During an On Drive I have poor balance which makes my head fall over to the off side. My eyes are watching the ball and my hands are set for the drive and my elbow is nice and high but my head falls over and my body follows it. Effects of Weakness on Overall Game/Performance By falling over onto the offside instead of getting my head over to the on side makes it much easier for the opposing team to stop me scoring runs. This is because if they see I am weak at my pads and off my legs they can set the field to bowl at my pads and the bowlers can aim to cut off my scoring shots such as the off drive or cut and concentrate on bowling at my pads.
Psychologically I may get frustrated and angry that I keep mistiming the ball and when the ball is in the right area for my favoured shots then I may miss out because I have been reminiscing over the mistimed on drives rather than focusing on the ball before. My team may get demotivated because in training they all know that I can play the on drive it’s just when I get tired that I struggle, also if I miss out on scoring opportunities then it may put a lot more pressure on them when a wicket falls because they may have to come out and attack from ball one.
Physically when I fall over I will try and play in front of my pad and therefore will be twisting my back to reach round my pad, this hurts my back sometimes. Compared to an Elite Performer Having watched Kevin Pietersen play the On Drive I observed that his front leg faces straight back down the wicked and is just inside the ball. I also noticed that when his leg went to the ball his head also followed. This told me that if I get my foot to the ball then my head will follow and I won’t fall over.
The yellow arrow represents where my foot would come down to a ball of similar line, and this in turn,(red arrow) would push my head wider making it impossible to get my head over the ball and therefore execute the perfect on drive. By having his foot beside the line of the ball, his head will , in turn, follow and will be in a much better position to execute the shot than myself at the present moment. Cause Of Weakness Poor Balance- Weakness 3 When I am fielding in the ring I am slow on run out opportunities and therefore do not pick up the ball quick enough to run the opposing batsmen out.
Effect of Weakness on Overall Game/Performance By not having enough speed to get to the ball quickly and affect a run out will let the opposition take quick singles to me and therefore rotate the strike. This is because they know that I am slow to the ball and have more chance of getting a quick single than hitting the ball to any other fielder. This will demotivate the bowler because he may have bowled a good ball but still the batsmen will get a run, likewise my team will get frustrated because they cannot build any pressure by bowling maidens and dot balls.
Psychologically I may get angry that I cannot get to the ball quick enough and therefore will not be concentrating fully when a catch comes or my throw at the stumps may be wayward. Physically I could hurt myself trying to get to the ball more quickly, this could result in a strain or sprain which could put me out of action for a few weeks and would frustrate me and my team. Compared to an Elite Performer Having watched one of the best fielders of all time, Paul Collingwood, field he did a number of things differently to me.
I first noticed that he walks in a very long way to cut off the batsmen’s angles and also walking in far, has the advantage of you having to run less to gather the ball. I also noticed that he was always on the balls of his feet ready to change direction for the ball. I tend to walk in only a little bit, increasing the distance I have to run. Also I am often not on the ball of my feet and therefore cannot adjust to where the ball is hit. Paul Collingwood is also a very fit man and regularly does bleep tests and over speed related tests to increase and maintain his speed.
Not only does this help him whilst fielding but also in his running between the wickets. Cause of Weakness Lack of speed- When the ball is hit to me I am not fast enough to gather the ball and affect a run out. This is because of a lack of speed in my legs in general. The reasons of my lack of speed are below. * A Poor Diet- I tend to take in too many fatty foods and not enough carbohydrates for energy. This results in me having low energy levels in a game and also stops me training to increase my speed.
More slow twitch than fast twitch muscle fibres- I may just have a lack of fast twitch muscle fibres which are good for short sharp bursts of speed and strength and I may have more slow twitch muscle fibres which are good for stamina and running over long distances not short distances. To try and increase my speed I will do some interval training regularly in between matches. Interval training is described as mixing periods of hard work with periods of rest. Doing this type of training would replicate the game situation of affecting a run out because you are often inactive for long periods of time and then suddenly need to act.
The above drill is the drill I would use to improve my speed. Essentially it is interval training but it is adapted to replicate the situation of a run out. The coach would label each ball 1, 2, 3 and 4 and randomly with different rest periods would shout a number. The performer would then run as fast as they could to the ball and hit the stumps. I would set up light gates at the starting off point and next to the stumps so I could accurately time how long it took for the performer to sprint to the ball and throw it at the stumps.
The coach would have to make sure the performer did not work for too long because then it would not be interval training but endurance training as well, and we are only looking to improve speed not endurance, whether that be muscular or cardio vascular. The light gates that would be used would be a very accurate way of testing the speed of our performer, we could then monitor whether he was improving his speed. Weakness 4 I do not have enough power in my tricep to get my bouncers above waist height. Effect of weakness on Overall/Game Performance
By not having enough power to get my bouncers higher then I am offering the opposition four runs because they can execute the pull shot very easily due to the lack of bounce from my bouncers. This means the opposition can sit on the front foot and wait for the pitched up ball because they know that my bouncers will not push them back. My team may get frustrated that I cannot get my bouncers above waist height because it gives the opposition easy runs, especially if my captain is trying to apply pressure, I give them an easy scoring, high percentage shot.
Psychologically I may be of poor arousal levels because I cannot trouble the batsmen on the back foot. Physically I may try to train too hard and therefore I won’t be able to bowl as effectively because quick bowlers need strength and power in their triceps but if they get too large then it can impair the action of bowling. Compared to an Elite Performer Having watched England test bowler, Steve Harmison, bowl bouncers I see that he does pretty much the same as me when I bowl. Naturally our actions are very different but he still pulls his non bowling arm in tight to his chest.
This generates power. The yellow arrow represents where my bouncers would get, whereas we can see how high Harmison’s bouncers go. Cause of Weakness Lack of Power- I do not have enough power to get the ball to bounce higher, preferably at the batsmen’s head. I think that it is the tricep muscle is lacking in power because that is where the power comes from when you bowl. Power is strength x speed. Power relies on the speed at which muscles contract and how with how much force they exert. Muscles lack power for many reasons.