The Teesra

Category: practice

design of practice sessions

  • Having a hit with HiTZ

    Having a hit with HiTZ

    A couple of weeks ago the Guardian ran an article on their website about HiTZ cricket.

    HiTZ is the “performance” implementation of Batfast’s bowling simulation technology, as used in the “Sixes” entertainment venues (now, sadly, in administration).

    In the article, the emphasis was firmly on “getting back into the game” and “building confidence” rather than suggesting it could be a really serious training tool. But it looked interesting.

    I paid a couple of visits to HiTZ @ HPC Chigwell to find out for myself.

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  • Simple net game, revisited

    I have been delivering an after-school club this term. As happened last year, we have been evicted from the newly built sports hall to accommodate exams. Unlike last time, we have been able to carry on with the weekly club, but in the much smaller and very crowded old sports hall.

    So small and crowded, in fact, that the only safe option has been to roll out the nets to keep the players away from table tennis tables, rowing machines, badminton nets, benches and other clutter.

    Rather than a basic net session, I wanted to utilise the simple net game format, with a points system designed to reward specific behaviours beyond just “having a hit”!

    But, as I can’t resist tinkering with games, the points scoring system was modified, in an attempt to make the practice a little more realistic.

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  • Simple net game

    Here is a simple game to play in the nets, to encourage batters to do more than “just have a hit”.

    Each batter faces a round of bowling, one ball from each bowler.

    First round — “have a look” — batter is challenged to leave as many deliveries as possible (1 run) or, if he plays the ball, to play it with soft hands so the ball does not hit the net (also 1 run).

    Second round — acceleration — score 1 run for every ball that hits the net after bouncing.

    Third round — “get on with it” — 4 runs for hitting the ball back out of the net.

    Bowlers score 5 for every time they hit the stumps — if this unbalances the game too much in favour of bowlers, score 3 or 4 per wicket — the intention is to encourage bowlers to bowl as straight as possible, at all times, but the points are an added incentive to bowl properly.

    If the batters are padded up, face all 3 rounds, then have remainder of batting time; compare scores at the end of the net session.

    If using a soft ball and batters not padding up, rotate after each round and compare scores at the end of each phase.

    Inspired by “Going through the gears” by @ImSporticus, and conversations with @DavidHinchliffe about net practice.