The BATTING Technique Which Worked For Alastair Cook | Gary Palmer Cricket Coaching

M let's [Music] go so Gary I'm back in Oxford yeah here for another session got to confess I haven't had a hit for a while well you haven't been practicing unfortunately not so um not sure how this is going to go down but going back to the whole technique and fundamentals what do you what are the key things you're going to be looking for in me in this session well first good to see you I haven't seen you for a while um you haven't had a hit for quite a long time which is what I'm sort of detecting from what you're saying there bit marathon training so yeah congratulations great effort um so if you haven't had a hit for a while let's get you on the machine give you a nice easy feed and and work on getting you hitting the ball nice and straight full blade of the bat good alignment good balance good completion of shot basically the ABCs hitting straight is the most important thing and if you're doing that well then you can add on all your other shots but if you haven't played for a while we may need to just slow the feed down make it easier for you to get in good positions by the shot and then gradually build it up and I might throw a few drills in there while we're trying to do that but let's see have a bat assess where you are and take it from there yeah yep and at the end of this video stick around because we're going to talk about Gary's new batting up so let's get into it okay let's [Music] go okay PL what like about that is your back foot your laces your back foot Point down the Wicket so that's a good sign okay ah so I've not even put the ball in front shoulders turn in you're looking to go offside before I even bow the ball you need to keep that to open up front shoulder a bit and and stay in a neutrally aligned and balanced position before I put the ball in and yeah go from there so just let the shoulder go a bit that's it keep it there and that's it and look to drive it okay we're not judging length and line here we're looking to groove a drive okay yeah good keep that front shoulder that out the way just drop your that's it ah hit through it go for it shoulder ah again see again soon as you turn that shoulder you're going offside I bowl it straight you hit around it or you could slice it yeah keep that front shoulder out the way cuz you don't need it to hit the ball straight you only need it when we're hitting the off drives okay come on [Music] now yeah that's a good shot hit it well feet are in a good position but try and do a check swing it's much more efficient yeah Hitting Zone becomes bigger back through the line the ball for longer okay better for technique okay well played ah again shoulder a little more that's it push your head at me yeah drive it go for it [Music] yeah drive [Music] it you playing for the draw Neil huh yeah right I want you to drive the next three if it goes along the ground great if it's not quite there drive it anyway as long as it hits the middle of the bat and it goes where it's supposed to go then the chances are you're nicely aligned okay yeah do the check swing and just hold it okay for two seconds hold it excellent good get a feel for that position so it implants onto the muscle memory more effectively shoulder out the way [Music] excellent good are you trying to get your head forward first or your foot uh head and that's it drop that front foot back a bit no so your stance I'm not a big fan of opening up that front foot because they can still be in the same line as the back foot you better off dropping it back a bit so go to your stance again just drop your no don't open your front foot have them the same but just drop your front foot back that way no your front foot right and just turn the back foot in a bit so it's matching the front that's it perfect right keep that front shoulder out the way yeah look to drive it [Music] go for it shoulder yeah just again check the feet front foot that that way a bit all right good before we do a drill which will help things to fall into place let's have a look at your stance again yeah okay now let's have a look at your setup because that is the most important thing to get right so obviously right on over swinging the ball in you're a left-handed player it's all about the angles the ball's coming from that angle swinging in so let's set up so you could play a really good straight drive or on drive so just looking at your stance you don't want your Fe like this or one open you want them pretty much the same and imagine someone's picked you up moved you around and put you back down again so they're the same that's good now when I'm not quite that I can just come that way a little bit and swivel them the other way that's that's it yeah when I put the ball in you m hit a few early on and you were getting your pad in the way you were closing off that happens with players are look when players are looking to play an off drive cuz it's a shot they all like to play and they're prejudging the balls out there and they start going like this before the ball's bow but here the other problem is your shoulder is a little bit like this so if you do your back lift if you got your shoulder around here the back goes behind you your shoulder makes your head tip and now we're going this way and if the ball's straight NE now is either going to come across it or he's going to readjust and he could end up slicing it so he's out of alignment and balance if he keeps his shoulder here it puts his head in a brilliant position so now for him to play straight driver and on Drive is his head and that green man need to line up with the ball and then swing the back through so as you go to the shop to play a shot keep that front shoulder out the way cuz if the front shoulder's out the way get good access to the ball nicely balanced and nicely aligned so go back to your stance again some players you see standing with their feet really open and the shoulder a long way around and they think that's opening up well if your shoulder's around here you're not opening up that's even worse cuz your feet are over there shoulders here you're bound