Batting Help: Changing the Batting Grip

[f.b.m]

OK, Something thats really been bothering me in the last few weeks/months when I go out to bat in the nets is my on-side play and not being able to flick any leg side deliveries, no matter how slow, fast, or innocuous the deliveries are. Something thats even more worrying is that recently, everytime I see a legside delivery I start backing away to play it straight back at the bowler. However, if its short-ish and straight, the pull/hook shots come out automatically and it all goes quite well. Now, when playing with the rubber ball on a concrete surface (which is what I've been doing for the past 9-10 months), this problem wasnt there. If anything, flicking full, straight deliveries into gaps in the leg-side was my strength and it involved a lot of wristwork. The bat would just about brush my legs on the way through. The cut shots were very wristy aswell. And as for the grip, both my hands would be right next to each other and were right on top of the bat handle. Now, I think the problem when batting against the leather ball is that we all have to wear gloves and pads. The thing with the gloves is that it increases the space between the two hands on the bat handle. This pretty much screws up my legside play. I've tried to play with the split grip (with the two hands further apart) with the rubber ball and all the wristwork becomes shite. And the other thing is that the pads always get in the way of any on-side flick. In an attempt to compensate for this, I've tried bringing my bat from outside off stump to leg stump on the way down and all it results in is a leading edge going straight up in the air. And as for the cut shots, theyre effective but have become a lot more mechanical. Something that was Laxman or Gilchrist like has become very Hayden or Brendan Nash-like. Now how do I go about this and what should I keep in mind? Any tips or suggestions? Btw, this problem wasnt there about 2 years ago when I played for a club and didnt play any sort of cricket without gloves or pads.

[Gambit]

I'm not a technical expert but do you by any chance have a low grip? Trying to play the flick with a low grip is certainly not easy. Trying increasing the grip height by two/three finger widths. If you don't have a lowish grip, the other thing you could try is batting with a more squarish open stance, like McCullum.It will help you to work the ball pitched on middle and leg on to the onside.

[f.b.m]

I have a very high grip. And without gloves, both very close to each other enabling me to use my wrists most deliveries. But with the gloves, the hands are spaced apart and that screws up any wristwork. And as for a square on stance, I have tried that (although not for long) and yeah the legside play is a bit better (not all deliveries get a leading edge) but it completely screws up my cut shot which is my main shot these days.

[rahulrulezz]

Dude... I wont suggest you to change your grip at this point of time.... you should rather work hard and practice hard with the same grip till you get better... I did something similar two years before..this guy who is a very good batsman and has the standing position and grip like Chandrapaul was freaking good in hitting any Tapeball for a six... My wrist standing position is somewhat similar to Sachin/Sehwag ..its good for drives, slashes, flat sixes but thats not good for aerial shots... so i changed my grip and batting style to his one just to become a better slogger.... and I screwed up my batting big time.... last year i came back to my orignial batting style and worked hard to improve my aerial shots... and i m a much better batsman...

[Shehezaada]

Personally I wouldn't change my grip at this stage either, especially if you are used to it. Secondly, I don't think grips really are the problem factor when playing the flick shot unless your holding the bat TOO tightly and not allowing your wrists to be free. I agree completely with Rahul that hard work and practice will get those shots back. Before my weakness was the legside and the way I practiced was to throw the ball very slowly against a wall and then flick it between two pillows (fielders). I did this maybe 1000 times a day. Then my weakness became my strength. Keep in mind that I was SO bad that I couldn't even hit the ball when it was coming VERY slowly. I literally had to place the ball on the floor, backlift, keep the head steady, eye on the ball, and slowly turn the bat to get the flick shot going. After a week I got more comfortable. The next game I was full of confidence and was flicking fast bowlers for boundaries. Don't be afraid to go right back zero. You'd be surprised how well it works.

[Dravid]

when i used to see a half-volley on the pads.. i would play it lazily and always end up missing it.. be sure you concentrate and look at that weak **** hitting your bat :proud: -Dravid, the axphert

[matma]

Your GRIP has nothing to do with particular shots - none whatsoever. Its about BALANCE. When your front-pad gets in the way - it sounds like you aint picking up the length fast enough and over-commiting on the front foot, closing your body off, with your head and body pointing to extra-cover/mid-off. This means when the ball is goind down leg you will be playing around your leg and will over-balance towards the offisde and start to fall-over. To remedy this, stand still as the ball is being released, once you see its going down leg, move your front-pad out of the way, opening your self up. Balance is essential when playing down leg. Watch any video of Tendulkar, and you will see his flick through square-leg or backward-square. His body is open at the moment the ball hits the bat. This is one of Tendulkar's 'bread and butter' shots. As for the 'cut-shot' - my thinking is that it shouldnt be wristy at all. This is too risky with edging to slips etc. If you wanna play the 'cut-shot' watch Sourav Ganguly - the best exponent of the cut-shot. Power and timing. Remember batting is all about BALANCE.

[King]

Upload a video to Youtube or somewhere and send us a link using the contact us. It's impossible to help someone without having a look.

[Shehezaada]

Your GRIP has nothing to do with particular shots - none whatsoever. Its about BALANCE. When your front-pad gets in the way - it sounds like you aint picking up the length fast enough and over-commiting on the front foot, closing your body off, with your head and body pointing to extra-cover/mid-off. This means when the ball is goind down leg you will be playing around your leg and will over-balance towards the offisde and start to fall-over. To remedy this, stand still as the ball is being released, once you see its going down leg, move your front-pad out of the way, opening your self up. Balance is essential when playing down leg. Watch any video of Tendulkar, and you will see his flick through square-leg or backward-square. His body is open at the moment the ball hits the bat. This is one of Tendulkar's 'bread and butter' shots. As for the 'cut-shot' - my thinking is that it shouldnt be wristy at all. This is too risky with edging to slips etc. If you wanna play the 'cut-shot' watch Sourav Ganguly - the best exponent of the cut-shot. Power and timing. Remember batting is all about BALANCE.

I wouldn't say that the grip has NOTHING to do with particular shots. I have experimented with grips and found it easier to play and control the pull/hook with a lower grip then higher grip. Also the tightness..it's harder to manouver the ball into gaps with a very tight grip.

[matma]

Well actually, grip is personal preference. Whether you Tendulkar-it and hold it down lower, or Gilchrist-it and hold it higher, it doesn't matter and shouldn't affect what shots you play. At the end of the day, its personal comfort. In fact, maybe for you its a mental thing. Cos Gilchrist plays the pull-hook shots easy, yet he has a very high grip. Agree on the idea that you should grip the bat, tightish but not too tight. What I was trying to put across is that, balance is key to playing any cricket shot. I didn't get into - grips - because this should be a natural thing as a batsmen. You learn this when you first play cricket. If you cannot play a particular shot, it is because you are not balanced properly. Balance. Balance. Balance.

[f.b.m]

Thanks guys for your inputs. I realized that what matma is saying is quite right. My body, feet, etc move towards the bowler or towards midoff when playing these leg-side shots. In the last few days, I've been watching Sachin's 241 which is a masterclass in leg-side play and one thing I notice is that he turns around on his front foot to an open stance as he's playing his shots. With Dravid, he pulls back his frontfoot to the same stance. I'll try the same and see how it goes in tomorrow's net session. And shehezaada, yeah I'll try starting up from the basics of hitting a very slow ball, sounds like it'll be very useful.

Upload a video to Youtube or somewhere and send us a link using the contact us. It's impossible to help someone without having a look.

I'll do that when I get somewhere close to a videocamera.