ECB Coaches Association links Coaching Insight 2019 | Page 29

Constraints
C
onstraints is a word that can feel
quite clinical. But what I mean
by it is a boundary that shapes and
forms our skill.
So if you’re brought up in Bangalore,
guess what’ll probably happen? You’ll
be good at playing and bowling spin.
Just as if you’re from Perth you’ll be
good at playing the short ball, and
if you’re brought up playing cricket
at Headingley you will be good at
playing on the front foot.
Similarly, Hashim Amla developed his
famously angled backlift not through
coaching, or by experimenting to
improve his technique. He learned to
play in a small room with his brother,
where to give himself as much time
to see the ball as possible he backed
right up to the wall. In that situation,
the only place for his backlift to
go was towards gully. That specific
setting shaped the entire way he
played the game.
The point is, your environment
shapes the player you become. But
environments can be manipulated,
and as coaches we should have the
ability to manipulate in our toolkit.
This idea isn’t new – it’s the kind of
approach Don Bradman had – and
can be summed up by saying “tell
players what you want them to do,
not how to do it”.
Set them a target, don’t tell them
how to reach it.
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