Does Anyone Ever Really Need to Play a Switch Hit?
In 2006 Sri Lanka toured England with the great Muralitharan in the side: A bowler who demanded the utmost respect or be destroyed.
This made it all the more outrageous when Kevin Pietersen, a relative rookie to Test cricket, turned into a left-handed stance and “switch hit” Murali for six.
Pietersen has show that such a shot can be done at the highest level against the best bowlers.
Build from solid foundations
The switch hit is a very special but very risky shot. Like more orthodox shots, there are rules to playing it that will give you the best chance of success.
The first of which is simple: Never attempt the shot in the game unless you have a solid basic technique:
- Can you drive the ball on the front foot through mid on and midwicket?
- Are you able to stay tight, driving in the V early on and leaving the ball outside off stump?
- Can you play left arm over inswing bowling well?
If you struggle with any of these elements there is a good chance your technique is not good enough to try to get creative.
Go back to the drawing board and work on getting well balanced and aligned first.
Pick your moment
Once you are confident in your technique, you need to consider the match situation.
Imagine you are playing a 40 over match and are going well on 60 not out. There are 12 overs left batting first and the spinner is on, turning the ball into you.
As a result, the field is spread but there is nobody on the square off side boundary.
It makes sense because you have been playing with the spin hitting into the leg side or straight through mid off.
This is just about the perfect moment to play a switch hit: you are forcing the ball into an area with a gap to score a much needed boundary.
Each element makes the shot slightly easier:
- How well set you are
- The pace of the bowler
- Which way the ball is moving
- The field
It would be pointless trying to switch hit an away swing bowler of your third ball with a deep point set in a 2 day game. You can score in safer and easier ways just by waiting for the long hop or half volley.
Practice it, even if it’s just for fun at first
Of course, when the perfect moment does arrive you need to be confident you can at least make contact.
As it’s such a unique and risky shot it’s best not to spend hours trying to get it right. Your time in nets is limited and you need to get the proper shots sorted first.
However, 5 minutes at the end of a session with some progressive drills will give you the confidence you need when you feel the time is right.
You can find out as part of Ian Pont’s online coaching course: Attacking Batting: 8 Innovative Shots That Escalate Your Run Rate. The course gives you the drills and techniques to master unorthodox batting and be able to score at ODI rates.
Ian is an experienced coach who has helped at the highest level. He is waiting to help you become a better batsman here.
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Comments
I really don't think its either necessary nor particularly wise to play the switch hit, the dilscoop, even the reverse sweep. These shots were invented to counteract accurate high quality bowlers bowling to specifically designed legside field settings. How often in amateur cricket are you faced with such a prospect? Hardly ever.
Simply being able to drive, cut and pull effectively should score to plenty of runs against almost every bowler you will face. Hit the bad balls hard and drop the good balls in the gaps for singles. Even more accepted orthodox shots like the late cut and the sweep are not really necessary if you play the main three shots well.
I certainly agree that unless you can drive, cut and pull effectively, you should not be attempting any of the more lavish shots but you cannot remain a three trick pony forever. Apart from anything else, it makes for a boring game from the spectator's view point... depending on how long you stay in that is, and this will not be long against spin particularly.
A bit like listening to a band who can only manage three cords... of course, it's music... but what a difference when you listen to Clapton, Gilmore, Knopfler, Hendrix, King etc. The eyes need feasting as well as the ears.
Then there is the batsman's experience. How much better when you can play many more balls, clocking many more runs and possibly moving from amateur to the heddy heights. Thank goodness guys like Trescothick took another view!
Chicken and egg... Do the professionals play these shots because they are professionals? Or, Are they professionals because they play these shots?
Actually, I think you can remain a three trick pony forever. Many professional test cricketers only really have 3 or 4 genuine attacking shots.
Simplicity is key. If you are the type of batsman who plays 8 different shots, by the time you have decided which one you are going to go for, the ball will be in the keepers gloves. Learn to play three complementary shots well and you will have plenty of opportunity to score runs. I've seen good club batsmen score tons at a run a ball without ever playing more than two shots.
Interesting debate: although I side a little with Liz - classic exceptions are Michael Bevan, - who basically states he reduced his game to just 3 shots (it was probably more complex than that, but thats how he framed hit decision making philosophy) and ex Australian captains Taylor and Streve Waugh who both progressivly reduced the range of shots they played - being the simple antidote to consistently getting out from certain ones.
I wouldn't say they are the exceptions, they're simply the more famous examples.
Another example, funnily enough, is Pieterson, who very rarely cuts (he admits himself that he can barely play the shot). But because he plays the drive, the pull/hook and the sweep so well, it doesn't matter.
Strauss is another example. Trott is another. Basically almost every batsman I can think of. Waugh and Pieterson are the norms - its batsmen like Eoin Morgan that are the exception, and as he become more established as a Test Cricketer I would bet he simplifies his game to only 3 or 4 shots.
yes true, but Id rather watch Morgan.. ha ha
I hope it doesnt come down to a 'form of the game' issue: am I so old fashioned to think that the skills are still the same across all forms?
