Agility Ladder Drills - For after Warm-Up

Try some of these after you've warmed up and done your basics. Always good to have some new drills to work at to keep things fresh!

Pre Season Training

There are a number of elements that anyone intending to play grade cricket should be addressing in the pre-season period. Some are specific to the roles you fulfil in a team (batsman, spinner, seamer, quick…) while while others need to be addressed by everyone. I will discuss them under a number of particular headings:

Fitness·
 
Strength: Strength aids in the production of energy that translates to power in motion. Strength also allows the player to remain stable and in control of their movements. Core strength is particularly important in this regard. The stronger you are coming into competition, the more capable you are of performing at your best. All players should be on a structured weights program specific to their individual needs.

Endurance: It goes without saying that if you can outlast your opponent physically and mentally on the cricket field you will go a long way towards defeating them on the scoreboard! Endurance also allows you to spend longer training and developing or improving technique. To develop greater endurance one must WORK – hard and often! Of course, overwork can lead to injury. As with all aspects of developing your game, PLANNING IS CRUCIAL!

Flexibility: To perform any powerful repetitive movement in cricket, a player must be flexible! Flexibility allows momentum to be generated and converted into power without injury. Players must continually work at improving their flexibility by performing a regular daily stretching routine. The value of this stretching routine can be greatly enhanced if the player uses the time they are stretching in a meditative and reflective manner!

If the player takes 20 minutes a day to stretch and – while stretching – they reflect on such questions as “What should I be working on today/this week?”; “Did I achieve what I wanted to yesterday/last week?”; “What are my short/medium/long term goals?”; “How am I going to achieve my short/medium/long term goals?” the players focus and organisation must improve and this will have a positive impact on their performance!

Speed
Across the ground: Speed is an asset to all players. Unfortunately, it is a physical gift that is very difficult to greatly improve. Technique and strength are major components and once these have been developed, most athletes are looking at very small incremental improvements, if any. However, if a maintenance program is not followed, speed can be lost quite quickly. Through the pre-season period, all players should be focussing on correct running technique as often as possible and attempting to develop as much speed across the ground as possible. The "Step Up" exercises we focus on at Activate can strengthen the "Posterior Chain" and strength in this area has been shown to produce poser and control in the sprinter.

Agility: Agility is the ability to change direction and pace quickly. This is another skill that is a pre-requisite for successful cricket and – unlike speed across the ground – this skill can be developed and enhanced quite significantly through drills and activities. Players should be performing such activities as skipping to develop their agility in the pre-season period. This site is full of agility drills that can add variety to your programs and keep your sessions fresh.

Everyone will be revisiting specific technical skills relating to their individual roles within a team. With any technical skill, players must focus on the movements they are making and ACTIVELY try to “feel the movement” until the movement is thoroughly learned!

Catching

Short catching: All players should be constantly attempting to improve the quality of their fielding! In the pre-season period, players must focus on the basic elements of catching in a very thoughtful and deliberate manner. This means they must be ACTIVELY thinking about the following:
a. Initial stance – hands low, feet shoulder width apart, weight on the inside of the feet and coming forward with neck and shoulders relaxed.
b. Movement to the ball – not just hands! Feet and head must also get into the best position so that the ball can be caught in the most comfortable position.
c. Catching with soft hands – self-explanatory! But using the wrists and elbows as shock absorbers can assist in developing soft hands.

Long Catching: In the pre-season period, players should once again be concentrating on the elements of successful long catching. These include:
a. Movement to the ball - This is where speed across the ground is a great asset! Players should work at developing speed in an attempt to take each long catch in a comfortable and stable position.
b. Soft hands - Players should experiment with comfortable and effective hand positions so that they can catch with soft hands. Wrists and elbows are important shock absorbers for all long catching.
It must be stressed that all players in the pre-season period need to actively think about each of the elements on every catch until the movements become automatic!

Throwing: In the pre-season period, players must revisit their throwing technique. They must make sure they are warmed up properly before they attempt to throw with any power. The movements should be gradually energised with distance thrown gradually increased. Technique must be the focus! As with catching, think hard about your movements when throwing – this is the only way to develop good technique.

Batsmen: The pre-season period must be used to practice correct technique with an emphasis on footwork and body position. Movements are much more important than shots at this early stage of the season! Stance, backlift and initial movements have got to be rock solid if you are going to spend any time in the middle as the season progresses so let’s get them right now! The other major element of batting that should be addressed in the pre-season period is WATCHING THE BALL. Work at picking up the ball and the seam as early as possible – practice it actively and you will develop better fine focus.

Try and acquire all of your equipment before the season starts so you can get used to its weight and feel.

Bowlers: All bowlers - regardless of their style or role within a team - should spend the next few weeks building rhythm, stamina and CONTROL. The bulk of your time in the nets should be spent bowling your stock delivery. Away from the nets, you should be working on flexibility and endurance.
Players who have grown taller during the off-season will have to get used to different delivery points and changing run ups. Be patient and accept the challenge of finding the best approach and action for the “new you”!

