As we continue to learn about how to play cricket for beginners, we need to understand the difference between the cricketers mind and the cricketers brain.
The brain is an organ, the mind is a function of the brain.
Another example to help you understand, the heart is an organ, the function of the heart is to pump blood.
We use the mind to choose goals and then we let the brain work out how to achieve the goal.
For the beginning cricketer, learning to use the mind to choose goals and to focus on them is essential and very powerful.
We ask the young cricketer who is learning how to play cricket to choose a goal in a skill drill:
To practice the off drive, to do this they hit the ball off a tee through two targets. The goal is the target, the intention is to hit the ball through them.
Focus on Simplicity
The mind is simple, what ever you think about and focus on, the brain and body follow, so we need to pay attention to what we want, not what we don’t want.
Throw at the stumps, focus on the stumps.
Hit the ball, focus on the ball.
Catch the ball, focus on the ball.
Intention is the thought behind a movement, this needs to be positive. The thought shapes the goal, so when working with beginners we want to establish wiring that is setting up positive outcomes.
I am going to hit this short ball for four
I am going to bowl a yorker to hit the stumps
I am going to defend this ball
Focus on what you want, not on what you dont !
So it is essential that players learn to pay attention, to direct their focus on the right thing at the right time.
As batters we focus on the ball and hitting it, not on not getting out.
The brain follows this literally and even if the batter doesn’t get out, it makes it very difficult to score runs.
In doing this we are beginning to shape the cricket players mental game.
Kids will play and the more fun they can have whilst they are doing it the better.
This allows them to make positive connections and to create wiring in the brain that is all associated with the joy of cricket and learning to play it
The goal is to get them to have fun and to learn as effortlessly as possible.
Go to How To Play Cricket:Part Two
Back from How To Play Cricket: Part One to Cricketlab
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.