to fall across the creek so it's important that he matches his shoulders let's put that a bit more that way with his feet there that's a good setup but as as he sees the ball coming straight and he goes to hit it he's got to pick his head back up and go head chest but common for with players they do that a little bit as soon as they've done that they've gone to the offside if he keeps that out the way for anything straighten off his legs got great access to the ball good balance and good alignment so we're going to do a drill which is my favorite drill and it's the most productive one and it's on the app it's called the set position so if you stand with your feet dead straight so I'm going to put the ball into the machine and I'm going to look to bow it as straight as I can I want Neil to get up on his toes he's not going to move his feet let the ball come hit it and then when he's hit it shuffle forward towards the target are area he was aiming at this is a good drill because it allows him to get his head and chest forward it allows him to get you're putting him in a front on position he's got plenty of time to let the ball come he'll make contact out in front of himself and if he's doing that his head will be forward if he's making contact in front his top hand's doing all the work so let's give that a go feet a little tighter right chest more that's it yeah don't step cuz when you step your foot goes is going first this is a good drill because I'm trying to get you to stand still lean with your head hit it in front of you so your head has to be forward okay makes sense y so lean and wait for it open up a bit shoulders that's it yeah Shuffle forward now so we're holding the shape of the shot you and you feel the completion of the shot that's really good up on your toes head chest at me y good go through with it good nice high finish High [Music] elbow good good the B more you can get your head forward right the bigger the Hitting Zone becomes you create more time to play the shot yeah makes sense and also that top hand's going to be dominant if you get let the ball come too close to you your head's going to be back and your bottom hand's going to come in we don't want that so up nice and relaxed up on your toes that is a fantastic shot the shuffle front foot front foot front foot yeah is the camera insured don't turn the shoulder that's the common mistake higher yeah finish with those hands in front of your face nice high elbow ah go for it yeah too tentative yeah yeah don't worry look don't be fineing of making a mistake cuz make a mistake we find a solution it's all good stuff very good very good go right through with it the reason I want you to go right through with the shot finish with your hands high above your head is it's because it's good to exaggerate a really good completion of shot and also so you're only going to finish with your hands above your head if that bottom hand is loose if it's too tight you might keep stopping there yeah so keep that nice and loose so you can finish high and complete the shot good higher elbow on completion of the shot you're nearly there that is an excellent shot very good okay let's move it on a bit now so let's now do one in the set position yep and one from your stance and from your stance you're trying to get into that set position front on hit the ball straight on contact okay so nice set position first yeah go through with it now normal stance normal stance you're going to hit it and Shuffle forward yeah good but come let it flow too cautious that was let it flow there we go good shot well played now try and get into that position from your stance open the shoulder right through very good set position again I let it flow shoulder out the way Shar the off drive normal stance n set position get a feel for that open position especially if Hitting off your legs or thre it on good nor more stance and again normal stance the more the ball starts to go leg stump or down the leg side the more that back back back lift needs to be pointing wider yeah so it's straight line through ball to Target you pick up two straight and I swing in at middle of leg you hit a lot of balls on the inside of your bat face and when you're trying to flick it off your legs down the leg side you you might not be able to reach it you might get faint one on it and get caught but if you're more open with that upper body you got more chance getting more bat on the ball y yeah good blue cone excellent [Music] nearly just do that again don't step until you finish the shot or you hit the ball wait for it it's a good shot but just for this this drill that let it come let it come hit and then Shuffle yeah fine right stay open okay go through it keep going from me stance every shot okay [Music] yeah good let's be specific toe of the bat has to finish at the color of the cone that you should be hitting the ball at yeah okay stay open that's good good Let it Flow a bit more finish your hands high and your elbow High okay [Music] now batteries go high or wider wider was my B does my batteries go wider hands in F out yeah yeah wider no open the shoulder a little more that's it so your head and chest are coming to me good open up that's it that's much better keep stay in that position if it's straight if it's offside from a line balance position then you can turn and get across to it brilliant well played that's good [Music] yeah finish with your hands higher higher yeah fully complete the shot okay good flowing better [Music] actually can feel the middle of the bat now yeah so go head forward hands back go through it go through it yeah go through [Music] it head first not foot lean with a head so lean at me head at me like you're looking for that straight drive is your first thought and and if it's outside off stump you can react to the line and adjust that way you stay aligned and balanced yeah go for the yes it right now just hit it and stand still you don't have to do any shuffling just step hit it stand still and hold your shape okay for two seconds unless it's on your legs then you obviously do a little Shuffle yeah hold yeah head forward hands back nice