SHOULD YOU BE USING A BOWLING MACHINE AND IS IT HELPING YOU IMPROVE?
The first 2 Steps in our 3 Step SIMPLE Batting Process look at How You Think and How You Train. The reason we do this is because these are the two main reasons you’ve hit a ceiling in your performance.
Nearly every player and coach, incorrectly believes training and focusing solely on technique will catapult their performance to new levels.
23 years coaching experience tells me it doesn’t. In fact by focusing exclusively on the these 2 Steps in our 3 Step Process, Billy Godleman, Daniel Lawrence, Tom Westley and Michael Richardson have a combined average improvement of 48.45% above career List A batting averages in under 16 hours of training.
So with training in mind, we’d like to share a few things that will help you re look at how you’re training and help you score more runs. Bowling machines are incredibly popular in the UK so we thought we’d start with that.
Firstly, we’d like to make it known that we do own a bowling machine. Whilst we understand repetition forms part of learning new skills, we no longer make use of our bowling machine. Batting is a subconscious act. We need to access our instinctual brain when doing it.
Knowing where the ball is going to be trains and creates the worst habit any player can form….. PREMEDITATION. It also engages the player in conscious thought whilst trying to do, what should be an unconscious action.
“Batting should be a Subconscious action, we should be accessing the instinctual part of our brain. Too often batsmen train while thinking consciously. This is the complete opposite of what should be happening”
In order to have the best chance of being successful, batting requires players to rely on their instinct and react to the ball. Our SIMPLE Batting training helps players develop the skills and habits that improve access to the subconscious mind so you can play on instinct and accelerate improvements in skills and performance.
So how do you groove new positions and skills without a bowling machine?
Through the use of under arm feeds. This gives you security and time to groove new positions. You then progress to over arm throws and can then escalate to the use of a side arm for extra pace.
Adding the natural variation of human error is far more beneficial for you as it trains the skill required to be successful more often.
Yes, it takes more energy and effort to do this but the benefit to our clients far outweighs us standing behind a machine feeding balls.
The second reason we no longer bowling machines is they act as a barrier between the player and the coach. If a coach is standing on a step ladder behind a machine, barking instructions there is very little connection or transfer of energy between the two. The first principle of our coaching process is to build a relationship with the players we work with and bowling machines act as a barrier to this.
If you’re a coach, get down from behind the machine, make the effort to throw more balls, you’ll connect with your players more, help them train the habit of seeing and reacting to the ball and they’ll be less inclined to premeditate. The benefits of putting in the extra effort and energy far outweigh the repetition offered by a bowling machine. If you’re a player working with a friend or team mate, use under arm feeds, throw and dog stick. You’ll start to see improvement.
If you are serious about improving your performance reevaluate the way you currently train and start by asking yourself this question:
“Are my current training habits improving my performance?”
If the answer was NO then book a Batting Consultation with us and we will help you identify what is causing the ceiling on your performance and advise you on the Steps to take to access your full run scoring potential so you can Score More Runs and help your team win matches
