Cricket: On drive

Attacking stroke, played to a full off stump line delivery Relaxed balanced stance, head and eyes level Backswing and step forward Front shoulder dips Base established, front knee bends Comfortable stride, with foot next to ball (on the outside of foot) Shoulders rotate vertically, bat accelerates on contact Bat swings through line of ball and follows through the direction of shot (mid off)

Played to a ball fuller quicker ball Batter must be low in their position, with head pushed forwards towards the ball Arms are extended at point of impact. Batter must use pace of ball to guide shot fine Ball should look to be played as fine as possible, Encourage batter not to try and hit the ball, rather use the pace of feed to ‘deflect’ it.

Drill designed to increase power of top hand, and reduce use of bottom hand in strokes. Attacking stroke, played to a full delivery, using a ‘bobble feed’ Relaxed balanced stance, head and eyes level Backswing and step forward Front shoulder dips Base established, front knee bends Comfortable stride, with foot next to ball (on the outside of foot) Shoulders rotate vertically, bat accelerates on contact Bat swings through line of ball and follows through the direction of shot KEY- don’t lean back and try and hit ball too hard- follow all of the above as of the standard straight drive technique.

Can be done in pairs/ groups of three.

Feeder drops ball in front of batter (with arm out horizontally, standing on the off side of the batsman for safety purposes).

Batter steps towards the ball, and aim to drive the ball on the second bounce/half volley, driving the ball on the ground through the target zones.

Each group needs 6 tennis balls. 6 feeds per batter rotate clockwise.

Drill is best done in nets (2 grounds per net in opposite directions) .Encourage players to wear at least batting gloves when doing this drill.