high finish shoulder [Music] yeah let it come to you hit and stand still yeah unless it's an on Drive stay neutral that's it no so you went foot first to you the bigger you go with that stride to drive the more your heads back you want an easy pace so you can lean in with your head and upper body so you got good reach okay big Hitting Zone oh go for it yeah really good a middle and leg good to do a shuffle cuz it encourages a short stride if it's straight or offside hit it stand [Music] still yeah let it come y let it come more so head forward hands back let it come hit it and stand still [Music] y [Music] yeah shoulder so Neil how's that feel um well yes it's been a year and a half since I probably had a net so um big ass trying to hit lots of perfect shots basically missing the ball initially yeah not finding the middle of the bat at all so just after a few that one draw there and a few balls actually feeling a bit more balanced head moving forward and actually knowing what the middle of the bat feels like how do you think how do you think I've done no much better cuz you were at the beginning you were closing off with that front foot which is a common fault foot going across foot going across when the ball's coming back into you that's a problem cuz you're an lbw candidate and that was when Neil's shoulder kept coming around I just about to put the ball in and sometimes didn't put it in and he's already gone that way so he's already out of alignment and balance and if I bow it straight he might be all right if it's an off drive but when he stayed there he was align and balance all he had to do is push his head forward great access to play an on drive and a straight drive and if he wanted to hit an off drive he just turned got across there played through the offside but that's that's better but it's always good to throw technical points at a player because if you keep throwing the right technical points in and the player starts making the adjustments it's it's a great way to fast track hitting the ball cleanly to the correct Target area and ending up with a really good technique just hitting hoping for the best and trying this trying that it all takes too long we want to get it right pretty much straight away I was want to say that some of these mistakes obviously not only for an amateur player such as myself you've noticed some even at the top of the game some of the common mistakes that even the international players are making that you've seen yeah one in particular that I've been watching quite a lot is Ole Pope and every knows how talented he is as a batter or an England Prospect but he he's very much like this which is very side on very closed off his feet look more open than they used to be but this is still round so in a lot of ways that makes it even worse the bat is very straight the shoulders in the way it's very hard for him to not tip across to the offside and it does make you play around straight balls and whip them through the leg side and make you an elbow W candidate if he was to match his shoulders with his feet he'd be in a much better balance Aline position to play straight drive straight and if he wanted to whip one off middle he could but currently very much here going that way you can get dragged into playing at a wide ball and if you go two side on too early you end up coming back the other way to compensate back comes off the line of the ball you Nick it or you could also slide place it so re really really important to keep that front shoulder out the way to play straight moving on from that point about International Players I think you've also noticed that a lot of batters in the modern game almost standing in that baseball stance almost as you say just in this kind of position yeah what are the faults in their game that You' seen that can potentially be uh rectified well not saying you you can't back like that but I I I think it's it's not a very efficient way of doing things the problem with standing up here is the bat has got not not far not much of a back swing right if you're down here you get a back swing and a rhythm in the shot like a golfer uh teeing off and when you got that back swinging Rhythm gravity helps out here top hand stays in charge but when it's up here it's just literally come straight down that encourages the bottom hand to come in when the hand comes in we hit around it or can hit around it the Hitting Zone becomes smaller and also when we're up here this tucks in tight so the palm of your hand is on the on the handle if you're down here it's fingers and thumb and already your bottom hand is light which is great for playing straight up here it's getting tight it's tight not much of a back swing and then all this going going on it's too complicated as you keep going up down up down up down this bottom hand for me is starting to tighten so basically stand in stump height do your trigger whatever it is then play the shot is the way forward I this isn't really for me a trigger because you're not really moving the trigger is getting your feet going ready to go forward or back not by just wobbling your backat around so again makes bottom hand tight lacking of Rhythm because there's no loading up to swing the bat through back can be too straight shoulder too far around so that makes you very vulnerable to the ball that's swinging in or turning in and you don't want to be an lbw candidate so down here or conventional stance here is much more efficient than than standing up here those are my views on on the on the back Gary now was sitting down post the session yeah what are your thoughts on how I progressed through it I feel as if I was hitting the ball a bit better at the end well if you think that that's good and I totally agree with you much better at the end than in the beginning and that's the power of putting in the right technical content when you're working with a player little tiny little changes to make B batting easier for the player results in them hitting the ball better and you definitely definitely got into better positions good good balance good alignment good completion shot at the at the end of the session