As far as impressing the selectors go – the thing that will impress them the most is a good attitude and an apparent willingness to work to get better! If you have these and a degree of ability we will persevere with you. On the other hand, if you have a degree of ability but you don’t appear to be working hard and listening to advice, don’t expect to graded. In fact, don’t even expect to be asked back next week!

Remember - most coaches are approachable and willing to work with you. If they think you are progressing satisfactorily, they may not be saying much to you. They are likely to be spending time helping players who they see are making mistakes. DON'T THINK THAT YOU ARE BEING IGNORED! If they are not “coaching” you it’s probably because they don’t think you need it!

So there it is guys – nothing new or revolutionary. As with many things related to sport, success is based on solid preparation and performing the basics correctly every time. Get used to working at them now and have a great season!

"The Map" Part 6 - How to Learn from Every Game You Play

Cricket is a great game in that you can learn from every game you play. The trick is organizing so that lessons learned can be identified and stored for future use.

Evaluating your game should be an ongoing feature of your map. By regularly assessing how your game is developing, you give yourself a better chance of picking up small flaws in your game before they develop into major problems. When developing evaluation routines try these techniques:

• Don’t evaluate your performance immediately after the game. It is always best to allow any emotional haze to clear before you evaluate your game. This highlights the importance of routines. Set aside a time the day after you have finished the game to calmly, even cold-bloodedly, to look back at your performance. This gives you the time to celebrate the win or deal with the loss as well as complete your physical post-game recovery routines. Once this is done, you can really focus clearly on what you did and didn’t do during the game.
• Work from a list. As with all these routines, a major reason for creating the routine is so that nothing ‘falls through the cracks’ in your preparation. When reflecting on your performance, working from a list is crucial. Some of the headings you may want to include in your list are:

How did I prepare this week? Details?
What was my plan?
Did I stick to my plan? Yes/no Details?
What should I do differently in the future?
What did I learn from the game?
How will I prepare for next game?

• Record your reflections. The human memory is quite selective and imperfect. If you really want to remember the lessons you have learned from game to game, write it down. Athletes often go through form cycles and going back to a plan that worked for you in the past can often help you get back on track.
• Review your records regularly. A great way to stay on track! Don’t waste time learning the same lesson again and again. If you regularly go back through your records, you memory will be jogged and you stand less chance of making the same mistake in the future. It also provides you with a reference point when developing a plan and helps you write good plans when the time comes.
• Be honest with yourself. This is the only way to develop your game. Identify and acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses and above all be honest about your efforts. If you have a session that is less than intense or you skip a session during the week, acknowledge the fact that you have been ill-disciplined and uncommitted and then get straight back into the training. As the cliché says: It's a marathon, not a sprint.

All these routines provide you with the framework, or map, from which you can develop your game to its maximum.

"The Map" Part 4 - Staying Focussed on Playing The Game

There is a large mental side to cricket and it is often our thinking that gets us out or stops us bowling well.

There are a lot of distractions going on through the course of a game: In the middle, waiting to bat, waiting to field, taking lunch, tea or a drinks break. What is required is a set of routines or processes you can employ, almost without thinking, that will allow you more time and ‘brain space’ to focus on playing the game as well as possible.

These routines will vary from person to person but there are some fundamentals:

• Must be easily performed and repeated. You want to save your mental and physical energy for the game, so employing a complex or lengthy routine will be counter-productive. Where possible try and build on something you already do naturally.
• Must be completely within your control. Make it what you do, not what you and a mate do to get ready to play. He may be sick one weekend and then what? If you need some equipment then make sure you have that equipment in your kit, not something you borrow on game day. If you want to do some skipping every so often while you are waiting to bat, get your own skipping rope!
• Make it specific to your own personality, physical makeup and mental strengths and weaknesses. Some people respond better to images than words, some respond better to sounds. Experiment and discover if listening to a CD has a more lasting effect on your ability to concentrate than reading a note or visualizing an image. Is skipping a better mini activity for you to perform while waiting to bat than using a dot mat?
• Must not be disruptive or a source of distraction to your team mates. Remember you are playing a team game and the team will have its own warm up routines etc. Remember that these routines are designed to get the team ready to play, so they should be performed with 100% effort every time. Your own routines will be added to these so make sure you have the time to perform your routines as well as the teams. If you are doing something that may be distracting, take yourself away from the group when appropriate and work on your own.

Let's look at some examples.

Game day routines for a junior club cricketer
This guy will probably be playing a reasonably short game with quite a bit of coach input. Typically he might arrive at the ground, put his gear down in the change room or wherever the team is basing itself and then go out to the centre and have a look at the pitch as well as the outfield and the length of the boundaries.
Having done this he will take part in the team warm up, during which everyone does a few throwdowns, some target bowling and some fielding. Our fellow might concentrate on:

• His set up and initial movement during throwdowns.
• Working his front arm when target bowling.
• Bending at the knees and at the waist when fielding.

