Want to know how to stay at the crease for long periods and pile on the runs? Or maybe you’re having problems concentrating and thinking too far ahead? Read on to learn about a technique which many world class players use and let me know how you get on using the comments box!
You can also see how I explain this to a player in a live environment on my YouTube channel.
If you talk to any amount of cricketers around the world and ask them about their most recent dismissals, then most of them will likely tell you that it was something to do with a lapse in concentration. Either they were thinking about the previous deliveries, or planning too far ahead for the next delivery – or even beyond that – which led them away from the present moment and they played a false shot. Being in the past can make you think negatively about the next delivery, which can sometimes force you to play against your nature. If you premeditate, you can easily lose concentration on the task at hand which is the next ball and that only.
Batting is a highly demanding motor skill which requires intense concentration for long periods of time. It’s the whole batting mechanism you have to go through, plus there are external variables as well. The reason it’s so intense is that not all the deliveries are the same and then there are all the outside influences involved before you even try to hit the ball! Bowlers will be bowling differently each delivery to get you out with their pace, spin, bounce or movement in the air and off the pitch; captains will be setting different fields and you’ll be hearing comments about you all the time. The state of the game continually changes and the playing conditions can also change and affect how you will need to bat – the surface of the pitch, weather/atmosphere and the state of the ball. So, a batsman can only be successful if they practice a lot to counter all these factors and by being in the present moment with full concentration.
But sometimes even if you practice a lot, when you go to the match situations, it’s a huge transition and a lot of batsmen could lose concentration because of the pressure a cricket match brings with it. Pressure takes us away from the present moment and our perfect batting zone and then we try to do things against our batting style, which gets us out.
I have completed many hours of research on this topic and the technique which works for a lot of great batsmen around the world is called ‘grounding technique’. It intentionally requires you to use your different senses at a task between each delivery to break the thinking cycle between two deliveries, so that you don’t keep thinking about the previous ball and lose concentration. We can use as many senses as possible, like feel something, see something, say something, smell something etc – it doesn’t matter what, but we should have some sort of routine before each delivery.
An example would be to try to feel the ground under your feet when you stand in the crease, then see if both of your toes are in straight line, and intentionally try to hit the bat down at the specific spot behind your back toe. Or you could come up with a phrase which would mean that now you have to block everything and start concentrating. It may take some time to perfect this routine, especially when you have to get ready before each delivery – sometimes a bowler will be trying to get through an over quickly and you won’t have much time. Also, it might fatigue you to complete a routine before even playing a ball, but you can always practice it in the nets or even you can do shadow batting and develop this technique away from the game situation. If you watch batsmen between deliveries, many players at all levels use this technique to ‘re-set’ themselves before the next ball… some of the top players look like they’re fidgeting, or giving themselves a talking to, which they might be, but it’s all part of this routine.
You will hopefully see that by doing this you will be able to break the thought cycle and your mind will be totally free so you can play on your instincts. The next step is to hone your instinctive style, which can be easily developed in the nets by practicing on the specific shots again and again and get them stored in your subconscious mind. Our mind will always revert to our subconscious mind when under pressure, so it’s important to create both a routine and a natural set of strokes which you will play instinctively when the right ball is bowled. Grounding yourself before each delivery will help your subconscious mind choose the right shot to play in the right moment!
This technique has worked for me recently and I have been able to concentrate for longer periods of time. I hope you guys can look to develop this type of routine for yourselves and see if it helps – I will be looking forward to hearing about your routines and how it worked for you!