The Teesra

Month: June 2016

  • Bring the ropes in…a conversation with @ballsrightsreas

    Interesting conversation with Dave C, aka @ballsrightareas, on setting boundaries for junior cricket.

    Should we bring the ropes in, to encourage batters to (try to) hit boundaries?

    But risk having games dominated by batters mis-hitting 6s?

    Or set the line back, and reward the strokeplayers who can exploit the wide open spaces?

    But see games dragged out as young fielders trudge after the ball as it pulls up short of a full-size boundary?

    (more…)

  • Sledging – the missing component from the coaches’ tool kit?

    I mentioned in an earlier post that I sometimes used “sledging” as a coaching tool.

    This is something I picked up working with an experienced Aussie coach – that the coach can sometimes use a little psychological pressure to focus the player on the challenge at hand.

    “Can you hit this one?  I don’t think you can.”

    Not because the player will “just have to get used to sledging” when she starts playing.  Not abuse, not questioning the player’s parentage (I work with young players – Mum or Dad will be standing next to the net!), certainly not banal “banter“…but I will tell a batter that I think I have spotted a weakness, and that I am going to put his technique to the test.

  • Good session…so what was going on?

    I had a couple of 1-to-1 sessions yesterday.  Nothing unusual in that – I do four or five regular 1-to-1s almost every week – but I came away last night feeling that these particular sessions had gone especially well.

    Good engagement, high energy, good questions (all of the above two-way); positive outcomes, clear summary of “learning points” (not too many) and players left with a challenge – “now, go out and try it!”

    The players left hopefully having learnt a little, tried something new, and with a clear idea of something they could try in their next game.  They both told me they had enjoyed the hour; as importantly (more importantly – they might have been very polite), I think I saw a few “light bulb moments”, when they understood what I was trying to tell them and realised that it could work for them.

    So what was going on?  And, more to the point, what might have been missing from other sessions that were “OK”, but not perhaps as good as last night’s? (more…)