Once the toss is decided, if he is on the batting side he must keep track of wickets and overs and make sure he is ready to bat when called upon.
He may get his gear ready when he is 3 wickets away from batting, put his pads, box and thigh guard on when he is 2 wickets away and keep his helmet and gloves with him when he is next in.
Once he is in, his thoughts and actions between deliveries should form a simple routine:
Relax; self talk: “Watch the Ball like a Hawk – Move to the Ball – Control the Bat” Check the field for gaps.
Once he has finished batting, the player should take some time to sit quietly and relax, have some food and drink if he is going to have to field later in the day and then rejoin his team mates.
If he is a bowler, perhaps some extra energy food and water would be taken on board. At the change of innings he must do a stretch and bowl a few deliveries, focusing on rhythm, line and length. When called on to bowl, he should mentally go through his list of 'Must Dos', for example: ‘Run through the crease, keep my head still, big wrist flick’.
He should have a routine for between deliveries to help him ‘fine tune’ his action and implement strategies to each batsman. Even a junior cricketer’s game day is full of smaller routines!

Game day routines for a senior club cricketer
The senior player will probably be playing in a longer form of the game so he should also develop some ‘waiting’ routines for when he is not directly involved in the match.
If he is waiting for a lengthy period of time with the pads on, he may get a skipping rope out of his bag and do a couple of minutes skipping. Or maybe he will produce a golf ball and do some underarm rebound catching in the change room (as long is it’s not distracting other players!).
If he is waiting to bowl, he may do a mini stretching routine every 4 or 5 overs so he is ready when called upon.
At the end of a days play, the senior player should do a stretch and a warm down routine before he leaves the ground. This will reduce his risk of muscle soreness, particularly helpful if he is playing a couple of days in a row.

Remember – the reason you introduce a routine is so that you can focus more acutely on the really difficult stuff: batting and bowling! Your mind must be uncluttered and your body ready to perform. Routines provide the necessary organisation.

 

"The Map" Part 3 - What Should I Do The Night Before A Game?

Parts 1 and 2 of this series dealt with Practice Routines and Non-Practice Training Routines that a player should develop as part of a ‘Map for Cricket Success’.

This article will deal with your ‘Game Eve Routines’.

You need a game eve routine so you that you can wake up on game day mentally calm and physically fresh. This way you can focus solely on performing to the best of your abilities. The routines should include an element of mental rehearsal plus all the ‘nuts and bolts’ of preparing for a game. Physically, the player should engage in whatever level of physical activity they find works best for them.

Example 1: The Junior Club or School Cricketer

Mental Rehearsal

• A few imaginary shots, perhaps in front of a mirror. Trying to concentrate on making all the right shapes (i.e. bent front knee, high front elbow and head over the ball…).
• Playing the first over or two perfectly and in as much detail as possible.

He should only do this long enough to answer himself honestly when he asked the question ‘Am I ready to play tomorrow?’ with a calm and confident ‘Yes!’

Nuts and Bolts

• Confirm venue address and start time. I know this sounds almost too simple, but I know very few senior cricketers who have not at one time or another turned up at the wrong ground or at the wrong time (or date!). check the time and place of your game,
• Make sure your transportation is organized. This may involve informing and organizing parents, looking up the venue in a street directory and setting dad’s alarm clock.
• Make sure all kit is clean and packed. Pack everything in the same order and in the same part of your bag every time. This leaves little room for overlooking a crucial piece of equipment.
  
  • Check shoelaces,
  • straps on pads and helmets,
  • Make sure all your spikes are tight and soles clean.

This also gives you some time to passively think about the game, making you calmer and more focused.

Physical

For the younger player, rest is most important.

• No more running around than usual. If you usually have a few throw downs after school, keep doing that.
• In bed at a reasonable hour, even if you don’t get straight to sleep – read a book or listen to some music. Don’t lay awake thinking about the coming match!
• Normal stretching routine

Example 2: The Senior Club or First Grade Cricketer

The routine for a senior player will necessarily be a bit more complex.

Mental

• Detailed visualization. Smell the grass, hear the sounds, visualize the ball coming out of the bowler’s hand and see the seam.
• Imagine the best possible result for each visualized shot.
• If he knows his opposition well, he should remind himself of their individual strengths and weaknesses and go over his batting and bowling plans.

Once again, he should only do this long enough to answer himself honestly when he asked the question ‘Am I ready to play tomorrow?’ with a calm and confident ‘Yes!’

Nuts and Bolts
Parents will probably not be involved so the senior player must make sure he not only knows where the game is being played, but how to get there on time.

• Check the train timetables or organize a reliable lift if he doesn’t drive
• If he does drive check the street directory so he knows exactly how to get to the ground. – check you have enough petrol for the trip!
• Clean and pack kit.
• If it is an all day game, pack some food for snacking.
• Respect your team mates and club enough to make sure all your clothing is clean.

Remember, the point is to leave your mind uncluttered on game day, so do as much as you can the day before!

Physical
Everyone is different, some players like a short, sharp session in the nets to focus their attention for the coming game; some players like a low impact hit out to clear their heads; some players like to get their feet up and freshen themselves for the game. It is a matter of experimenting and developing a routine that works for you.

