Developing the batting fundamentals, the England way — where do you look?

I was very fortunate to snag a place on a workshop with Paul Shaw, Tim Boon, Matt Maynard & Mark Garaway, looking at batting fundamentals from the viewpoint of highly experienced coaches who have worked extensively with the national teams.

Fascinating to hear how they simplified the art of batting — from complex technical & biomechanical analyses in the coach’s brain to the simplest possible concepts, drills & activities for the player.

And an insight into how they approach Observation (one of the old “coaching bugs” from my level 1 coaching badge).

The coaching faculty presented just 4 fundamental “themes” for analysis.

• Rhythm (referring to the timing & sequencing of pick-up, trigger, foot movement, bat swing)
• Alignment
• Balance
• Bat path

And it’s true — if a batter is in nick, all of these will fine-tuned. And if she is struggling, chances are it will be one of these items where there is an issue.

There followed a practical exercise for the attendees, to view a series of video clips, prepare an analysis (“say what you see”), then prescribe a remedial course.

We might be more inclined to start with effectiveness, now — if it works, why try to break it? But the topic that provoked conversation was “where do you look?” Where do you look first?

Some coaches first focused on the batter’s head. Some on their feet. Consensus was that perhaps it did not matter, so long as the observation was systematic & complete — head-to-toes, or toes-to-head.

But I find myself watching bat path first.

Perhaps a legacy of bowling many overs of moderate medium, trying to spot a potential weakness in a batter — if he swings “in to out”, I’ll try to squeeze an inswinger between bat & pad (attack the inside edge of the bat, because the bat path already compensates for a ball leaving the bat); attack the stumps but try to swing the ball away if the batter plays around his front pad.

I do the same when I am stood on a bowling machine.

So much so that I’ll ask a batter to use a thin, practice bat (aka “technique” or “middling” bats) with a bright orange sticker on the splice. It’s that, or an orange post-it note on the face of the bat.

If the bat path is consistently good, I’d hesitate to suggest changes anywhere else. If it’s poor, then I’d go looking for other “fundamentals” to tweak.

Then again, the coaching faculty on the workshop have all worked with many international batters…