by Dinesh.S
(Chennai)
Sachin Tendulkar: Batting Stance – Simplicity
Hello Sir,
This is Dinesh from Chennai, I am a batsman playing first division cricket in Chennai. It’s great reading your site. I do have some batting questions for you !
* My initial movement when batting does not have the trigger movement. I only tap the bat while the bowlers load as my preparation, but at that time my head falls to the off side.
* My strong points are that I can play shots in the cover region easily, however I am not able to play my on drives !!
** At the same time to bring my bat close to the body my bat comes from leg stump.
What drills can I do to stop my head from falling over to the off side and to bring my bat close to the body from first slip ?
With regards
S.Dinesh
Hi Dinesh,
You can take a leaf out of Sachin’s book with his batting stance, looking at balance, set up and hand position.
Drill 1. Set Up in crease … at nets and when doing shadow batting, tilt your chin down slightly and in to your left shoulder ( as a right hand batter).
Practice this, take your time in the nets between balls, set your stance … set your chin down and in slightly to your shoulder and keep your head and body still when watching the bowler run in. Sachin is a good model of this.
Each ball, repeat this until it happens on automatic. Graeme Smith is excellent at this, he takes his time in his ‘between ball’ routine, locks his head in position and sets his focus.
Focus: As the bowler gets closer and into his load, switch your focus on full, look at the seam on the ball. Still head means good information, which means good judgement.
Drill 2. Stance – Bat Position.
Bradman Drill: Find a line on the floor, a line of tiles or floor boards and practice swinging the bat down and through, following the straight line, holding the face of the blade all the way through the imaginary ball.
Weight forward and allowing the hands to naturally check the shot or flow through into a full drive.
Drill 3.
Sachin also taps his bat, practice playing shadow drives, make sure you can feel the inside of your right forearm brushing against your shirt on front and back foot drives. This means your hands are close to your body.
Practice this in front of a mirror so you can see and feel it together, watch the flow of your bat coming through in a straight line.
Do this with throw downs with a partner or coach … taking up the intensity and speed … over time this will become part of your game.
In game time forget about it and just watch the ball.
Best wishes Coach
About Richard Pybus
I'm Richard Pybus, I've coached Pakistan, Bangladesh, Middlesex, Titans and the Cape Cobras in South Africa and the goal of this site is to help you to play winning cricket.