• Whatever you do focus on doing it properly. Don’t introduce bad habits, reinforce good ones! As much as possible stick to the same physical activity – changing may produce new strains and soreness the following day.
• Make sure any physical activity is preceded and followed by a comprehensive stretch – particularly of any muscles or muscle groups that have been pulling up sore.
• Do what feels natural for you. If you are a very physically active person, doing nothing may in fact increase your stress levels and make it difficult for you to sleep.
• Plan to get at least your average nightly length of sleep.

Remember the key is to develop game eve routines that help you organize yourself way before you need to focus on the game. These routines should unclutter your mind and freshen your body so that game day can be a happy and successful one.

This is just another example of how putting in the hard work in an organized and determined fashion gives you the best chance of cricketing success.

"The Map" Part 2 - Developing Non-Practice Training Routines

Every player can benefit from developing their own set of routines and processes to help them prepare and play successfully.
In the first installment of this series, I dealt with developing routines to be employed during batting, bowling and fielding practice.

This article will deal with developing sound routines to help you get the most out of your training sessions away from the team: Non-practice training.

For some players this may be a long jog with the dog every other evening. For others it may involve gym sessions, road running, yoga lessons and a whole range of ‘cross training’ options. While it is great to devote time away from ‘just batting and bowling practice’, a haphazard approach can be detrimental, causing fatigue and lack of clear focus on the ultimate goal of improving your cricket.
How do you go about this training more systematically?

Adding value to cricket practice

 

As with the whole mapping process, the younger cricketer will not need a very detailed or complicated set of routines. They are supposed to make your job of preparing to play cricket easier.
More experienced players, playing at higher levels (or aspiring to reach higher levels) need to spend considerable amounts of time each week ‘adding value’ to the work they do at cricket practice. When deciding on your specific non-practice training routines it may be useful to follow a few rules.

• Examine your game and identify what physical and psychological aspects need attention
• Identify what action or activity will provide the required attention
• Identify how much time you have available to devote to an activity – if there are a number of activities you may also have to prioritise each activity to create the best overall fit.
• Try not to choose activities that require a hard and fast commitment. This will allow you the flexibility to miss the occasional session when it is at cross purposes with your specific preparation for cricket.
• Monitor your energy levels. Don’t over commit yourself to too many training activities. This may cause fatigue and physical injury or just a reduction in your enthusiasm for cricket training. You don’t want to burn out!
• Where possible, seek out experts to help you perform your identified activities properly. E.g. sprints coaches, psychologists, yoga teachers
• Evaluate your sessions constantly. While it may take a while for an activity to start having an impact on your cricket, don’t persevere with an activity that has not, over time, shown any beneficial results. Devote your time to activities that really do help your play better cricket

To clarify this further, let's look at some practical examples....

Example 1: The younger player

A young player may decide the one area they really need to improve is in their flexibility.
They are getting lots of strains and aches and pains after training and this is affecting their performance on weekends. A non-practice training routine for a young player focusing on improving their flexibility may be a simple morning and evening stretching regime (15 minutes of static stretches before breakfast and again before bed each day).

Example 2: The aspiring professional

As the player gets older, they may decide that improved flexibility has a very positive impact on their performance in games. This player may then decide to take some yoga lessons if they have the free time to do so.
They may also be going to a sprints coach one night a week to improve their running style (so important for bowlers of all types as well as fielders and runners between the wickets!); playing in a touch football competition (to improve their agility); and going to the gym twice a week (to improve their strength and muscular endurance).

For this player, organizing all of these activities into a routine is extremely important. If he is not organized, he will miss sessions, get over tired and end up falling well short of what he wanted to achieve by taking on so many activities – cricketing success.

The key to deciding what should be included in your non-practice training routine is the amount of time you have available to train and one other very important consideration: balance.

Always strive for Balance!

 

It is genuinely unhealthy and ultimately unproductive to devote all your time to a single pursuit such as cricket. One must have other things going on in one’s life to enjoy the whole human experience.
Non-practice training activities can provide some of this balance. Allowing you mix with ‘non-cricketers’ and spend time enjoying yourself away from the game. (Matthew Hayden identified this as being a major reason why he was able to play the game at the highest level for so long.)
So now we have discussed developing routines for cricket training as well as training routines conducted away from cricket. Hopefully your map is starting to take shape!

Every journey is an adventure, and every map provides an invitation to explore the world … and yourself!

"The Map" Part 1 - A Checklist for Playing Successful Cricket

Listening to ex-International bowler Damien Fleming recently, I was interested to hear him refer to some players as 'Having a good map' with respect to how they prepared for each game. I have always said “You have to have a plan!” and it seemed to me that Fleming was making the same sort of statement.

What is 'The Map'?

Everyone has a set of processes they follow prior to playing a game.

• Many players go through these processes in a very erratic manner. These players often find it difficult to produce consistently solid performances on game days.
• The good players identify the processes they go through and attempt to follow them in a deliberate way each time they prepare for a game.
• The very good players identify what works for them within these processes and apply themselves to working through these processes throughout the week leading up to and including game day.