By and large, I think they are. Batting is (or at least should be) a simple art. If they overpitch it, drive it back as straight as possible; if they underpitch it, pull and cut it square of the wicket. If the field is up, hit boundaries; if the field is back, take singles.
I have never seen a batsman who is able to do these four things well struggle to score runs at a good tempo.
Most batsmen play too many shots - they have shots that they are good at and score them runs, and they have shots that they think they are good at but which get them out. The main problem of many a club batsman (or indeed county pro) is that they are unable to tell which is which.
In theory, you could look back over the season and ask which shot you were playing each time you got out, and calculate how many runs you score with that shot, and you would soon figure out which are your percentage shots and which aren't.
Has anyone got batting decision making drills for deciding length i.e to play back or go forward?
Thanks
Robin
I hear that question time and time again and as far as I know the only way is actually facing bowlers. A lot. 10,000 balls is a good ball park figure I have extrapolated from research into how long it takes to develop expertise.
This is because a key part of decision making is judging length before the ball is released. that is to say; the bowler gives away certain clues in his action to line and length. Experienced batsmen pick these clues up instinctively and seem to have more time than inexperienced batsmen.
As this is a highly-specific skill there is no shortcut: just face bowlers.
Gives us all a good reason to play midweek and sunday cricket though...
It is a very interesting question nevertheless.
However, the 'decision' is only a small part of the equation; it is what happens next that you need to concentrate on.
The University of Sydney produced a really good study [sorry, I do not have references at hand]... With bowlers reaching speeds of up to 160 km/h, batsmen have only about 500 ms-1 to make this decision and then react. They then need to use whatever 'initial movement' they have to get their feet moving efficiently. The hypthesis of the study was that elite and amateur batsmen have different initial movement characteristics in terms of perception time, force magnitude and direction and stability.
Of course, there have been other studies, which I have referred to in the past, regarding the difference between how these different categories of batsmen actually perceive area of bounce.
These qualities are not easy to teach; it is more a case of working with each individuals characteristics to maximise their own potential.
One of the most interesting things that study talked about was the way in which batsmen watch pitched up deliveries in a different way to short deliveries, and this tells us a lot about how the difference is spotted.
When playing a full delivery, the batsman will focus on an "invisible box" around where he expects the bowlers release point to be - and pick up the ball as it comes out of the bowlers arm. On a full pitched delivery, because the ball is effectively coming straight towards him out of the hand, the ball will remain in that box for a few tenths of a second. This is what triggers the batsman to start moving forward and preparing to play off the front foot. He watches the ball till it is about to bounce, by which time he is committed to his shot.
When playing a short delivery, the ball appears in the box, and then immediately disappears. This is the key that triggers the batsman to move backwards. The batsman actually stops trying to watch the ball as soon as it disappears and refocusses his attention about half way down the track, waiting for it to reappear in his focus box. He then watches the ball for the split second after as it leaves the pitch and plays his shot appropriately.
*The above is what good batsmen do. Poor batsmen have yet to discover this method, and try to stare at the short pitch ball for longer before changing their focus.
This may help you Robin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMNBlrX9Zfo&feature=related
... if you have time, it is worth watching all six videos.
This is not the study I was referring to but it demonstrates the situation well. However, this relates to decision making rather than what happens after so do not get too hung up on it; this comes by following David's '10,000 rule'.
You can, however, make a huge difference to the guys by concentrating on things like stability, which the programme I linked you to last week will help with, and fast feet... I don't mean 'ladder work'.
Thanks Liz
I'll have a look when I get home tonight.
I looked at that link last week you sent through and there are some useful drills that I am sure we can use at our club.
Whilst writing have you seen the Inspired Cricket website?
Best Regards
Robin Collins
No worries Robin. Most batsman of the age you are working with, understand the decision making bit of it but really need to work on 'reaction'. I don't, totally, believe in the hard work ethic as a psychologist; preferring to 'nurture' such qualities through play.
Have your guys covered their ECB Young Leaders Awards yet? Quite often, teaching somebody to teach a quality helps them understand it more themselves. I remember my U16s returning from a rugby tour of Canada four or so years ago coming home to their YLA. At this point, they were quite fit and relaxed. One of the games we had them 'play' was Diamond Cricket with the blue Kwik sets. They were quite cool and happy to put themselves in the position of the young children. However, being strong and fit they were lethal and the ball feeder was mean!
I have to tell you, neither I nor the West Indian Coach could speak to each other for quite a while; we were laughing and crying so much it was all I could do not to wet myself.
Two first XI players including the Australian overseas player came up to check the ground for their match the following day and wanted a piece of the action.
By the time we had finished the game, their reactions were so heightened... You see, we had taken out the decision making aspect of batting and just worked on moving fast. We did not concentrate on actual batting form either; that was never a worry.
The best way to work on a quality is to isolate it!