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Drives: Hit Late & Straight, No Gate

Drives: Hit Late & Straight, No Gate

Players should be able to keep the bat face straight on the downswing and follow through - the front elbow being bent is essential for this.

The bat face should be square through impact the allow the ball to go straight - the bottom hand should not be gripping the handle too tightly.

Contact should be under your eyes to ensure the ball stays on the ground after being struck

Activity 1:

Bench Channel Drives - Straight Bat Drive Drill

15 mins

Method:

  1. Place 2 benches (or similar obstacles such as stumps or slalow poles) on their sides to make a narrow channel - just wide enough for your feet and bat to be able to pass and play a straight drive.
  2. The batter should stand with their heels touching one of the benches.
  3. Their partner will provide a drop feed in front of the batter so they have to step forward to play their drive
  4. The batter should swing and step forward making sure that their bat passes through the bench channel and doesn't hit the bench
  5. Try to hit the ball forward through the channel without it touching the bench

Teaching Points:

  • Keep your arms bent throughout the shot as long as possible with the front elbow pointing toward the target (straiught)
  • Step forward with your foot as close to the bench as possible to allow the bat face to pass through
  • Keep your back leg straight - a bend in the back knee can force the bat to have to swing around it, therefore no longer straight

Equipment:

  • Benches
  • Balls
Roll Feed Drives - Hit It Late & Straight Drill

Activity 2:

15 mins

Method:

  1. Set up a set of stumps with a cone about 10m away for the roller - then mark out a goal for the batter to strike the ball into straight behind the roller
  2. Pair up
  3. One player bats and one is the 'roller'
  4. The aim of the roller is to roll the ball from the cone into the batters stumps
  5. The aim of the batter is to strike the rolling ball straight past the roller into the goal
  6. Add a point scoring system to make competitive

Teaching Points:

  • Strike the ball underneath your eyes to make a late contact
  • Keep your front elbow pointing toward the target to help keep the bat straight

Equipment:

  • Stumps
  • Balls
  • Bats
  • Cones

Activity 3:

Front Foot Drive Throw Downs

15 mins

Method:

Teaching Points:

Equipment:

Activity 4:

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Method:

Teaching Points:

Equipment:

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