A Fielding Focus
Two to try
One
Start with a consistent set
position. That should be with
“energy in your feet”, as Trevor
Penny used to tell me, or the
same position you see tennis
players take up when receiving
serve, or goalkeepers facing a
penalty. From there, you can
move quickly in any direction.
It’s hard work and requires
strong bum and leg muscles but
if you can get the players doing
that they’ll move much better.
A good way to practise this is to
set out three cones and number
them. Have the players take up
the set position and when you
shout out one, two or three they
have to move from the set
position and reach the
numbered cone as quickly as
possible.
Two
Badminton is the best game I
know for footwork, so I’d always
encourage your players to take
that up in their spare time. But
we can incorporate some of the
benefits of badminton into a
practice. Using a shuttlecock and
racquet, position a player close
to you then hit the shuttle over
their head and behind them,
forcing them to run back and
catch it. Once caught, or not,
hit another shuttle short to
bring them back in. Repeat
until you run out of
shuttlecocks.
45