These players are following their own 'map' in an effort to reach their destination: Success in the middle!
I would suggest all cricketers draw up their own map to cricketing success. The higher the level of cricket you play or aspire to play, the more detailed your map should be.
Over the course of the next few weeks I will deal specifically with various specific elements that make up a Players Map. I hope you will work through this process with me and develop your own map as you go. Please remember these maps once developed will be living documents that you constantly modify as your game develops.

The Basics

 

Regardless of age or standard, every cricketer can employ a map of some sort, each containing the same basic elements. These are:

• Practice Routines
• Non Practice Training Routines
• Organization of Diet
• Game Eve Routines
• Game Day Routines
• Recovery Routines
• Game Evaluation and Planning Routine

The very young cricketer will have the majority of these elements determined for them by parents and/or coaches. For those parents and coaches reading this: I would urge you to make your young players aware of the fact that a map exists and encourage them to identify a routine. This is so you can start them along the way to developing their own map. It must make things easier for everyone in the long run!

Practice Routines

All players, regardless of age, should learn a comprehensive warm-up routine. This should include dynamic as well as static stretches. As with all these elements, by turning these activities into a routine they can be learned and remembered more easily. They can also be completed rapidly, making your efforts more efficient and less time-consuming.

After the warm up, some mental rehearsal should take place before any cricket-specific physical activities. For younger players, this might take the form of a reminder from the coach about what specific batting, bowling and fielding skills they should be working at during the session. For older players, each individual should remind themselves what technical aspects of their game they want to focus on that day.

Following this mental rehearsal, players should move into physical skill work. For young players this should wherever possible involve some individual batting, bowling and fielding skills as well as some group activities that put the skills under scrutiny in a game situation.

As players mature and individual skill sets develop, each player will need to undertake diverse activities aimed at addressing weaknesses as well as further developing strengths. Net batting and bowling are only two of a number of activities that might be undertaken at a practice session.
Remember when you are part of a team, you must factor in other players practice needs. As your awareness of the needs of your team mates increases (this should happen with age), you can plan activities that satisfy the needs of a number of players. So you will need to develop a 'pre-training' routine to make sure you get to work at your game as well as helping your team mates and developing team spirit.

One activity common to most team practice sessions is net training. Young players should be reminded what they are trying to do when batting in the nets on a particular day. Should they focus on defence when batting or maybe hitting the loose ball? Should they be trying to bowl some variations or work at their stock ball?

Older players should develop a routine to employ when called upon to pad up for a batting net that will get them to the net with clear objectives and an uncluttered mind. This will vary from player to player.

Similarly, each bowler must develop an individualized routine that focuses their efforts on specific objectives when bowling in the nets.

More experienced players should develop 'mini-routines' that they work through between deliveries. These sets of thoughts and actions will be similar but not identical to the mini-routines players employ between deliveries on game day. (Game day routines must obviously have a strategic element while net practice routines may have a more technical focus.)

Once all the physical activities have been completed, a warm down routine should be performed. Again, this should be easily learned so that the player can perform their stretches while reflecting on how many of their training objectives they achieved during the current session and what objectives they will try and achieve next session. For younger players, the coach can provide this input by summarizing 'What we did today?' and 'What we are going to try and do next practice session?'. This provides some continuity from one practice session to the next.

So if like Damien Fleming and me, you think “You gotta have a plan!”, get a note book and start plotting your own course towards consistent cricketing success.
After all, how can you possible reach the desired destination without a map?

Some Rules for Young Cricketers!

What are the main things a junior player should be trying to do every time he or she plays a game?
Here is a list of the rules I have come up with from my experience as a coach. Every team will have its own set of rules. This list is just a start. Remember rules require discipline. Playing with discipline will contribute to success at any level.

1. Do everything with no wasted time or effort. This can be applied to every task associated with playing the game. From packing your kit prior to leaving home to unpacking your kit once you have returned home. Some specific things that should be done efficiently are:

1. Moving between overs – directly, at a jog and without pausing for chats.

2. Getting the ball back to the bowler – through the field, underarm where possible, concentrate on the throw and the catch. Leave the shining of the ball to the bowler.

3. Padding up and Un-Padding – make sure you can put your hands on all your batting kit easily and always pad up when you are 2^nd man to come (i.e. if you are number six in the order you pad up when the second wicket falls). When you are out or the innings is closed, pack your batting kit away as you take it off. Then you always know where it is and no-one can pick your gear up thinking it is their own.

4. Drinks, Lunch and Tea Breaks – always know who is providing what and what you have to supply yourself. Make sure all this is organized before the warm-up starts so that you are not distracted, and you don’t distract others, once the game is underway. Always have your own food and drink ready and accessible. Do not leave it with a parent. This slows down the process of getting a drink and once again can be distracting. You should be able to access a drink at any time during the day easily and without having to rely upon anyone else.

5. Warming Up– have a routine that you can move through with little or no supervision. The captain and coach will have things they need to do prior to play commencing and so if you can warm up without their direction, everyone is a winner.

2. Identify the “One-Percenters”. The one percenters are those little things that when added together can make a real difference between success and failure. Things like always running the first run as hard as you can; always walking in in the field; always backing up in the field and always stretching before and after training and games. Most people do these thing some of the time and some people do these things most of the time. The only way not to get caught out is to do these things every time!

