36
Blue Ball Batting
BLUE BALL BATTING
AGAINST...
Short, fast bowling
Box clever
Put your boxing focus pads on and take some
hits from your batter. Look for the
transference of weight and use of the whole
body for power. To build on that, use a
medicine ball and throw it to each side of the
player, asking them to absorb the weight of
the ball. Your player needs to be thinking of
the cut shot when you throw the ball to their
strong side, and the pull on their weaker side.
One-armed bandit
In the net, feed balls for a pull and for the cut,
looking to build confidence for the batter.
Build on that by asking them to play the same
shots one handed, with only their leading
hand on the bat. Watching that, we can see if
there are weaknesses in the player. Is there a
solid base made with the feet? Are the hands
fully engaged?
Crank up the pace
Keep putting pressure on the batsman,
working the pace of the deliveries up with a
Sidearm thrower, but at the same time
allowing room for mistakes. As the pace goes
up I’m still looking at whether the body
position can be maintained – is the balance
there? Is the point of contact still where it
needs to be? If not, is that a confidence issue
or slow reactions? These are all things that
you can discuss with the player afterwards –
ask them where they thought they could
improve.