In part 1 of this response to Rick Walton’s post “Coaching: a fabulous crisis”, I tried to outline my own approach to coaching batters.
In this section, I want to investigate some of the knowledge and characteristics that a modern batting coach might need.
In Coaching: a fabulous crisis, Rick Walton encapsulated the dilemma facing the batting coach today – in an era when “if the ball goes to the fence, anything goes”, what is the role of the coach?
Graham Gooch, in a coaching programme available to purchase via PitchVision, succinctly described the role of the batsman as being a run maker – ultimately, that’s all there is to it.
You don’t have to be stylish or technically “correct” (although elements of style or of a textbook technique might well emerge as long as they contribute to successful outcomes); you do have to score runs, ideally as quickly as conditions allow and the match situation demands.
So, for the batting coach – help the batters you work with to score runs.
Technical models help, if the player’s own technique lets her down; core principles (can) help to identify exactly what is going wrong.
But most important is to get the batter playing strokes and scoring runs.
If you haven’t yet read Rick’s post – start here!
Here is another reblog, this time from Rick Walton’s cricketmanwales blog, on the challenges facing batting coaches in an era when describing a batsman’s technique as “textbook” can almost be seen as a criticism.
Includes links to a couple of fascinating batting masterclasses.
For those of you who already know Rick’s writing, you will know what to expect. For anyone who has not yet experienced the passion, the honesty of CricketManWales, you are in for a treat.
@cricketmanwales is asking the important question – what now for batting coaches? Have a read & have your say! 🏏❓❓❓