what are the ways to stop getting the ball in the air?

Sportplan TeamAdministrator, United Kingdom

Hi Amit,

I've just had a look in the Answers archive and found this really good answer which looks at how to stop players hitting the ball in the air.

Hope this helps,
The Sportplan team. 

David BeattieCoach, Australia

I havent answered this question yet so i thought i would have a go at it.

There are some simple guidelines i follow when coaching kids and even young adults when it comes to keeping the ball on the ground.

Please note that when i coach younger kids i am less concerned about the more technical side of batting and more concerned about them enjoying their cricket.

From a technical side%3A

          -1. Stronger top hand and weaker bottom hand will almost make it impossible to hit the ball in the air. (There are numorous methods to achieve this. I usually put a squash ball in the palm of their hand).

          -2. Weight coming forward during shot. (You will almost certainly notice that when the batsmen hits the ball in the air, they are usually leaning back).

          -3. Head position. (Needs to be down and still. If i find a batsman having trouble doing this, I make him tuck his head into his front shoulder when facing up).

Together these guidelines will not only stop a batsman from hitting the ball in the air, but will generally improve their batting as a whole.

When it comes to the younger ones i just always make sure they are hitting the ball on the off-side. Most kids who are right-hand dominant and bat right-handed usually hit everything with their bottom hand thus hitting everything on the on-side.

As long as the kids are still enjoying their cricket you can try some of the above techniques. But dont get too serious.

With my 8 year old son who is right-handed and a right hand bat, i make a game with him which involves playing tennis wrong-handed. This strengthens his non-dominant hand and if i can get him playing back-hands with his left hand, it mimics a cricket shot.

Sorry to be so long-winded. I hope this helps.