there so definitely yeah you're known as a very technically focust coach would that be a fair thing to say and obviously you've got your app which is coming out soon in the UK and then worldwide eventually yeah would that be a fair assessment and how is the app evolving and what's involved in it so yes I'm a very big believer in technique I think it's the shortcut to improving skill level or to get somebody back into form if they're out of form and they they've got a couple of technical problems or they've developed some faults technique and being on keeping your Technique on point is massively massively important that's what I believe anyway I don't think you just let people get on and play and working out for themselves that that it can just take too long if you get dropped in the process or have a number of low scores so I think yeah I I'm very big on Tech technique get in there make a difference get the player hitting the ball better to the best to the correct target areas minimize ways of getting out definitely definitely big on technique how people batting a game is a bit different they would work that out for themselves what works for them how they want to bat that's their own individualism but when it comes for comes to technique it's got it's got to be structured very we did a drill in there during the session a lot more is going to be in your app for a user that's going to dive into your stuff what can they gain from it yeah well I've got an app coming out I've been working on for the last couple of years um and it's an app which it's a batting coaching app it's got all the key shots on there it's a stepbystep technical breakdown of those key shots videos from front view side view demonstrations and it will give players and coaches from the beginner through to the international total Clarity on what good looks like all the best techniques obviously you will get your exceptions to the rule and that's fine but what's on the on the app as far as demos goes and the technical input will be really really helpful for coaches and players it just give them Clarity um I think that's sorry just that's the beauty of the app isn't it and your stuff it's not only the village cricketers goes all the way up to an international player that can digest the stuff the technique technical philosophies and the drills I mean the drills on there the drills systematically uh construct technique of of of the key shots and there'll be drills on there that people haven't seen before the fast track constructing those techniques or the development of of a technique and I I I know players and coaches again from beginner to the international will find them really really useful in rapidly developing technique um there's a section on the app with theme practices so trigger moves uh playing the short ball playing swing bowling playing spin bowling um two of my favorite sessions on there that I used to do a lot with s aliser cook is the four angles and duel machines which totally totally challenge your alignment your balance and your completion of shot and they really it the the drill machine session is a tough session and if you can hit the ball well from all angles alternately the chances are your Technique is on point and we we used to do those two drills a lot and to to positive effect they really did help and make a difference that's the beauty of this app isn't it you obviously worked with International Players the greats of the game as you just mentioned s the cook some of those draws he did with him for example a user can can gain that insight and almost take it into their game yep if they want to know this you know what did you do in those sessions with him it's on the app there's also a section on the app on on technical analysis you know when do you change the technique at What stages do you assess a technique how do you put it across I just think there's something in there for everyone from all standards uh from the beginner to the international all ages boys girls there's definitely definitely something in there that will make you a better player or a better Coach it's packed with information um and I've thought long and hard about what I think people need to see and what would help them um and that I feel in in cricket having chatted to a lot of players that have come to me down here there's a lack of emphasis on technique and people want to know actually how do you do it what's the best way and if you know what good looks like from a coaching point of view then it's so much easier to spot a fault in a player if you don't know what good looks like how can you see the fault if you can't see the fault you can't address you can't fix it but if you know what good looks like faults in the technique Will Stand Out they'll be easy to to to see and then you can go and address them and a player can get back into form go on and score more runs and as far as this app goes I believe all the stuff that's on there will make batting easier help players to bat for longer and score more runs um and I hope people enjoy it and we we'll also add to it as when we we get new videos and drills and practices and things but at the moment for a starting point there's a hell of a lot on there all in one place shots drills theme practices technical analysis and it be available to D downlo VI the usual methods via the App Store Etc what is it actually called to that when people search when it's eventually released it's Gary Palmer batting app and it will be on the App Store um hopefully the UK version will be out within the next week and then worldwide version should be a couple of weeks later yeah so time stamping this at the time of this recordings end of end of May yeah so it's coming very soon so it's exciting times yeah yeah yeah I'm looking forward to Bringing out and seeing the impact it has on players and coaches and I hope it's a positive one yeah so once it is released we'll put it at the bottom of this video as well where people can actually just click through straight away yeah but Gary yeah exciting times and thank you very much for the session no good see you well play thank cheers [Music] oh