Presence
All of the players need to work on their concentration. To be a batter, you have to be ready to get hit by a ball all the time. Bowlers and fielders have to be ready at all times, too. This can be a hard thing for coaches to teach about the game.
Sports psychologists often suggest using mental imagery to help you stay focused. Imagine that you hit the ball through the covers or catch it comfortably at the slip. It’s an important skill to learn.
Reflexes
People who play cricket need to have quick reactions, not just batters. Wicketkeepers and people standing in the slips need to be quick, too. Make a bowling machine and keep practicing in the nets. If you’re good at facing fast bowling, you can do this.
Shortening the pitch and having someone bowl at you from about 18 yards is also a good idea. First of all, you can use a tennis ball to get used to it.
If you play field, having a coach hit tennis balls at you with a racquet is a great way to work on your reflexes.
Coordination of Hands and Eyes
This is an important skill for anyone who wants to be a batsman and do well. Bowlers release the ball, and the eye will follow it, and the hands will come through to play the shot. How do you learn and improve this skill?
Start by asking your coach or team member to throw some underarm deliveries at you. Get used to how the bat swings and how it feels when you hit the ball. From that point, build up to faster speeds. Also, think about other sports like tennis, which can help you improve your hand-eye coordination.
Perception of Space
You need to know where the ball is coming from and how it will end up if you are a batter or a fielder.
This can be hard to learn, but beginners should know how important it is to learn it. Studies have shown that this skill also responds to picturing it, with cricketers who were shown visual presentations being tested.
Agility and Sprinting
Batters need to be quick between the wickets, and fielders need that same speed to chase down balls that will hit the ground and go over the fence.
Everybody is born at a different level of speed, but we can keep up with basic sprint training to improve our speed even more. Start by setting up cones that are about 5 to 10 meters apart. Sprint between them and turn at the end as if you were going back for a second run.
Accuracy in throws and catches
Fielders and wicketkeepers: This one is for you! A catcher can win a match, but runouts are also important in the game. There isn’t anything else that can compare to practice in these cases. The best way to throw is to get to the nets and keep your eye on the stumps. There are also catching drills you can do at school or with your coach.
Balance
For a batter to move their weight through the ball, they must be in a good place. Fielders also need to be ready to move quickly in either direction when the ball is hit.
The player’s head should be above it when the ball is hit. The head should still move toward the ball even if the ball is outside of either off or leg stump. Again, this is a skill that can be practiced over and over in the nets again and again.
Flexibility and strength
Anyone truly interested in cricket should be working to build up their overall strength. There are a lot of exercises that you can do here, and I’ve talked about them more in the past.
Planks, press-ups, tricep dips, oblique dips, and pull-ups are all good exercises that you can do to stay fit.
Consistency and Muscle Memory
People who are good at sports learn how to use their muscles over time, and they do this through practice. They will play their best shots, and when you watch them practice, it looks like they don’t even have to think about what they are doing.
If you practice a skill a lot, your muscles will be able to remember how to do it. A skill like an off-drive, a pull, or a cricket shot can then be done without thinking about it.
That will happen over time, both in the nets and at a match. Learning this will help your muscles remember how they should work consistently.
Timing
Power has become very important for batters, but even the best hitters will also have to think about timing. The ball will always go farther when you hit the delivery at the right time.
Balance is an important part of this skill, and we’ve already talked about the need to keep the head above the ball. If you want the ball to bounce at the right time, you need to hit it at its top. It will be easy to tell if you get the timing right when the ball moves quickly, and you don’t have to think about it.
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