- When batting in cricket it is essential to have excellent Batting footwork. As good foot work is the basis for achieving excellence in cricket and is the foundation for good batting technique.Foot work is absolutely necessary as all successful strokes start with effective footwork.If you watch Brian Lara, Michael Vaughn, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, all of these amazing batsmen have outstanding Batting footwork, often when these types of players don't perform it is simply due to lack of footwork.Good footwork allows you to time the ball well and place the ball in gaps.
- It gets you in the optimum position to hit the ball, so you can hit it where you want and with ease.If you have been struggling to play a particular shot for some reason it could be due to poor Batting footwork causing bad timing and body positioning.With faster bowlers it is even more essential to have excellent fast and precise batting footwork, so that you can get into a balanced position, in-line with the ball, so you can play the ball with control.The more you practice your batting footwork against both fast and slow bowlers the easier you will gradually find it. Many players do what we call trigger movements just before the bowler releases the ball, this helps get the feet moving into position and into line much quicker and easier, especially against faster bowlers.Next time you watch a game on TV watch the batsmen's feet really closely as the bowler is about to deliver you'll see these small 'trigger movements'; small foot movements, which help the batsmen get in position and inline early.As a batsman it is absolutely necessary to develop your foot work and foot movement, as all excellent strokes start with effective and efficient footwork.
- There are hundreds of different batting footwork tips in the game of cricket which can all potentially improve your batting and run scoring ability. Here is a selection of cricket batting tips that I've found useful to help improve your batting Foot work.Keep your eyes level, it's been shown that having your eyes level helps speed up your reaction time. It makes it easier for your brain to process the incoming information if your eyes are level when the ball is delivered.Your first movement should be from the shoulders towards the line of the ball.
- The rest of your body will follow naturally and will help ensure you get correctly inline with the ball.Play the delivery based on its length, if it's short; even if it's in line with the wickets it should be 'tonked away', Andy Flintoff style, to the boundary. The same principle applies with full deliveries and half volleys.One of the most important things is to watch the ball from bowlers hand in run up all the way to the bat. By watching the ball in the bowler's hand you can see what the bowler may be trying to do with the ball. Try to identify which is the shiny side or rough side, so you can determine which way they may be trying to swing the ball. One of the most important thing is Batting Footwork. The same applies with spinners; but also make sure you closely watch the wrist movement to determine the type and direction of spin.When batting footwork against spinners, try doing an initial 'forward press' by making an initial half-step on to the front foot as the bowler bowls. This will give you a good base to play from and help give you quicker feet.It is essential to maintain a solid base when batting and to be in a solid position when you play the ball. If you watch, for example Brain Lara play a cover drive, he has a solid base from which he plays the stroke and he is perfectly balanced.