3. Learn from every game. Make a point of reviewing what has taken place during a days play. Involve your coach and parents where possible and write down the things you learnt that day. Constantly add to this list and regularly go back through your list to make sure lessons learnt are not forgotten!

4. Make things easy for your Coach and Captain. Pay attention when they are talking. Don’t distract others and try to do as you are asked in every situation – regardless of how you might feel about their instructions. They have the responsibility of leading your team. They are doing their best to make you successful. Respect them and do as you are asked. You will be surprised at how often things work out well when everyone is heading in the same direction!

5. Enjoy the experience. Remember that no matter how you are performing, you are having an experience that lots of other players your age would love to be having. Enjoy the opportunity to learn more about yourself, your talents and your friends. Enjoy the opportunity to be active and outside playing. Enjoy the opportunity to demonstrate your skills and enjoy the contest.

Try and think of some other rules that might help your team be a happier and more successful one!
And when you have a good idea: Share it!

Pursuing Victory.... with HONOR!

Some very significant comments from one of the most successful and well-respected coaches in the history of american collegiate sports.
He speaks about sportsmanship, coaching priorities and helping each person become the best person they can be!
You should look up John Wooden on the internet and find out a bit more about him. In particular have a look at his "Pyramid of Success"! It is GOLD!!!

Six Exercises for Fast Bowlers

I'll be using this routine for the next few weeks in an attempt to "prehabilitate" our faster bowlers. It is very specific and should be very useful for any player who uses it. Remember - never do a new routine without first consulting an experienced coach or trainer to make sure the activity is safe for you, and NEVER overdo it!!

Advanced Front Foot Batting Drill - Controlling the Bat

Key coaching points for this drill:

1. Control the head and shoulder! Go at the ball with the head and front shoulder first.
2. Control the hands! Make straight lines as your hands move back as well as through the ball.
3. Be relaxed, balanced and flexible but maintain control so you can hit through the ball!

This sort of drill can be done as a combined activity or as three seperate drills.
Enjoy!

Analysing a Bowling Action for Safety - without video equipment

Tips for coaches who don't have access to video equipment but still need to satisfy the first rule of coaching fast bowlers - MAKE SURE THE ACTION IS SAFE!

On Winning!....

                WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NO. 1

Vince Lombardi is known as one of the greatest football coaches in history, leading the Green Bay Packers to five NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls. Despite being known as a disciplinarian, my father always knew how to get understood that if you treat people with respect and treat them like winners, they will perform as winners. The cornerstone of Vince Lombardi's teaching methods were commitment, sacrifice, and mental toughness, three attributes which continue to be stressed by many of today's successful coaches.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in any sport, Vince Lombardi is a model of excellence. In the 1960's, Lombardi transformed the Green Bay Packers into a perennial powerhouse. He led the Packers to five NFL championships during his nine year coaching stint in Green Bay by demanding dedication, intensity and sacrifice from each and every player. Lombardi believed that desire and preparation determined success, whether on the football field or on business battlefield. His uncanny ability to motivate and his drive to succeed were primary reasons why Vince Lombardi is considered by many to be Football's

Greatest Coach.

He never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, and his 9-1 play-off record is simply astonishing.

Before he began his coaching career, Lombardi taught Latin and chemistry at a New Jersey high school.

The first group of Quotes are all from Vince Lombardi. It is no coincidence that the Super Bowl Trophy is named after him!

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't

win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do

them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is

losing.

There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game,

and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at

Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a

second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers.

It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we

do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play

from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head.

Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's

O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more

importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of

your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and

a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of

organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles

are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that

sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most

competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are

there-to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the

game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules-but to win.

And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long

run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the

discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for

discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man

or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I

believe in human decency.

But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the

 greatest fulfilment of all he holds dear, is that moment

 when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and

 lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious

                                    ...Vince Lombardi

Anybody who doesn't want to play winning football, get the hell out of here right now!

                                        - Vince Lombardi

SOME QUOTES

Here are some other quotes that may give you inspiration or just something to think about:

"We have to be proud of the game of football. We need to boast about it, and we

need to stand up and be counted. . . .It's the greatest educational experience in

the world and individual could have. It's a game of courage, of sacrifice. It's

definitely a game of self-discipline."

                               ... Lou Holtz

GENERAL INSPIRATION - THE BIG ONES!!

Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance,    

competitive drive, selflessness and respect for authority is the price each and every one of us

must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been

written and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been

placed on the dresser and all the pomp and fanfare has faded, the enduring things that are

left are: the dedication to excellence, the dedication to victory, and the dedication to doing

with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

"RISK MORE than others think is safe.

CARE MORE than others think is wise.

DREAM MORE than others think is practical.

EXPECT MORE than others think is possible."

                              ... Author Unknown

To succeed...You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you,

something to inspire you.

                              ... Tony Dorsett

I will always be someone who wants to do better than others. I love competition.

                              ... Jean-Claude Killy

WINNING - IT DOES MATTER!

                                         

"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?"

                              ... Vince Lombardi

      

"Winning is not a sometime thing; its an all the time thing. You don't win

  once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them

  right all the time. Winning is a habit."

