom hand would jot out and it would hit the toe of the bat. I've been using the bat ever since, and I still have the problem

So my question is, how do I fix this? And stop using so much bottom hand?
How do I get back to my normal technique? [elbow-up drives.]
Please help, and thanx!
p.s. sorry for the truckload of an index, LOL.

 

[treva]

Loosen up on your bottom hand grip is my advice. Make sure your playing everything next to your body and not out in front. I think it's just a matter of time before you get back to your old technique. There's nothing wrong with being bottom handed though, that's how I play. I grip the bat hard with my bottom hand and I push at the ball. It has it's disadvantages and advantages. I have been caught pushing at the ball defensively and loft shots I sometimes want to keep down, but you also get a lot of power and usually time the ball very well.

I think just keep netting and tweaking little things you notice.

 

[TumTum]

Unless you bought a ████ bat, something resembling a 1kg weight tied down to the end of a golf stick, I doubt your technique can change that much. Keep working on it.

 

[AngryPixel]

Treva's advice is a good one. To get more control on the shots just loosen up your bottom hand grip. I had a light bat too and play with this technique in mind which works :

When i am new to the crease, i play with loose bottom hand and low backlift. That give more control on the shots and edges don't fly that far.

When slogging time comes, i use high backlift and bottom hand dominated grip.

 

[angryangy]

squash ball

 

[blake]

Stick your front elbow out quite a bit when facing and hold the bat quite high up the grip. Try and have the bat facing directly back to the keeper or to first slip when you are taking guard and facing up, and that should get your drives happening again. Might struggle a bit on your pulls and cuts early but you will hopefully get used to that.

Worked for me.

 

[Trini Boi]

@ Treva: Yeah hopefully a matter of time, & I'll surely follow your tips.. I never actually thought of that keeping your shots under your eyes, that will help. Thanx for the help, I'll try it today at practise. [:
Btw, you should be a coach man! xD

@ TumTum: LOL naah it's a really good bat. Trust me. Once I was batting in a friendly and the dude on the other team is like, "Yo, can I hold your bat?" then he went to his other teammate and he's like "This kid has a siick bat!"
And yeah I find that it really did alter my technique, but hopefully I regain my form.

@ AngryPixel: Yeah it's a very useful tip, and I'll keep it in mind while at the crease.

@ angryangy: You've enlightened me, my life is now complete. Thank you.

@ Blake: Yeah I actually tried that. I used a Graeme Smith type-of stance, [with the jotting elbow] but I kept flopping over my top-hand. So like my forward defensive would become a front-foot flick for the single onto the leg-side.

Thanx for the help guys, I'll try all of it at practise. More comments would also be appreciated, if you have anything to say.

 

[AngryPixel]

Always happy to help

 

[treva]

Let us know how you get on in the next few sessions/matches.

 

[blake]

@ Blake: Yeah I actually tried that. I used a Graeme Smith type-of stance, [with the jotting elbow] but I kept flopping over my top-hand. So like my forward defensive would become a front-foot flick for the single onto the leg-side.

This could possibly be a result of your back lift going too wide - I had the same problem when I was tapping my bat and it was facing towards second slip. It would come across in a strange arc and so as a result I would be hitting everything straight through the leg side.

When you did this, was your backlift completely straight backwards to the keeper? It is pretty hard to flick a forward defence through the leg side like that, although I'm not sure what you mean about flopping.

Having a wide backlift does have its benefits though, so I'll leave it up to you to decide what you like or feel comfortable doing the most.

 

[AngryPixel]

I prefer wide backlift. It is easier to play flick and on drives. If you are careful then there shouldn't be a problem playing on offside even with a wide backlift.

 

[treva]

Straight, low backlift is the way to go lads

 

[AngryPixel]

Straight low is good for building a innings, but when domination is required, wide high backlift is the way to go IMO

 

[McLOVIN]

There's nothing wrong with being bottom handed though, that's how I play. I grip the bat hard with my bottom hand and I push at the ball. It has it's disadvantages and advantages. I have been caught pushing at the ball defensively and loft shots I sometimes want to keep down, but you also get a lot of power and usually time the ball very well.

Dude!! Same here! My forward defense always gets a nick or when I try to drive the ball I either edge it or play it in the air. I am always going at the ball. But when I am able to drive it on the ground, ball comes off the middle very smoothly.

If you are a attacking batsman, you should have a hard bottom hand grip, and use it to clear the fielders. With T20 around, you will see many pros are doing it. They grip the bat way close to the shoulder of the bat and hands are pretty close together. But for juniors they should just do the basic grips, then later on you can change or w/e.

 

[treva]

Yeh, got out pushing forward to a left arm othordox spinner coming around the wicket today. Really can't stand getting out when defending, I'd much rather I was slogging across the line.