Very interesting to see AB de Villiers analysis of his own batting technique.
https://twitter.com/cricketyard/status/651388221033709569
His “two step” backswing looks a little like the starting point for the “rotary batting” technique ascribed to Don Bradman – an initial low pick-up, followed by a more exaggerated lift of the bat towards the slips rather than straight back, with the bat then “looping” around to come down straight if the delivery demands to be met with a perpendicular bat.
Obvious, really. But how often do you see batsmen doing the exact opposite, and hitting shots straight at the fielders.
Top batsmen take a quick look around the field, then proceed to thread the ball through the narrowest of gaps.
How do they do it? The answer seems to be simple enough…but with a subtle lesson for the psychological side of top performance. (more…)
Don’t strive to bat in an “elegant” or “pretty” fashion for its own sake. That which comes natural to you as a batsman is the style to follow.
Remarkably modern advice for the player, especially if you replace the words “elegant” or “pretty” with “text-book” or “orthodox”! The absolute necessity for a player to find out what works for him or her is now being re-discovered, as it was back in 1906 by the author of “Don’ts…”
And there is similar advice for the coach –
Don’t interfere with the powers of nature: all coaching tends at first to eradicate individual peculiarities and to cramp a natural style.
The Teesra 