                              ... Vince Lombardi

 "Sure, winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.       

                              ... Harry Sanders

      

 "Winning is not everything -- but making effort to win is."

                              ... Vince Lombardi

     

 I firmly believe that any man,s finest hour, the greatest

 fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has

 worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the

 field of battle - victorious.

                              ... Vince Lombardi   

                                

"Winning is the by-product of doing things right."

                              ... Tubby Raymond

"Losers let it happen.

WINNERS MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Losers always have an excuse.

WINNERS ALWAYS HAVE AN IDEA.

Losers identify with problems.

WINNERS IDENTIFY WITH SOLUTIONS.

Losers say, 'it might be possible, but it's too difficult.'

WINNERS SAY, 'IT MIGHT BE DIFFICULT, BUT IT'S ALWAYS POSSIBLE.'"

                              ... Author Unknown

Most games are lost, not won.

                              ... Casey Stengel

Before you can win a game, you have to not lose it.

                              ... Chuck Noll, ex-Pittsburgh Steelers Coach

The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers,

on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or

would have done, or what they can’t do.

                              ... Dennis Waitley

Winning isn’t everything, wanting to is.

                              ... Anonymous

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

                              ... Unknown

A winner never whines.

                              ... Paul Brown

In war there is no substitute for victory.

                              ... Douglas MacArthur

When your are playing for the national championship, it’s not a matter of life or

death. It’s more important than that.

                              ... Duffy Daugherty

LEADERSHIP

"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard

 effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any

 goal that is worthwhile."

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

  The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group.

   If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a

   tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must

   exert.

                              ... Vince Lombardi

TEAMWORK

  Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't

   do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one

   another.

   ... Vince Lombardi

 People who work together will win, whether it be against complex

 football defenses, or the problems of modern society.

... Vince Lombardi

The achievements of an organization are the results of the

combined effort of each individual.

 ... Vince Lombardi

Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your

teammates.

—Magic Johnson

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch

of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.

                              ... Babe Ruth

"Team work is the essence of life."

                              ... Pat Riley      

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

"I guess what it comes down to is that success demands singleness of purpose. In

this game we're always looking for catch-phrases - so I call it mental toughness."

                              ... Vince Lombardi.

It's not whether you you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."

                                      ... Vince Lombardi

"You can measure a man's character by the choices he makes under pressure." --

                              ... Winston Churchill

"Those who complain how the ball bounces are often the ones who dropped it." --

                              ... Author Unknown

"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big

difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether the

attitude is positive or negative."

                              ... Author Unknown

The minute you start talking about what you’re going to do if you lose, you have

lost.

                              ... George Shultz

"Smile when it hurts most."

                              ... D.A. Chapple

You have no control over what the other guy does. You only have control over what

you do.

                              ... A J Kitt

We must either find a way or make one.

— Hannibal

"You are either the capitve or the captain of your thoughts. You can resign

yourself to being average or you can dare to dream...WHAT YOU SEE IN YOUR MIND'S

 EYE IS WHAT YOU GET. Each of us becomes that make-believe self that we have

 imagined, dreamed about, and thought about most."

                              ...  Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do

something, you can do it — as long as you really believe 100 percent.

                              ... Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.

                              ... Ronnie Lott

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s

determination

                              ... Tommy Lasorda

Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is

absolutely necessary.

                              ... Ray Knight

I think I’ve always had the shots. But in the past, I’ve suffered too many mental

lapses. Now, I’m starting to get away from that and my mental discipline and

commitment to the game are much better. I think I’m really taking a good look at

the big picture. That’s the difference between being around for the final or

watching the final from my sofa at home.

                              ... Andre Agassi

I’ve always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I

never quit trying; I never felt that I didn’t have a chance to win.

                              ... Arnold Palmer

I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental

ability.

                              ... Bruce Jenner

CONFIDENCE AND SELF-BELIEF

What’s the worst thing that can happen to a quarterback? He loses his confidence.

                              ... Terry Bradshaw

Each Warrior wants to leave the mark of his will, his signature, on important acts

he touches. This is not the voice of ego but of the human spirit, rising up and

declaring that it has something to contribute to the solution of the hardest

problems, no matter how vexing!

                              ... Pat Riley

Confidence is a very fragile thing.

                              ... Joe Montana

Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.

                              ... Satchel Paige

Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all

the locks.

                              ... Joe Paterno

It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed

in myself.

                              ... Muhammad Ali

Ingenuity, plus courage, plus work, equals miracles.

                              ... Bob Richards, Pole Vaulter

 

You learn you can do your best even when it’s hard, even when you’re tired and

maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage.

                              ... Joe Namath

You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you’ll lose again, and then

losing becomes a habit.

                              ... Joe Paterno

"A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself

and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the

competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things

in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be

done."

Unless a man believes in himself and makes a total commitment to his career and puts

everything he has into it - his mind, his body, his heart - what's life worth to him...?

                                    ... Vince Lombardi

 

PERSEVERANCE    

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to

ignore the minor hurts, the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures.

