This is an article by Gary Palmer about the most effective and progressive way of coaching playing the short ball. For a complete video guide on the right trigger moves to play the short ball by Gary, click here.

You need to master the correct techniques of the back foot defence before you move on to playing the bouncer. For young cricketers especially, bouncer practice should be the latter sessions within a coaching program over a number of weeks.

We all know the benefits of purposeful practice, for players and for cricket coaches at every level. If you have no purpose, you have no reason to be at practice.

But that is easy to forget sometimes, especially when a net is running itself and everyone is getting a go. Things drift quickly. I want to prevent that so I want to know:

What are you working on right now?

Leave a comment in the comments box and let me know.

Gary Palmer has been coaching batsmen for decades and alongside running the high-class CCM Academy, acts as a batting consultant to many professional and International batsmen. To find out more click here.

Don't underestimate the power of coaching the basics well.

Think of good progressive coaching in building blocks: keep building the pyramid from the bottom up. It takes much longer to get it right unless you technically prepare players for the next level.

Being a good Twenty20 cricketer is exactly the same as being a good cricketer. So save yourself the trouble of working out how to adapt and focus on your short-format skill development.

Quite the claim?

Let's look at the facts.

Take out the shortened time and all the basic elements of success in Twenty20 cricket are usable in any format. However if you flip it around and try to play 5 day cricket style sped up, you fall down. So start with Twenty20.

Here are some more specifics for your skill set:

Cricket is getting smarter than ever.

Smart-phones are tiny computers in your pocket. Tablets are full powered computers in your bag. Smart-nets are popping up everywhere.

Mumbai Indians spinner Harbhajan Singh has knocked critics who say modern players don't bowl enough these days. He took 4-32 in the CLT20 Final and won man-of-the-match. All without doing a jot of practice.

The Indian spinner said after the final,

"I didn't practice at all. I was travelling to the US but I didn't practice much before this."

It makes you wonder if you need to do any practice at all.

I mean, if you could rock up after a 4 month holiday, and bowl your team to victory, why would you bother with nets or practice games?

Face it, your head has been turned by the new iPhone 5. It's the new hotness. It's sexy. It's GOLD.

Most of all, it's a game changing device.

Whatever you do as a cricketer, or coach, having a tiny but powerful computer right in your pocket opens up a world of opportunity. And with the new iPhone about to hit the shops, is the perfect time to buy.

So why exactly should you buy an iPhone 5 if you want to play better cricket?

We have all had a purple patch. The runs and wickets flow effortlessly. You wonder how it could all be so easy.

In fact it's so effortless that many cricketers fall into the trap of thinking that this is the time to do less. On the surface it makes sense: Something is working so just keep doing it. Relax, reign back on the training and coast along on the wave of good form.

One of the common tropes of modern cricket is that batsmen have a wider range of shots than ever. While it may be a cliche for commentators to throw out when they have nothing to say, it's also true.

So do you need to learn them; or if you coach do you need to spend time coaching them?

Lets look at each new shot in turn and decide.

Moving up to a higher standard is difficult.

You only have to look at the trail of failed professional cricketers who were tried and discarded at International level. But it's equally true of the level I coach at the moment. Boys have to move from 20 over soft ball pairs cricket to 40 over hard ball "real" cricket.

So whatever level you play, there is always a standard to jump up. How do you do it?