Get Rid of Common Straight Drive Mistakes with Cricket Bat Sensor

The Problem of Many Aspiring Batters

Several budding batters/cricketers find it difficult to hit a perfect straight drive shot. Minor mistakes in their batting, create hindrances in hitting a perfect shot. Many batters think that with regular practice they can master a straight drive well. They continuously play and practise the incorrect technique, not realising that their batting technique is the problem. Their ignorance in finding out the exact cause creates frustration.

We at str8bat, understand this dilemma. 

During our last webinar, several students from various academies expressed such concerns. Therefore, we thought there may be several aspiring batters who might face similar issues but have no outlet to get answers. 

So, we decided to address their issues through this guide. 

This guide aims to help batters in eliminating those minor errors that stop them from hitting a flawless straight drive shot. We assure you that mastering your straight driving shots would be a piece of cake for you if you followed this guide!

What is a Straight Drive Shot?

A straight drive is a front-foot shot that falls under the classical shots category. A good batter plays this shot on an over-pitched or full-length delivery that comes on or outside the off stumps. 

This shot helps a batter in two ways. 

1. It saves the batter from getting LBW out. 
2. It is a deliberate shot where the ball is hit along the ground to minimize the chances of getting caught. 

Important Facts About Hitting Perfect Straight Drives

• These shots are played on a full-length ball.
• Batter moves his front foot ahead in the line of the ball and lands it on his heel.
• The batter’s head, shoulder and foot (pointing down the wicket) should be in the same line.
• The batter starts his downswing from above the middle of the stumps
• Your bat will be controlled from the top end, whereas the bottom end of the bat handle will support it.
• As soon as the batter starts downswing, his body weight starts transferring from the back foot to the front foot. This will help to divert body energy toward the ball.
• Batter’s bat comes straight in one line and faces the bowler 

Common Straight Drive Mistakes 

Here are some of the common mistakes that batters make.

Case 1. Batters land their front foot flat.

This is the wrong technique. If the batter puts a flat foot ahead, he will not be able to divert body energy into the shot. Further, his shot timing will also take an impact.

Case 2. The batter tries to hit the ball after it passes inside of the toes. 

If the batter delays in hitting the shot, or tries to hit the shot once the ball passes inside the edge of the toes, the possibility of missing the shot will rise.

Case 3. The batter hits the ball before it comes inside the toes.

If a batter hits the delivery before it arrives inside the toes, the possibility of the ball going into the air will rise.

Case 4. Taking a Wrong Batting stance.

We have already discussed this point above. The batting stance should be such that can facilitate the batter to take position easily for the straight drive shot.

You Might Want To Read:  How To take an ideal batting stance

How Cricket Bat Sensor Can Improve Your Straight Drive Shots

Let’s understand it better with the help of str8bat cricket App’s insights.

The image here displays the 360 degree 3D Replay feature of the str8bat cricket bat sensor. 

Image 1 reflects a bad quality shot, whereas the Image 2 shows average quality straight drive shot.

Master Your Straight Drives with insights of Cricket Bat Sensor

For you to understand your straight drive shot better you need to look at 4 important parameters of str8bat’s 360 3D replay.

These are:

1. Bat lift angle
2. Bat path
3. Impact speed 
4. Bat speed 

 Image:1

The above str8bat insight reflects a badly hit straight drive shot. 

• The bat lift angle is 21 degrees. 
• The batter’s bat is also coming forward from the outside of the slips. 
• Even the impact and bat speed are below 50. 

Hence, this shot falls under the bad category for all required parameters (bat lift angle, bat path, impact speed and bat speed). 

str8bat App’s image 2 giving insights into a better straight drive shots.

Image: 2

In the above image, the bat lift angle is 13 degrees. 

• Bat and impact speed are 54.
• The bat is coming in line with the head and shoulder.

The outcome of the shot is an average hit ground shot. 

Now you will think why this shot fell under the average category.

The answer lies in here.

str8bat’s Good Straight Drive Shot Manual

• The bat lift angle should be up to 15 degrees at max.
• The bat impact and bat speed should be between 60 to 80kph.
• The downswing should be smooth and bring the bat in line with the head and shoulders.
• The ball impact point should be inside the toes.

Read out wikihow’s Front Foot Drive in Cricket for more information.

str8bat Tip : Always Remember!!

A straight Drive is usually played on a fast-paced ball which is full length.

In this shot, a batter tries to control the ball speed by maintaining a moderate to average (60 to 80kpm) bat speed.

Furthermore, a moderate bat speed puts a barrier on a full-paced ball and grounds it down successfully. This minimises the chances of getting out.

Cricketers With Remarkable Straight Drives in the History of Cricket

 Sachin Tendulkar’s Straight Drive shots are quite famous.  

Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene are also known for playing exceptional straight drive shots.

Our Opinion:  If you compare cricketers and their straight drive hits, Sachin’s straight drive will steal the show and top the chart clearly! 🙂

A Word of Wisdom to All the Aspiring Batters..

Many of you might think that you can improve your  shots with practice. Moreover, you might be getting the same advice from your coaches. We also endorse your coach’s advice, but we will recommend you to analyze your mistakes with str8bat first.

This is because, once you get clarity on your flaws, you can definitely move ahead on the path to success. 

Cricket involves a lot of physics. A batter needs to have a fine batting technique along with an exceptional graph of hitting shots. If you think this is enough, you are again mistaken. A batter also needs to keep his wicket safe.

The one harsh reality that we must all face is that to secure a place in a cricket team, one has to excel on several fronts. In such a demanding scenario, you need something extra, which can help you in achieving your goals.

This where your batting improvement buddy, str8bat will come to your rescue! To know more about str8bat, you can book a demo with us over here !