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

"It is alright to be disappointed, but a winner can never allow himself to be

discouraged."

                              ... D.A. Chapple

Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

 Our greatest glory was not in never falling, but in rising when we fell.

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

 It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're

 number one. What you've got to have is faith and discipline when you're not yet a winner.

                                       ... Vince Lombardi

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.

                              ... Samuel Johnson

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: Nothing

is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: Unrewarded

genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: The would is full of educated

derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

                              ... Anonymous

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.

                              ... Seneca

When you’re playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how

much you’ll fight for the winner’s circle. If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a

fresh pack, one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor.

                              ... Pat Riley

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength,

not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

                              ... Vincent T. Lombardi

The game isn’t over till it’s over.

                              ...  Yogi Berra

The only way to overcome is to hang in. Even I’m starting to believe that.

                              ... Dan O’Brien

If at first you don’t succeed, you are running about average.

                              ... M.H. Alderson

Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.

                              ... Bo Jackson

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having

trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging

                              ... Hank Aaron

Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.

                              ... William A. Ward

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

                              ... John Wooden

I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can

make it.

                              ... Gale Sayers

TRAINING, PREPARATION, GOAL-SETTING AND HARD WORK -

MAKE A COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE!!

" I will demand a commitment to excellance and to victory... That is what life is all about. "

                              ... Vince Lombardi

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.

                              ... Joe Paterno

If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.

                                    ... Vince Lombardi

  "Excellence is not a sometimes thing"

                              ... Vince Lombardi     

"The character of a person is in direct proportion to his commitment to

excellence."

                              ... Vince Lombardi

"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream

it, you can make it so."

                              ... Author Unknown

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.

                              ... Michael Jordan

If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.

                              ... Herschel Walker

Sweat plus sacrifice equals success.

                              ... Charlie Finley

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

                              ... Coach Darrel Royal

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about

achieving it and staying with that plan.

                              ... Tom Landry

It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s

what you put into the practice.

                              ... Eric Lindros

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

                              ... Vidal Sassoon

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and

the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of

ourselves to the task at hand.

                              ... Vince Lombardi

There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either IN or you’re OUT.

There’s no such thing as life in-between.

                              ... Pat Riley

I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.

                              ... Thomas Jefferson

The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any

excuses, that’s the day you start to the top.

                              ... O.J. Simpson

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

                              ... Thomas Edison

The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested

players.

                              ... Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers Coach

The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves.

                              ... Anonymous

Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high

expectations for myself.

                              ... Shannon Miller

He who stops being better stops being good.

                              ... Oliver Cromwell

The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about

being better than you were the day before.

                              ... Steve Young

You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be

considered the only ones who do what you do.

                              ... Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead

You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That’s the mark of

a true professional.

                              ... Joe Paterno

 

To be prepared is half the victory.

                              ... Miguel Cervantes

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it

is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. The relationship

between the soundness of the body and the activities of the mind is subtle and

complex. Much is not yet understood. But we do know what the Greeks knew: that

intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the

body is healthy and strong; that hardy spirits and tough minds usually inhabit

sound gods.

                              ... JFK

The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the others willing to

let them.

                              ... Robert Frost

The more I train, the more I realize I have more speed in me.

                              ... Leroy Burrell

COURAGE, DETERMINATION AND STAYING FOCUSSED IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE

How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after

the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.

                              ... Lou Holtz

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

                              ... Archie Griffen, two-time Heisman winner ( 5’9’’)

There’s no substitute for guts.

                              ... Paul “Bear” Bryant

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.

                              ... Mark Twain

 Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.

                              ... Amelia Earhart

Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.

                              ... Lou Brock

When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.

                              ... Bill Shoemaker

My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: “Get out

of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll

win....Channel your energy. Focus.”

                              ... Carl Lewis

If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race.

Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the

race — it’s up to you.

                              ... Dave Scott, Triathlete

If you don’t do what’s best for your body, you’re the one who comes up on the

short end.

                              ... Julius Erving

Think big, believe big, act big, and the results will be big.

                              ... Anonymous

If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.

                              ... Author unknown

Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

                              ... Will Rogers

The first and great commandment is, Don’t let them scare you.

—Elmer Davis

RISK -

NOT BEING SCARED TO LOSE IN ORDER TO WIN!!

In order to win you must be prepared to lose sometime. And leave one or two cards

showing.

                              ... Van Morrison

You can become a winner only if you are willing to walk over the edge.

                              ... Damon Runyon

When someone tells me the is only one way to do things, it always lights a fire

under my butt. My instant reaction is, “I’m gonna prove you wrong.”

                              ... Picabo Street

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

                              ... Robert F. Kennedy

A ship in the harbor is safe. But that’s not what ships are built for.

                              ... Anonymous

Ain’t no chance if you don’t take it.

                              ... Guy Clark

When you face a fork in the road, step on the exhilarator!

                              ... Pat Riley

AT THE END OF THE DAY -

BEING ABLE TO WALK AWAY!!

I know that I’m never as good or bad as any single performance. I’ve never

believed my critics or my worshippers, and I’ve always been able to leave the game

at the arena.

                              ... Charles Barkley