Grip, Stance,
Back-Lift
The three basic skills, which come of use prior
to the actual devoir of a batsman to hit the
coming delivery to feasible parts of the ground
to score as many runs as possible, are (i) Grip,
(ii) Stance and (iii) Back-lift. The minute
details of these skills may vary as per the
personal preference of the batsman, but the
nitty-gritty is pretty much the same for all.
Grip:
The term "grip" is used for how a batsman holds
his bat with his hands. It's actually one of the
most important factors in being a good batsman,
as a correct and more importantly comfortably
viable grip can help him exploit a wide range of
shots, with full flair.
There are essentially two types of grips: (i)
'V' shaped grip and (ii) 'O' shaped grip, the
former being the more widely used. For the 'V'
shaped grip, both hands are placed close
together, with the left hand on the top for a
right-hander, and vice versa. Ideally, the top
hand should be held tighter than the bottom
hand, whose back of the palm should face the
stumps or the wicket-keeper. Both the palms
should create a 'V' shape in the straight line
running down the centre line of the back of the
bat. This grip gives an easier opportunity of
pouncing on straight and vertical-batted
strokes. The 'O' shaped grip on the other hand
helps in fluency of cross-batted shots, but as
mentioned before isn't used as proficiently as
the 'V' shaped grip.
The positioning of the hands on the handle of
the bat depends largely on batsman's choice,
however, leaving too much of the handle on the
top, may hamper playing certain drives, or cause
wrist injuries in the long run.
Stance:
An ideal stance is one in which the entire
weight of the batsman is distributed evenly on
the two legs. Often batsmen develop foot, knees
and back injuries because of a faulty stance,
because of excessive load on either of those.
Starting with the leg position, the feet should
be comfortably apart, neither too far nor too
close, with the weight distributed evenly on
each, and no pressure on the heels or the toes.
The knees should be slightly bent, such that the
weight is distributed uniformly throughout the
legs.
Moving up, the back position of critical
importance, since bending it too much might
cause the weight to shift to it, and cause
injurious troubles in the long run. The back
position thus should be such that it doesn't
have to carry unnecessary load. The front
shoulder should be pointing straight down the
pitch in the line of the stumps at the opposite
end, or Mid On, and the elbow not too stiff. The
head should be still, and not tilt on either
side, with the eyes focusing straight and
leveled.
The top hand should be resting on the front
thigh, while the bat should be grounded around
the toes of the back foot. Alternatively though,
modern-day Australian batsmen ground their bats
around the center of the space between the two
feet, and from the looks of how they have
performed, it can be said that that method is
definitely viable.
Back-Lift:
Like the grip and the stance, the back-lift has
a few basics that need to be followed, but
minute adjustments should be made by the
batsman, as per what suits him the best. A major
mistake that beginners especially make is
lifting the bat either too late or with the
wrong orientation.
The bat should be lifted when the bowler is in
action. A little delay and it become too late to
judge with what speed to bring it down to play
the ball as per its speed. The bat shouldn't be
lifted either too straight, or pointing as far
as the gully. It should slant towards between
the first and third slips, to get the best
resultant balance. However, when the bat is
brought down to impact with the ball, it should
come in a straight line.
The position of the hands is also of utmost
importance. The bat should be lifted with the
top hand, while the elbow should bend, and not
be positioned too far from the body. Even while
lifting the bat, the position of the eyes and
head shouldn't alter, and should be maintained
in the straight line with the incoming bowler's
hand.
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