An analysis of batting backlift techniques among coached and uncoached cricket batsmen

Abstract

One of the first principles of cricket batsmanship for batting coaches is to teach junior cricketers to play using a straight bat. This requires the bat to be lifted directly towards the stumps with the bat face facing downwards. No study has yet examined whether there are differences in the batting back lift techniques (BTT) of coached cricketers (CC) and uncoached cricketers (UC). With the study sample, CC comprised of both adolescent (n=30) and amateur (n=10) cricketers, whereas the UC comprised of only young cricketers (n=40). Various types of deliveries were bowled to the participants utilising a bowling machine. Biomechanical and video analyses were performed on both participant groups. Classifiers were utilised to identify the type of BTT employed by all batsmen. More than 70% of uncoached cricketers adopted a lateral BTT, whereas more than 70% of CC adopted the straight BTT. Coaching implications from this study suggest that if players are not coached, they automatically hit the ball using a lateral BTT, which indirectly suggests that coaching emphasising traditional techniques could be disadvantageous to the young cricketer.