Batting-on-your-subconscious-mind

Here is a great piece by one of our partners in SC COACHING by Steve Chapman. http://www.sccricketcoaching.com

I doubt there would be a batsman in the game who hasn’t hit a shot that`s gone for 4 or 6 and said to himself `How the heck have I done that`? But wow didn’t it feel good! These kinds of shots and moments in your career belong to your sub conscious mind. Indeed there are moments throughout the game that can `just happen` at any given time and in any aspect of the game. We see the ball and suddenly without thought we react and that special moment is born. It would be my guess that many cricketers would carry on playing in their own way without giving too much thought as to why those moments have happened and more importantly how to make them happen a lot more often.

Apart from building technique, practice serves as a means to develop a method to react when the bowler lets go of the ball. As batsmen we need those reactions to be as spontaneous as possible, make movements without any thought whatsoever – imagine touching something extremely hot, how quickly you would pull your hand away or how quickly you would react if you were to drop something and tried to catch it before it fell. Keep in mind that at the top level of cricket a batsman has only 0.4 of a second to move once the bowler has let go of the ball, any movements must be as reactive as possible.

It is my belief that during skills practice (as against net practice) it is very important to be very specific about movements that you make when you bat. Keep drills VERY simple but make sure movements are VERY specific. It is during this time that you groove your technique and practice hard to define that range of required movement for the shot you are trying to execute – sometimes you might hear cricketers or coaches’ talk about muscle memory. This is what muscle memory refers to. Remember practice does not make perfect, but it most definitely makes permanent. Constant specific practice will help you react in a specific, technically sound manner when your technique is called upon.

Net practice and game situation batting are very different. Whilst I am comparing both as the same, I agree obviously there is a SIGNIFICANT difference, although I am a HUGE believer of players practicing how they intend to play. Anyway the point I am making is that this is the area where you must switch off from your conscious mind of thinking of the range of movement you need to execute for each particular shot and trust the technique you have built up at practice. Sure there will be things that you will be thinking about when you are not on strike, perhaps a particular tactic you are looking to utilise, perhaps how the pitch is playing or indeed how the bowler might be trying to get you out. These thoughts must be switched off when you are on strike and it’s time to focus on the ball.

This transition from thinking about yourself in your stance (batsman can think about anything, their head position in their stance, their hands on the bat, pre meditating a certain shot etc) to thinking about watching the ball is important. As the bowler is running to deliver the ball your focus should solely be on watching the ball. The clearer your head is at the point of release the more likely you are to react INSTICNTIVELY to the ball and get into a good position to execute a shot, rather than have a cloudy focus then artificially move towards the ball and therefore increase your chances of making a mistake. When you work hard in practice have the confidence to clear your mind when it’s your turn to bat at game time. Trust your technique and don’t be surprised at your results when you realise you can push your limitations as a batsman much further than you ever believed possible.