“You tried to hit that one too hard” The coach says from behind the bowling machine. “You lost your shape”.

But wait, isn’t cricket about hitting the ball hard enough to get some runs?

Wouldn’t it be boring if we all played perfect forward defence shots all day?

Isn’t T20 cricket about clearing the ropes?

Yes.

Oddly, all these things are not achieved by a massive wind up and throwing the kitchen sink at the ball.

And that’s why the coach advises you to control your shots.

Even when playing thoroughly modern power hits, you need some technique behind the raw bat speed.

So what does that mean, practically?

You can break it down into a million pieces, but for my money there are three areas that keep you in check

1. Backswing. There are many styles of swing, but whatever yours is, work on getting it consistent. The better the upswing, the better the shot.
2. Downswing and contact. The important thing is to time when the bat comes down from the top of the swing so you make contact with the ball at the right moment. This is where it’s possible to get carried away, forget about the point of contact, swing too early and mistimed your shot.
3. Follow through. The follow through will be right if you have got th first two correct. Often a coach will encourage a “check” follow through on drives to make sure the swing is working in straight lines.

If you get these right - in any shot from straight to cross bat to power hit - you will be more consistent in your ability to strike the ball with good timing.

You will find the best cricket shots are not the ones where you give up technique to try and get more power. The best shots are the ones where technique and power combine to form excellent timing. Those hard twos become fours. Those one bounce fours become sixes.

I strongly recommend watching your shots on PitchVision’s PV/VIDEO after your session to see what happens for yourself. I can tell you these things all day, but when you see them in yourself, you learn the truth:

Just smashing it is about luck and raw strength. Learning a method is about skill and controlled power.

So, when you get into the nets and get told you have tried to hit it too hard, you know what the coach really means: stay consistent in your method and work on building power from a base of technical excellence.