It’s often the rebel kids you encounter in your life that are more prone to getting grounded at home. Whether it's through talking back or missing curfew, it’s never a good idea to get influenced by them in life. But on the other hand, in cricket, grounded shots are key to being a consistent player; and you can get to know how often you’re hitting grounded shots with the help of the str8bat sensor.
We had a chat with Cricket Australia's Coach Development Specialist Bryan Harper about grounded shots percentage, and how important it is to improve your overall batting performance on the pitch.
What is grounded shots percentage?
This metric shows how often you hit the ball on the ground versus in the air. It is a good indicator of determining your play style on the pitch.
What is its importance?
Getting an idea of your grounded shots percentage gives you a great understanding of the field placement in all kinds of situations. It enhances your capability to find gaps between the fielders, regardless of whether that's on the ground or in the air.
It also decreases your risk of getting out, and we all know how proud The Wall would be if this was a common practice amongst all modern cricket players.
Also Read : Bryan Harper Masterclass on Impact Pitch Map | str8bat Cricket Bat Sensor
How to practice increasing it?
Go out into the nets like an all natural stroll in the park, and practice deliberately hitting the balls on the ground or in the air. It’s probably ideal to practice this at the end of a horrid week in your life, helping you vent all your anger out on the ball.
Collect the data from the str8bat app to see which areas suit you best and which areas need improvement. At this point, it’s best to hone your inner King and become the perfectionist you were always meant to become.
The analytical engine on the app helps filter out the grounded and aerial shots. Use this engine and compare different parameters like bat speed, timing and bat lift angle, all important metrics that help determine your grounded shots percentage.
How to use the data?
Our favourite Aussie coach intrigues us into crunching the data with a few prerequisites, which are as follows:
- What does the data tell you?
- Can you actually hit the ball on the ground or in the air at will?
- What is your cue to be able to hit the ball into the ground?
- What is your cue when you wanna hit the ball in the air?
- Can you practice bat face control to hit the ball at will?
- What areas of the ground do you think are the safest to hit the ball in the air?
Tips on improving grounded shots percentage
“Doing activities with tennis balls where you as the batter have to make the ball bounce as high as you can after you’ve hit it into the ground will enhance your feeling and understanding of how well you hit the ball along the ground,” claims our mentor from down under. This is a clear sign that maybe, just maybe, all the gully cricket you played as a child might actually be paying off.
Your bat path matters an insurmountable amount. Hitting the ball straight down the ground with the full face of the bat is the safest way to hit the ball into the air.
Captain Sharma is one of the most consistent players in our national team, and that’s due to his ability to play the horizontal shots easier than an average teenager becoming the black sheep of their family. Pulls and sweeps are just some shot types that are efficient ways of scoring runs, so do practice mastering those shots as well.
Swinging the bat across the line at an angle makes you more prone to mis-hits. This will be the difference maker that will make your helicopter shots crash land at a fielder near you.
Prioritise increasing numbers like bat speed, timing and sweetspot. The higher these numbers are, the better your output will be when it comes to improving your grounded shots percentage.
