I am setting myself a task for this year, to write up more session plans.
My preference is to ad lib around a session “theme”. I know what I’m going to do next, but no-one else does, so the plans will be for the coaches I work with and also for a couple of the boys who might appreciate a little less chaos and a bit more structure from my Saturday sessions!
It will work for me, as well, as much to capture the thinking behind the “plans” as actually to use them again.
(more…)I do like a bit of one hand, one bounce. I use it as a gamified drill, to get the players used to playing with soft hands.
Yes, I do think there is a place for a little batting subtlety, even in T20 — a couple of drop-and-run singles just might make the oppo change their field, opening up space for bigger hits. In the recent T20 World Cup, batters were even stealing twos on the huge Aussie outfields, with shots that didn’t leave the fielding circle!
I tried this at the weekend, with a group of u11s, then played a short game to test out the new “strokes”. It nearly worked (most got the idea, but still preferred trying to hit the cover off the ball). but on reflection the game wasn’t quite right (not “representative” enough; not enough reward for playing the drop-and-run).
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I spent a couple of hours on Saturday feeding a bowling machine for U13 trialists.† Some had clearly batted a lot against a bowling machine (some were simply more accomplished batters), but it was notable how some simply weren’t lining up the ball properly.
It has been reported how the delivery method (bowling machine vs. throw down vs. live bowler) can influence how the batter plays, so performance against a bowling machine might not be indicative of how a batter will perform under match conditions.
Which set me thinking about how a bowling machine could be made more “representative” of a live bowler.
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The Teesra 